Awesome video guys! I agree with your list. I was waiting for y’all to get to number one ☝🏾 The Dovii is my Channel mascot and my favorite fish! I have quite the breeding project going on over here. 💪🏾💪🏾 My male Dovii bred with my female Festae and some of the fry are now 4in! They look amazing! I respect y’all grind and really appreciate y’all contributions to the hobby! Keep it up!
Of course there's always going to be the "what about this fish" comments. Your list is spot on imo. I would had added a johanni in with the uratus and demasoni. My two johannis are an absolute labor of love to try and keep in my community cichlid tank. The older one who's full grown and about 6 inches is the tank boss and responds well to time outs and whatnot, and has developed a more user-friendly type of temperament lately. Then I have about a 4 inch one thar came as a rehome about a month ago that is running my tank ragged, as well as a white tail acei that makes a run at tank boss about every 45-60.days. the new smaller johanni is in a breeder box in his first time out as we speak on day two. We'll see how he responds. Luckily I have a 180 coming tomorrow that I'm hoping will reduce aggression due to literally doubling their space. Great vid. Curious as to where you rank a vieja and electric blue jack? My firemouth is remarkably docile, but is only 3.5 inches, there's probably a storm coming. I really want a gold saum, electric blue and vieja to add to the tank.
Thank you! And appreciate you sharing your experience. Vieja should probably be in honorable mentions as well. Especially the Argentea. Probably on pair with a regular jack Dempsey, but can occasionally be more aggressive
Ive had dovi for years and mines in a 310. Had tri mac, black nasty, texas, jaguar. And the dovi is by far the most aggressuve. Ive had to get stitches a few times from being bit by him.
Agreed I was breeding Dovi cichlids. I was routinely attacked by males guarding his nest. 3 fish in a 220 g 1 male and 2 female. After breeding the male killed both females. Sold off the brood and he had to go. Male actually had 2 fangs on his bottom jaw. Just nasty
@@vitoaugello1677 a friend made the mistake. Of putting a flowerhorn in with my male dovi once, thought that hed hold his own, didnt end well for the flowerhorn
Many of these fish are so beautiful. My personal tanks are all about relaxation for both myself and the fish:) Therefore, I'll just enjoy watching your videos. I admit I would love to have a beautiful Oscar😊
IMI the Heterotilapia buttikoferi would be #2 on this list behind the Dovii. Buttikoferi are insanely mean and can back it up. I owned one for 7 years. Great fish!
I had a friend who had a bid Dempsey. The cat used to drink out the tank and one day the Dempsey straight latched onto it's nose and tried to drag it into the tank lol.
Nice list! The “flowerhorn” hybrid is so aggressive because both of its parent species - the trimac and Midas cichlids - are aggressive. Another very aggressive cichlid is the five star general (Hemichromis elongatus), which can even overpower fish much bigger than itself. But it’s rare in the hobby, so an honorable mention might be good.
I had a butterkoferi and that fish was just a menace. It attacked anything and everything from the heater, filter intake tube, and any decor in the tank. It was so bad I had to give him back to the pet store. I do miss him though 😢.
I’ve had a few butterkoferi at different times with the same results. Slam the heater tube, kill tankmates, spitball substrate into one corner of the aquarium. My last one shared a six foot tank with YoYo loaches and a Raphael catfish. ❤
@@Buttikoferiii There’s always the exception too, they might surprise you yet! They’re both excellent fish, when I had them the tank boss was an older larger Jack Dempsey.
@@jay-remedy-plz been in the hobby for around 8 years and I’ve yet to find a cichlid that’s as bold, aggressive as a Buttikoferi. They have insane power in their jaws too, in the wild they feed primarily on mollusks and Algae. Those jaws and teeth are designed for breaking up hard shells and plant matter, which gives them a big advantage when battling other cichlids, they get massive too, with big males reaching up to 20 inches in ideal conditions. Females have no problem hitting 12-14 inches. Contrary to popular belief, parachromis despite having nasty teeth probably don’t have the strongest jaws, they’re mainly fish eaters so they have large mouths (and teeth) which were meant to inhale prey and using their large teeth, grip the prey. I’d put the Amphilophus family above them too, since their jaws were also designed to crush mullosks. It’s the size, big teeth and speed that gives the parachromis family a good advantage compared to other cichlids. Now I’m not saying their jaws are weak, they’re absolutely not but on a pound for pound basis (i.e) at similar sizes, I’d back the Amphilophus family on having the stronger jaws (as well as Buttikoferi)
Spot on with the list ! Had them all at one time or another! But my favorite is the peacock bass ! But need a big big tank I had mine in a 140 show tank and it eventually got too small. I had two of them !
At 2:03, what's that white fish with black spots? I used to fish keep a decade ago and now I'm getting back in the hobby, I used to have one of these badboys
The salvini is the meanest fish I’ve ever had. Killed my female hrp I had for four years. Tore the fins off. Her brother was next before I took that crazy fish back to the store.
