What are some of the best "predator" cichlids?

[Fanatic_Fish_Lunatic]

What are some of the best predatory cichlids? I'm not talking about aggression, temperament nor anything like that. I'm talking about their sheer hunting skills, the ways they hunt down their preys. The best at being a predator, not a fighter nor a brute.

 

[justintheodd]

What are some of the best predatory cichlids? I'm not talking about aggression, temperament nor anything like that. I'm talking about their sheer hunting skills, the ways they hunt down their preys. The best at being a predator, not a fighter nor a brute.

I can''t speak for the best of the best, but I know that the malawi hawk and venustus are pretty damn good. whenever I have convict fry, my venustus is the only one able to snake past the parents and snatch them up, and that alone I think merits them a mention. some of the best fish at the strike fast kind of hunting. Boom and zoom if you will.

 

[Fanatic_Fish_Lunatic]

I can''t speak for the best of the best, but I know that the malawi hawk and venustus are pretty damn good. whenever I have convict fry, my venustus is the only one able to snake past the parents and snatch them up, and that alone I think merits them a mention. some of the best fish at the strike fast kind of hunting. Boom and zoom if you will.

I can think of the peacock bass.

 

[Kayden]

I would say it is between basketmouth cichlids, Cichla, and crenicichla

 

[justintheodd]

I can think of the peacock bass.

I would have to agree with you, just figured I'd share an anecdote.

 

[danotaylor]

Dimidichromis compressicep, a species of lake Malawi. Extreme lateral compression, hide amongst reed in shallower areas of the lake, sharp grabbing toothy array, lightning strike attack on unwary prey moving amongst the reeds. Classes as piscivore as their diet is almost exclusively smaller fish. Very cool African cichlid predator

 

[justintheodd]

Dimidichromis compressicep, a species of lake Malawi. Extreme lateral compression, hide amongst reed in shallower areas of the lake, sharp grabbing toothy array, lightning strike attack on unwary prey moving amongst the reeds. Classes as piscivore as their diet is almost exclusively smaller fish. Very cool African cichlid predator

I love malawi eyebiters, they are really cool fish and even better predators. watching them hunt is almost scary, and it makes you think that if it were bigger, it could take you down before you knew it was there.

 

[Fanatic_Fish_Lunatic]

Dimidichromis compressicep, a species of lake Malawi. Extreme lateral compression, hide amongst reed in shallower areas of the lake, sharp grabbing toothy array, lightning strike attack on unwary prey moving amongst the reeds. Classes as piscivore as their diet is almost exclusively smaller fish. Very cool African cichlid predator

Yes, I do agree with this. I have 2 of them which are the hardest to catch in my malawi tank.

 

[qldmick]

Speaking of Malawi's, electric blues in the wild mimic Mbuna ducking their head up and down like their grassing on algae, slowly getting closer to fry and then dashing in and eating them. They also hang around catfish nest where the catfish guard their fry along with cichlid fry that have been released nearby to join the guarded catfish fry for safety, they get close as they dare and dart in and grab a fry and dart back out.

 

[qldmick]