Most Aggressive cichlids Top 15

[Stanzzzz7]

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.

In my opinion there is no such thing as a bad ass fish. It’s all relative to limited circumstances.

 

[Bret Signorelli]

I've seen Rayes209's videos. Notice how he puts the opposite fish in the Beani's tank (territory) every time. He's afraid to put the beani in the devil's tank, his dovii is not nearly as aggressive as it could be. A 40 gallon tank with one little cave doesn't give the opposite fish enough time to settle and defend.

+ a 8 inch beani is much more mature in age than a 8 inch dovii.

Beani are aggressive no doubt, but there are much nastier fish. A fully mature hyper aggressive male dovii is a sight to see. A 8 inch grammodes can send a 14 inch midas in a corner and just about anything else too. Every fish is different, that's a fact. Midas tend to get really clumsy once they reach 12 inches, same with jaguars and festae. While the dovii and grammodes at full potential size are still VERY agile, lean, intelligent, etc.

The nastiest fish I've had were in fact some Mbuna species, but they're a little TOO african to be on this list lol! I had a 3 inch auratus send 8 other fish (larger than he was) to the very edge of the tank, in a week all the other fish were dead. I wanted to see this sucker lose, threw him in with a convict pair.. within minutes the convict pair are in a corner begging for mercy. Pound for pound, africans are the nastiest IMO. But they're boring, not very owner responsive.

I've owned a couple beani, they have some serious conspecific aggression. Beani start out mild, only get aggressive with age (temperament in general).. while my Red Devil, Grammodes, and Dovii were overwhelming even at an inch.

We had an auratus that was a psychopath

 

[EricTheRed]

I have never met an Auratus who wasn’t a psychopath in a small to medium sized tank. I currently have a six inch male Auratus who was a real terror in my 90G 4 foot mbuna tank for years. When I had an epiphany and put him in my 6 foot 125G mixed cichlid tank as an experiment, he immediately calmed down and has been playing nicely with the other cichlids in there for a long time. I believe the secret to successfully keeping mbuna is to place them in a six foot or larger aquarium which significantly mitigates their instinct to kill their perceived rivals for territory.

 

[Ichthioguy]

My Amphilophus xiloaensis is pretty dam mean. I had a turtle in there with him at one point in a 125 and he grabbed the turtle and rammed her into the other side of the tank.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

My Amphilophus xiloaensis is pretty dam mean. I had a turtle in there with him at one point in a 125 and he grabbed the turtle and rammed her into the other side of the tank.

Not as mean as housing a large cichlid and a turtle in a 125 .