In my experience, Jack Dempseys are very unpredictable. I've watched my angelfish repeatedly peck my Jack and he didn't even react, meanwhile the same Jack drew blood on me for moving his piece of driftwood when I was cleaning the tank. Still my favorite cichlid though lmfao
Thank you for the info. I'm not surprised that south American cichlids are mainly on this list. I was distracted by the tanks in the background. How many gallons are they?
Bought an adult male Texas Cichlid from my LFS that was crazy aggressive. Turns out he had a Hexamita infection. After a couple of rounds of metronidazole, he regained his health and lost all his aggression. Kept him in with some other medium sized cichlids and never had an issue.
I would have added jewel cichlids to that list. Especially during breeding , but I have seen as juveniles sneak up on a bumblebee cichlid latch onto it at the back of its head and shook it til it ripped skin off. It was not breeding at that point and was about 2” at that point
Tilapia Butterkofi, Red Devil, Jaguar cichlid, Texas cichlid and Flowehorn I've had in the past and believe there where times where I had to take those back to the pet store due to how extremely very aggressive they where in the tanks. The only ones I never had was the Salvini and the Dovii. The Dovii I heard is definitely the king of the most aggressive cichlids but I'll definitely put that one in a separate tank by its self.
I have a 180g tank with a 12” Midas a 10” Tilapia Buttikoferi a 9” Jag and 11 Vieja Synspilum Cichlids that are around 8 inches. So far all is peaceful, no chasing or picking. I think its due to the fact I have grown them together since little. I also have 3 plecos in with them…
I actually have a red devil and Jack Dempsey and a green terror all in the same tank. My red devil I was really watching and making sure but found out it was a female and my JD is a female so they are way less aggressive. My red devil is such a sweetheart and hasn’t giving me any issues so far. I mean she chases the bigger fish out of her little area but nothing aggressive to kill them. My JD female and her got into it with locking lips for a few days but my JD showed her that this is a peaceful tank. I also have a Buenos Aires tetras in as dither fish and none of them including the green terror or chocolate cichlid even bat an eye at the tetras. Everyone gets along fine from what I can tell. My red devil she is a interior designer she has moved the substrate around everywhere. Appreciate the video.
demasonis can be menaces. i have 2 juveniles left over from a previous setup living in my 72 gallon. so far they get along fine but they enjoy nipping trailing fins
Ive always found Kenyi to be the meanest small sized cichlid. Meaner than Auratus, Demasoni or Eye biters which are usually bullied be every other cichlid of similar size.
I wanted a tank of shell dwellers, but my local dealer only had Neolamprologus caudopunctatus that he said wee shell dwellers. Turns out that they really don't use the shells much except to hold fry. So now I have a 55 gallon tank with a bunch of unused escargot shells. Can I add some multies to the tank so that the shells get used?
In August/September 2020, I got an 80 gallon tank, everything included. It had a Jack Dempsey, a Common Pleco, a Tiger Oscar and a Red Devil Midas. It took just a few days to figure out the Midas was going to kill the Oscar and moved him into his own tank. Two weeks or so later, the 80 gallon tank sprang a leak. We had no other tanks set up at the time, so as a temporary fix, we put them in with the Midas. Big Mistake! 5 minutes later, the Midas, whom we call “Bob the Builder” due to his habit of rearranging the sand, had the Oscar by the tail and was dragging him backwards across the tank. One of us remembered we had a bowfront tank that was in storage, so we set that up as quickly as we could and got everyone out of Bob the Builder’s tank so he wouldn’t kill anyone. FYI, Bob is the most beautiful, entertaining fish I’ve ever had. His acrobatics are amazing!
I never expected this, but my big but only 7" female Electric Blue Texas has been whopping the hell out of my 12"+ male Red Devil. He's huge and literally has tail whipped smaller fish right out of the tank, but this Texas taunts and literally pushes thr limit. They've been ok in a 120gal for the last 2-3 years, but the squabbling is definitely up a few notches as of recent.
I time when we were got to pet-smart we got a aurtus cichlid and it terrorized every thing like crazy and we eventually got a 200 gallon and it is relatively peaceful in a bigger tank
Anything from lake Tanganyika especially when breeding i found the most aggressive especially Telmatochromis Dhonti, Temporalis and any of the Neolamprologus Brichardi.
You guys missed a few that should be on there thats way more aggressive them alot of the fish you named, red terror, mini dovi, black nasty, beani's are all ultra aggressive and deserve some recognition
I was looking into getting a Jack Dempsey to put in with my green terror(not aggressive) in a 55 gallon. u think that would work out? there's a few other cichlids in there but they aren't too aggressive
Some 20 years ago, I had a Texas Cichlid in with my Africans in a 125 gal. He got beat up and went into a community tank. He healed and ate everything in the community tank. Eventually, he went into a 90-gallon with other South American cichlids and a huge Oscar. He became boss of the 90 without much casualties.
