Know a person who put a aggressive cichlid in a aquarium with a Redbelly The cichlid went for the mouth end of game.
Most Aggressive cichlids Top 15
- Thread starter RockyMountainCichlids
- Start date
Been keeping cichlids, predators, and etc for many many years now.
Obviously every fish has their own individual temperament.
Cichlid wise, if I were to rank a top 5.
It would be
1. Parachromis dovii - Doesn't need much explanation. Predatory, packed with teeth and size. Even juvie Dovii will slowly climb the ranks and challenge the alpha or next in line, it's only a matter of time before they're at the top and will wreak havoc on the rest of their tankmates. Hate cleaning it's tank, what a mess and kind of scary.
2. Amphilophus labiatus/citrenellus (Midevil, Devil, Midas) complex - Bad to the bone, relentless chasing until whatever they're after succumbs and dies. Very territorial and will fight to death at times. I'd say they can beat Dovii's on average when they're the same size. Only Reason Dovii is higher is because of their equipment.
3. Tilapia Buttikoferi - Butti's are interesting, coming from Africa they present a completely different fighting style to it's American cousins. Ripping off scales, slamming their opponents into things, very persistent and will not stop until they're the top dog of the tank. A very HYPER dominant species I noticed.. Also have seen them dominate dovii's and red devils. I ranked them lower simply because I've had a few butti's that were fairly docile but if you have a dominant one you'll know because all the fish will have missing scales and will be cornered.
4. Nandopsis istlanum - These guys are fierce!! The males of this species fight for sport I swear, I rank them slightly above Grammodes because they will fight down to their last scale. Istlanum is by far the most aggressive Nandopsis species I've ever owned and I've had them all. The couple istlanum I had really put a whooping on umbees, dovii, red devils, grammodes, and much more. I only ever see them lose when there is a substantial size advantage.
5. Nandopsis grammodes - Cold blooded killer. Grammodes are mini dovii for a reason, if death itself was a fish it would be a grammodes. They come off like skittish sissy fish as they hide so much, but then every morning a new fish is dead and torn apart. Grammodes are capable of taking down much larger opponents, they tend to be very skittish don't let that fool you as they will eliminate an entire community very quickly if you let it.
Obviously this is a cichlid list. But the baddest freshwater fish is by far a Rhom Piranha (black piranha) it's not even debatable whatsoever.. There are many videos on the net to prove that, they absolutely shred and destroy anything that dares to challenge it. I'll send some videos in the next couple of posts if anyone is curious, this is not for the soft hearted.... beware.
Obviously every fish has their own individual temperament.
Cichlid wise, if I were to rank a top 5.
It would be
1. Parachromis dovii - Doesn't need much explanation. Predatory, packed with teeth and size. Even juvie Dovii will slowly climb the ranks and challenge the alpha or next in line, it's only a matter of time before they're at the top and will wreak havoc on the rest of their tankmates. Hate cleaning it's tank, what a mess and kind of scary.
2. Amphilophus labiatus/citrenellus (Midevil, Devil, Midas) complex - Bad to the bone, relentless chasing until whatever they're after succumbs and dies. Very territorial and will fight to death at times. I'd say they can beat Dovii's on average when they're the same size. Only Reason Dovii is higher is because of their equipment.
3. Tilapia Buttikoferi - Butti's are interesting, coming from Africa they present a completely different fighting style to it's American cousins. Ripping off scales, slamming their opponents into things, very persistent and will not stop until they're the top dog of the tank. A very HYPER dominant species I noticed.. Also have seen them dominate dovii's and red devils. I ranked them lower simply because I've had a few butti's that were fairly docile but if you have a dominant one you'll know because all the fish will have missing scales and will be cornered.
4. Nandopsis istlanum - These guys are fierce!! The males of this species fight for sport I swear, I rank them slightly above Grammodes because they will fight down to their last scale. Istlanum is by far the most aggressive Nandopsis species I've ever owned and I've had them all. The couple istlanum I had really put a whooping on umbees, dovii, red devils, grammodes, and much more. I only ever see them lose when there is a substantial size advantage.
5. Nandopsis grammodes - Cold blooded killer. Grammodes are mini dovii for a reason, if death itself was a fish it would be a grammodes. They come off like skittish sissy fish as they hide so much, but then every morning a new fish is dead and torn apart. Grammodes are capable of taking down much larger opponents, they tend to be very skittish don't let that fool you as they will eliminate an entire community very quickly if you let it.
Obviously this is a cichlid list. But the baddest freshwater fish is by far a Rhom Piranha (black piranha) it's not even debatable whatsoever.. There are many videos on the net to prove that, they absolutely shred and destroy anything that dares to challenge it. I'll send some videos in the next couple of posts if anyone is curious, this is not for the soft hearted.... beware.
Depends on how you put it. If you're referring to the fact that specimens from completely different habitats (which would never encounter each other in the wild) are being put together to fight for human pleasure, then yes, I agree. However, if you're talking about mixing aggressive cichlids, which might have a slight or intermediate chance of coexisting due to geographical similarities, then no. Horrible disasters like those mentioned here should serve as a warning against mixing aggressive fish.
Keeping cichlids can be trial and error and we have all lost fish if we have kept cichlids for any length of time.
What I don’t like about this thread is there is no answer.
There are so many variables that a definitive answer is not possible.
Genetics , tank mates, tank size , tank decor, tank temperature, water quality , breeding possibilities, diet ,health ,lighting etc etc all have an influence on a fishes aggression levels.
The thread is also a bit ,my dad’s tougher than your dad for my liking.
But to each to their own. I was just giving my opinion.
No hard feelings taken. I was genuinely interested in hearing your thoughts in more detail.
Watching the video of the black and the dovii was just disgusting and then all the blood from the snakehead was gross i feel bad for all those fish.
What about black belts no one mentioned them i've saw black belts run a 300 gallon with festae and RDs
What about black belts no one mentioned them i've saw black belts run a 300 gallon with festae and RDs
I refuse to watch these types of videos and I wish others would as well. Then people would stop pitting fish to fight against each other for video likes. Whereas fish will sometimes have territorial and dominance disputes, A responsible fish keeper immediately removes and rehomes any fish that is being continuously bullied and never knowingly allows his fish to fight to the point where one is seriously injured or killed. To willfully permit this type of serious fish on fish violence is unethical and quite frankly evil.
I am grateful the vast majority of hobbyists I have met do not engage in this type of misconduct, work diligently to prevent it in their aquariums and warn others on this forum about tried and true methods to prevent it in their tanks at home.
I am grateful the vast majority of hobbyists I have met do not engage in this type of misconduct, work diligently to prevent it in their aquariums and warn others on this forum about tried and true methods to prevent it in their tanks at home.
I agree with you whole heartedly. It’s surprising how many ********s there are out there that like that sort of thing. There have been a few supporters of such cruelty on this forum. Unfortunately it’s the way of the world . There will always be those that lack empathy for living things. That’s half the reason I dislike this thread,it’s of interest to those that seek the so called bad ass fish. Personally I have no time for it.
I have nothing against hobbyist’s wanting a “bad ass fish”. They tend to be highly intelligent fish who readily interact with their owners. The list above does an accurate job of mentioning many of the most notorious of these. However, they need to know if they get one they need to have an available, cycled, six foot or larger tank for when the little monster hits the six to eight inch mark and goes psycho on all its former fish pals. The bad ass then needs to spend the rest of its life as a solo “glass banger” pet.