So you are saying I probably shouldn’t put my Carpintis back in the community tank. It did fine for several weeks until it ate my baby albino heckelli (that took me 8 months to find) I had to pull the heckelli out of its mouth as it was too big to swallow. The carpintis(still a juvenile) is in a 40 breeder with 3 rainbows that are too big to eat. It will probably wind up in its own 75, but I was contemplating putting it back in the community (similar to your 180). Everyone is still a juvenile so I was hoping they all work it out when they are young. The trick will be keeping a tank open for the ones who cannot get along.
You definitely can try. As with most aggressive fish it just depends. I have a carpintis in my south/central american tank. In my opinion there's only a handful of definite no nos. And most other fish combos you just have to find out for yourself.
So I'm new at the fish Hobby and I have I believe is called a convict cichlid any suggestions on what other types of fish that I can put with it and the tank size that I should have them in please help ASAP
I had purple Cichlids with black stripes and orange translucent ones. They would reproduce constantly. I started with 5 and one day there were hundreds of babies. Most of the babies got eaten but I eventually ended up with like 15. At one point the water in the tank turned so green I couldn't see any of the fish. I was sure they were all dead but the water cleared in like 3 days and there were like 100 more babies in there. I couldn't handle all of them in the size tank I had. I gave them all away.
I have a 100 gallon tank, due to my other tank being cracked its ended up having sterbai cory in there, is there any cichlids you could recommend that wouldn't eat the corys.
@Cichlid Bros many thanks for the reply, yeah that's what I was thinking, with the exception of the keyhole, hadn't thought of that one, as long as I break the line of sight up, would one of each of those work? I'm having custom slate rockery made and will also be having driftwood in there.
I got lucky with a female salvini.... she keeps to her self in my 4x2x2 she only went skitz when she bred with my blue cichlid other than that time she not agressive at all perfect because salvini probably my favourite cichlid bur never had before because I wanted a mixed tank and thought wouldn't work...
I've had my red devil cichlid with tank mates for a while now. And I don't seem to have any problems. He usually stays in the center of the tank and doesn't bother the others. He is a male, I just think I got a docile fish.
I once had a butterkoferi in a 75 gallon with a Red Devil and Dempsey. It killed them both. The fish eventually grew to a foot long before it finally died. It was so mean that when I used to put the python hose in there to clean the tank it would actually attack the hose. I've had many aggressive fish over the years , Budda as I called the fish was second only to the snakehead I had when they were actually legal to own some 30 years ago
I’d have to disagree with that, but can agree also that different fish of the same species can sometimes have different personalities My black belt is very aggressive and will smash into the glass and even the lid to bite you if you reach near the tank
I also have x2 30cm Oscar’s who sometimes lock lips together but would not challenge the black belt , the black belt was taking chunks out of fins and consistently bullying the Oscar’s so the cichlid is alone in its very own tank
My top 10- 1. Dovii 2. Buttikoferi 3. Hemichromis Fasciatus 4. Istlanum/Grammodes 5. Red Tiger Motas 6. Chancho cichlid/Trimac 7. Red Devil (Labiatus) 8. Beani/Umbee 9. Jaguar cichlid 10. Midas cichlid Flowerhorns would not make my top 10 personally cause they're hybrids and also too slow to hang with the big bads on this list. Honorable mentions- Salvini’s, Festae (Red terrors), Cubans.
I like your list but the Hemichromis Fasciatus should be first if the cichlid is around their size even the Dovii will get beat up 9x out of 10 and the Chancho is a beast and will kill most anything you put in with it
@@gregoryanderson680 That’s fair, if it were a pound for pound list they’d be up at the top for sure! And I’m sure Salvini’s would have made the list. But remember at 8-10 inches a full grown Fasciatus would essentially be a sub adult if it were Dovii, even male Jags, male Chanchos, male Trimacs and male Buttikoferi would have another 4-6 inches to grow into. Chanchos are very underrated, I’ve heard many fish keepers who’ve owned most/all the Amphilophus species rank them as the meanest, with Trimacs being a close 2nd! Those 2 are both tanks, they get huge, are very robust and their jaws are insanely strong, stronger than Dovii and many species in the Parachromis family actually cause they’re built to crush mullosks and other hard shelled creatures. Parachromis, especially Dovii and Jags actually have big mouths and big teeth meant to grip fish, while Amphilophus have the stronger jaws (but the teeth aren’t as large) to crush hard shelled animals. Same with the Buttikoferi. It’s the speed, high aggression and big teeth that gives the parachromis family a big advantage going up against other cichlids, while the Amphilophus family uses their more robust body, jaws and strength to their advantage. Now I’m not saying parachromis aren’t strong, they certainly are but at equal sizes, Amphs would be slightly stronger.
@@Buttikoferiii yeah I agree but most people see elognatus not fasciatus and from the half dozen times I owned them they fight much different from other cichlids they push the jaw lock away followed by a swift bite to the eyes under the jaw or gills when the tail slapping begins they bite the tail and body in the back then because this isn’t usual cichlid combat they panic and flee then they harass and destroy the scared fish and many times I’ve had the males get over a foot which was more than enough to terrorize my aquariums, I found Chancho, Dovii, Umbees and some large vieja cichlids, butties and hoogaborums were the only cichlids I could keep them with provided the tank was 300 gallons or more. Motaguense aka red tigers weren’t mentioned by many neither, I often put them even with Freddies or yellow jackets, Beani are bezerker cichlids and totally antisocial as well as some of the larger more robust species of pike cichlids. I think red terrors are often very underrated too but I agree with Trimacs and I think they’re definitely a nice looking species and fun to keep as a pair of you can get a male to stand up to a big dominant female. But as I said Fasciatus 5 spots, Dovii and Chancho are my top 3 in that order with 4) Beani 5) Buttikofferi 6) Grammodes 7) Umbee 8) Crenicichla marmosets/ marbled pike cichlid 9) Motaguense tied with Yellow jackets 10)Neetroplus small but mighty
@@gregoryanderson680 I agree that’s true, they don’t go to lip lock they target weak spots like the fins etc. Imo Motas are absolute demons! Some rank them above dovii in aggression, I certainly think they’re over Jaguars in aggression. That’s a solid list I agree with most on that! Although imo I haven’t seen much aggressive yellow jackets. I can’t believe I forgot about Neetroplus though, those guys make convicts and Salvini’s look like puppies lol
I pretty much agree with the list but not the order, I’d have buttis much higher and over the Red Devils/ Midas. But my list would be 1. Grammodes 2. H. Elongatus 3. Dovii 4. Butti 5. Auratus 6. Devil/Midas 7. Jags 8. H. Frempongi 9. Any melanochromis 10. True Red terror
I remember that one time I’ve been away for school summer camp when I left my community tank at home, and one day my brother went home from carnival brought some strange cichlids with yellow strips I never knew (he got it as reward from winning some games there) and unknowingly put it into my tank It took less than a month when I get home and realized that fish is zebra tilapia cichlid, wreaking havoc with tons of casualties 😂
Good information. How about a Cichlid Bros aggression score? Give each specie a score and tell us why. This will create viewer feedback, and opinion discussions between knowledgeable hobbyists. As well, I think it would be helpful to create separate lists of aggressive Cichlids broken out between Central, South and African. Realistically, most true cichlid hobbyists interested in these videos would not keep Africans and Central/South in the same tank. I appreciate and think it important to the hobby that the scientific name be given each time a fish is referenced. It would be informative to reference Cichlids by geographic region and also provide a more thorough description of the specie(s) native biotope. It would be really cool to see videos of all the Africans by each lake, region of the lake, depth of water they inhabit and native food preferences. Same could be done by country or geographic regions of C.A. and S.A. Anyway, thanks for what you create and share but I think there is room to dive in with more scientific descriptions and still be entertaining.
I want to a public aquarium and I saw a tank with buutterkofi tilapia Nile perch African tiger fish mbu puffer giraffe catfish and six banded distichodus and the butterkofi were 18 inches long
I keep a lot of monster cichlids, from my experience all Amphilophus and tilapia buttikoferi are the most aggressive the most difficult to allocate with other cichlids. What I find the most irritating in them is that other fish like texas, Starry night cichlid, oscars etc. can get along with other aggressive cichlids like parachromis for example. For the most part they will be lower in hierarchy and everythings gonna be fine. What's different about amphilophus is that either they rule the tank or they get killed if other fish is way bigger and meanier. As for adult amphilophus and buttikoferi you can only count that they will let other fish live in their tank. That's why I don't keep them even though i find amphilophus the best looking cichlid
Neolamprologus tretocephalus are pretty aggressive and would probably wreck any of the mbunas on that list. But you guys seem to avoid anything tanganyikan for some reason…
@@CichlidBros are tanganyikans not common in the Chicago area? I’m in Utah and they are all over the place out here. I prefer tanganyikans over anything Malawi though so that’s partly what motivated my comment. I just wish one of you would do a big tanganyikan community tank. The variety in tanganyikan cichlids is amazing compared to Malawi where most things have similar body shapes.
I more so meant the specific fish you called out. I love Tanganyikans (and do have the one shell dweller tank) but keeping a community or frontosa tank is definitely on the list in the future
My dovii killed all. Looked peacefull in the morning in the tank with another big chiclid. When i got home he completely descaled the other fish no matter the size. Sad, had to keep him solo all times.
Ive had many monsters, including Flowers, Devils, Umbi, Mannys, and even the sleek and evil Wolf Fish. Nothing, however, has been as aggressive , mean, and just downright evil as a Dovii. My 14 in Dovii had to have not only his own 300g tank, after killing everything i thought could hold their own with him, but i had to give him his own room in my house...Damn fish literally had his own room ... My daughter's kitten climbed on the tank, batting at the fish through the lid cracks. Dovii grabbed kittys paw and shredded it. The Dovii was so mean, it would charge the glass, smashing its head against the glass just to go after humans in the room. It was truly an enigma. Sadly, he and my other fish in other tanks died in a house fire back in 2010. Im currently considering doing another 300 build and get back into the hobby.
I had 7 tanks with mostly multiple types of American cichlids but the maintenance got too much.. Now I only have one tank with a pair of the no1 aggressive cichlids.. Dovii Wolf cichlid 🥰🥰👍
I had a Malawi eye biter I named Stripe It’s one of my favorite African cichlids because their head is shaped like a barracuda They just don’t have the gaping jaws of a barracuda🐠💙🔥
You grouped yellow jacket and jaguar together! Always love the grouping that way you guys can cover more fish!
Awesome video guys! I agree with your list. I was waiting for y’all to get to number one ☝🏾 The Dovii is my Channel mascot and my favorite fish! I have quite the breeding project going on over here. 💪🏾💪🏾 My male Dovii bred with my female Festae and some of the fry are now 4in! They look amazing!
I respect y’all grind and really appreciate y’all contributions to the hobby! Keep it up!
very nice cichlids bro's beautiful ❤👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you!
Of course there's always going to be the "what about this fish" comments. Your list is spot on imo. I would had added a johanni in with the uratus and demasoni. My two johannis are an absolute labor of love to try and keep in my community cichlid tank. The older one who's full grown and about 6 inches is the tank boss and responds well to time outs and whatnot, and has developed a more user-friendly type of temperament lately. Then I have about a 4 inch one thar came as a rehome about a month ago that is running my tank ragged, as well as a white tail acei that makes a run at tank boss about every 45-60.days. the new smaller johanni is in a breeder box in his first time out as we speak on day two. We'll see how he responds. Luckily I have a 180 coming tomorrow that I'm hoping will reduce aggression due to literally doubling their space. Great vid. Curious as to where you rank a vieja and electric blue jack? My firemouth is remarkably docile, but is only 3.5 inches, there's probably a storm coming. I really want a gold saum, electric blue and vieja to add to the tank.
Thank you! And appreciate you sharing your experience. Vieja should probably be in honorable mentions as well. Especially the Argentea. Probably on pair with a regular jack Dempsey, but can occasionally be more aggressive
Ive had dovi for years and mines in a 310. Had tri mac, black nasty, texas, jaguar. And the dovi is by far the most aggressuve. Ive had to get stitches a few times from being bit by him.
Agreed I was breeding Dovi cichlids. I was routinely attacked by males guarding his nest. 3 fish in a 220 g 1 male and 2 female. After breeding the male killed both females. Sold off the brood and he had to go. Male actually had 2 fangs on his bottom jaw. Just nasty
@@vitoaugello1677 a friend made the mistake. Of putting a flowerhorn in with my male dovi once, thought that hed hold his own, didnt end well for the flowerhorn
@@mcaquatics3143 Damn, would have thought the flowerhorn would use his big ass brain to outsmart the dovi... /s
Green terror, jag, and oscars are my top 3 cichlids of all time, they all have very different personality's yet are so beautiful 😍
Many of these fish are so beautiful. My personal tanks are all about relaxation for both myself and the fish:) Therefore, I'll just enjoy watching your videos. I admit I would love to have a beautiful Oscar😊
Thanks for sharing
Jaguar cichlids are my all time favorite
Red terror is mine
@@bookiebrown7012e they sure are beautiful
You guys are coming in clutch I just brought home an aggressive cichlid
Glad this is helpful!
@@CichlidBros I picked up a baby flower horn it’s in quarantine right now
IMI the Heterotilapia buttikoferi would be #2 on this list behind the Dovii. Buttikoferi are insanely mean and can back it up. I owned one for 7 years. Great fish!
I had a friend who had a bid Dempsey. The cat used to drink out the tank and one day the Dempsey straight latched onto it's nose and tried to drag it into the tank lol.
Nice list! The “flowerhorn” hybrid is so aggressive because both of its parent species - the trimac and Midas cichlids - are aggressive. Another very aggressive cichlid is the five star general (Hemichromis elongatus), which can even overpower fish much bigger than itself. But it’s rare in the hobby, so an honorable mention might be good.
Agreed!
I love predatory cichlids
Not missing out on something like that zebra tilapia at your LFS or a show is another good reason to always have a quarantine tank running.
I had a butterkoferi and that fish was just a menace. It attacked anything and everything from the heater, filter intake tube, and any decor in the tank. It was so bad I had to give him back to the pet store. I do miss him though 😢.
I’ve had a few butterkoferi at different times with the same results. Slam the heater tube, kill tankmates, spitball substrate into one corner of the aquarium. My last one shared a six foot tank with YoYo loaches and a Raphael catfish. ❤
I’m kinda glad I passed at the LFS years ago. Would’ve been a nightmare 😅
My adult female made my male Jaguar and Red devil look like a joke in comparison.
@@Buttikoferiii There’s always the exception too, they might surprise you yet! They’re both excellent fish, when I had them the tank boss was an older larger Jack Dempsey.
@@jay-remedy-plz been in the hobby for around 8 years and I’ve yet to find a cichlid that’s as bold, aggressive as a Buttikoferi. They have insane power in their jaws too, in the wild they feed primarily on mollusks and Algae. Those jaws and teeth are designed for breaking up hard shells and plant matter, which gives them a big advantage when battling other cichlids, they get massive too, with big males reaching up to 20 inches in ideal conditions. Females have no problem hitting 12-14 inches.
Contrary to popular belief, parachromis despite having nasty teeth probably don’t have the strongest jaws, they’re mainly fish eaters so they have large mouths (and teeth) which were meant to inhale prey and using their large teeth, grip the prey. I’d put the Amphilophus family above them too, since their jaws were also designed to crush mullosks.
It’s the size, big teeth and speed that gives the parachromis family a good advantage compared to other cichlids. Now I’m not saying their jaws are weak, they’re absolutely not but on a pound for pound basis (i.e) at similar sizes, I’d back the Amphilophus family on having the stronger jaws (as well as Buttikoferi)
Rwd terror is my all time favorite
Would definitely love one
Spot on with the list ! Had them all at one time or another! But my favorite is the peacock bass ! But need a big big tank I had mine in a 140 show tank and it eventually got too small. I had two of them !
At 2:03, what's that white fish with black spots?
I used to fish keep a decade ago and now I'm getting back in the hobby, I used to have one of these badboys
The salvini is the meanest fish I’ve ever had. Killed my female hrp I had for four years. Tore the fins off. Her brother was next before I took that crazy fish back to the store.
I had a similar experience with my female
In my experience, Jack Dempseys are very unpredictable. I've watched my angelfish repeatedly peck my Jack and he didn't even react, meanwhile the same Jack drew blood on me for moving his piece of driftwood when I was cleaning the tank. Still my favorite cichlid though lmfao
I love your top five pick
Awesome video really liked it 💯💯
Thanks for watching!
I liked the ranking of the flower horn and red devil /midas
Buttikoferi cichlid should have been rank right behind the midas n red devil those cichlids are a bad azz I had dem b4
Thank you for the info. I'm not surprised that south American cichlids are mainly on this list. I was distracted by the tanks in the background. How many gallons are they?
I’ve had most of these fish and from my experience the buttikoferi was by far the most dominating fish I’ve ever had
We’ve heard that a ton!
Exciting 😈
Great video, as always, but I'm a peaceful Cildlid person.
Thank you, and that’s fair!
Bought an adult male Texas Cichlid from my LFS that was crazy aggressive. Turns out he had a Hexamita infection. After a couple of rounds of metronidazole, he regained his health and lost all his aggression. Kept him in with some other medium sized cichlids and never had an issue.
I would have added jewel cichlids to that list. Especially during breeding , but I have seen as juveniles sneak up on a bumblebee cichlid latch onto it at the back of its head and shook it til it ripped skin off. It was not breeding at that point and was about 2” at that point
My Midas .. is just 6 month.. old... But he is bosss ... his agreesiveness is🔥🔥🔥🔥
Tilapia Butterkofi, Red Devil, Jaguar cichlid, Texas cichlid and Flowehorn I've had in the past and believe there where times where I had to take those back to the pet store due to how extremely very aggressive they where in the tanks. The only ones I never had was the Salvini and the Dovii. The Dovii I heard is definitely the king of the most aggressive cichlids but I'll definitely put that one in a separate tank by its self.
I have a 180g tank with a 12” Midas a 10” Tilapia Buttikoferi a 9” Jag and 11 Vieja Synspilum Cichlids that are around 8 inches. So far all is peaceful, no chasing or picking. I think its due to the fact I have grown them together since little. I also have 3 plecos in with them…
Very nice. That’s a potent mix!
I keep my 🤞fingers cross…
Keep a close eye on all those guys, one day you may wake up to just 1 swimming in there.
Good luck though!
I actually have a red devil and Jack Dempsey and a green terror all in the same tank. My red devil I was really watching and making sure but found out it was a female and my JD is a female so they are way less aggressive. My red devil is such a sweetheart and hasn’t giving me any issues so far. I mean she chases the bigger fish out of her little area but nothing aggressive to kill them. My JD female and her got into it with locking lips for a few days but my JD showed her that this is a peaceful tank. I also have a Buenos Aires tetras in as dither fish and none of them including the green terror or chocolate cichlid even bat an eye at the tetras. Everyone gets along fine from what I can tell. My red devil she is a interior designer she has moved the substrate around everywhere. Appreciate the video.
demasonis can be menaces. i have 2 juveniles left over from a previous setup living in my 72 gallon. so far they get along fine but they enjoy nipping trailing fins
Enjoyed the videos guys but, my list would have included Trimac, Black Nasty, Midas, mini-dovii (chiapaheros grammodes) and a few more lesser knowns.
That's fair! They'd likely be on the list if we removed some of the Lake Malawi cichlids
Ive always found Kenyi to be the meanest small sized cichlid. Meaner than Auratus, Demasoni or Eye biters which are usually bullied be every other cichlid of similar size.
I wanted a tank of shell dwellers, but my local dealer only had Neolamprologus caudopunctatus that he said wee shell dwellers. Turns out that they really don't use the shells much except to hold fry. So now I have a 55 gallon tank with a bunch of unused escargot shells. Can I add some multies to the tank so that the shells get used?
I don't recall seeing Umbees on your list. Those bastards are true tank busters but gorgeous and incredibly interesting.
What are bred to make a flowerhorn
In August/September 2020, I got an 80 gallon tank, everything included. It had a Jack Dempsey, a Common Pleco, a Tiger Oscar and a Red Devil Midas. It took just a few days to figure out the Midas was going to kill the Oscar and moved him into his own tank. Two weeks or so later, the 80 gallon tank sprang a leak. We had no other tanks set up at the time, so as a temporary fix, we put them in with the Midas. Big Mistake! 5 minutes later, the Midas, whom we call “Bob the Builder” due to his habit of rearranging the sand, had the Oscar by the tail and was dragging him backwards across the tank. One of us remembered we had a bowfront tank that was in storage, so we set that up as quickly as we could and got everyone out of Bob the Builder’s tank so he wouldn’t kill anyone.
FYI, Bob is the most beautiful, entertaining fish I’ve ever had. His acrobatics are amazing!
I have a Jack Dempsey cichlid which is probably about an inch I think the female I think it's a female and she is very aggressive already.
I had Buttekoferi and Red tiger managuine together, they are equally aggressive , much aggressive than Oscar Green terror
can i print out the lists...???
I’ve never been able to keep anything in the tank with a green terror. I tried three different times and gave up.
I never expected this, but my big but only 7" female Electric Blue Texas has been whopping the hell out of my 12"+ male Red Devil. He's huge and literally has tail whipped smaller fish right out of the tank, but this Texas taunts and literally pushes thr limit. They've been ok in a 120gal for the last 2-3 years, but the squabbling is definitely up a few notches as of recent.
I time when we were got to pet-smart we got a aurtus cichlid and it terrorized every thing like crazy and we eventually got a 200 gallon and it is relatively peaceful in a bigger tank
Anything from lake Tanganyika especially when breeding i found the most aggressive especially Telmatochromis Dhonti, Temporalis and any of the Neolamprologus Brichardi.
You guys missed a few that should be on there thats way more aggressive them alot of the fish you named, red terror, mini dovi, black nasty, beani's are all ultra aggressive and deserve some recognition
I was looking into getting a Jack Dempsey to put in with my green terror(not aggressive) in a 55 gallon. u think that would work out? there's a few other cichlids in there but they aren't too aggressive
Long term there would need more than a 75 gallon
It should be fine...ive kept green terror with Dempseys b4 with no problem.
Some 20 years ago, I had a Texas Cichlid in with my Africans in a 125 gal. He got beat up and went into a community tank. He healed and ate everything in the community tank. Eventually, he went into a 90-gallon with other South American cichlids and a huge Oscar. He became boss of the 90 without much casualties.
So you are saying I probably shouldn’t put my Carpintis back in the community tank. It did fine for several weeks until it ate my baby albino heckelli (that took me 8 months to find) I had to pull the heckelli out of its mouth as it was too big to swallow. The carpintis(still a juvenile) is in a 40 breeder with 3 rainbows that are too big to eat. It will probably wind up in its own 75, but I was contemplating putting it back in the community (similar to your 180). Everyone is still a juvenile so I was hoping they all work it out when they are young. The trick will be keeping a tank open for the ones who cannot get along.
You definitely can try. As with most aggressive fish it just depends. I have a carpintis in my south/central american tank.
In my opinion there's only a handful of definite no nos. And most other fish combos you just have to find out for yourself.
So I'm new at the fish Hobby and I have I believe is called a convict cichlid any suggestions on what other types of fish that I can put with it and the tank size that I should have them in please help ASAP
Top 10 Tank Mates for Convict Cichlids
ua-cam.com/video/h0PhqM9axKY/v-deo.html
Firemouths, Jack dempys maybe parrots all have worked well with mine
What about the umbee and trimac?
Only room for 10 on the list. I mention both tho
Compressiceps is mild mannered compared to Ps. Elongatus. Also no pike cichlids mentioned. Fun video though.
I had purple Cichlids with black stripes and orange translucent ones. They would reproduce constantly. I started with 5 and one day there were hundreds of babies. Most of the babies got eaten but I eventually ended up with like 15. At one point the water in the tank turned so green I couldn't see any of the fish. I was sure they were all dead but the water cleared in like 3 days and there were like 100 more babies in there. I couldn't handle all of them in the size tank I had. I gave them all away.
Had to give up my gt bc he was tearing up my severums and syno cat hoping to set up a 75 just for him and get him back
I have a 100 gallon tank, due to my other tank being cracked its ended up having sterbai cory in there, is there any cichlids you could recommend that wouldn't eat the corys.
Apistos, rams, keyholes, smaller geos, electric blue acara
@Cichlid Bros many thanks for the reply, yeah that's what I was thinking, with the exception of the keyhole, hadn't thought of that one, as long as I break the line of sight up, would one of each of those work? I'm having custom slate rockery made and will also be having driftwood in there.
Yep I think so!
Why have you missed on the black nasty and Red terror?
Only room for 10 on this list
I have a Wolf and a Red Devil. Can you do that?
Would be very challenging to keep them together. May have issues as they grow
I got lucky with a female salvini.... she keeps to her self in my 4x2x2 she only went skitz when she bred with my blue cichlid other than that time she not agressive at all perfect because salvini probably my favourite cichlid bur never had before because I wanted a mixed tank and thought wouldn't work...
I have about half of all the fish you listed😅 no Wonder they're such a pain
I've had my red devil cichlid with tank mates for a while now. And I don't seem to have any problems. He usually stays in the center of the tank and doesn't bother the others. He is a male, I just think I got a docile fish.
My former giant temensis peacock bass was destroying all other fish in my 500 gallon; the true red terror is said to be extremely aggressive.
I have a hand sized male Jack Dempsey and he’s a monster to every tank.
I once had a butterkoferi in a 75 gallon with a Red Devil and Dempsey. It killed them both. The fish eventually grew to a foot long before it finally died. It was so mean that when I used to put the python hose in there to clean the tank it would actually attack the hose. I've had many aggressive fish over the years , Budda as I called the fish was second only to the snakehead I had when they were actually legal to own some 30 years ago
No mention of the Cuban Cichlid
Only room for 10…
@@CichlidBros Another excuse for a follow up video of honorable mentions and also rans 🎉
@@jay-remedy-plz noted! 📝
What about the black belt cichlid (vieja maculicauda)
Can definitely be aggressive. Wouldn't put them ahead of the 10 on the list tho
I’d have to disagree with that, but can agree also that different fish of the same species can sometimes have different personalities
My black belt is very aggressive and will smash into the glass and even the lid to bite you if you reach near the tank
I also have x2 30cm Oscar’s who sometimes lock lips together but would not challenge the black belt , the black belt was taking chunks out of fins and consistently bullying the Oscar’s so the cichlid is alone in its very own tank
My top 10-
1. Dovii
2. Buttikoferi
3. Hemichromis Fasciatus
4. Istlanum/Grammodes
5. Red Tiger Motas
6. Chancho cichlid/Trimac
7. Red Devil (Labiatus)
8. Beani/Umbee
9. Jaguar cichlid
10. Midas cichlid
Flowerhorns would not make my top 10 personally cause they're hybrids and also too slow to hang with the big bads on this list.
Honorable mentions- Salvini’s, Festae (Red terrors), Cubans.
I like your list but the Hemichromis Fasciatus should be first if the cichlid is around their size even the Dovii will get beat up 9x out of 10 and the Chancho is a beast and will kill most anything you put in with it
@@gregoryanderson680 That’s fair, if it were a pound for pound list they’d be up at the top for sure! And I’m sure Salvini’s would have made the list. But remember at 8-10 inches a full grown Fasciatus would essentially be a sub adult if it were Dovii, even male Jags, male Chanchos, male Trimacs and male Buttikoferi would have another 4-6 inches to grow into.
Chanchos are very underrated, I’ve heard many fish keepers who’ve owned most/all the Amphilophus species rank them as the meanest, with Trimacs being a close 2nd! Those 2 are both tanks, they get huge, are very robust and their jaws are insanely strong, stronger than Dovii and many species in the Parachromis family actually cause they’re built to crush mullosks and other hard shelled creatures.
Parachromis, especially Dovii and Jags actually have big mouths and big teeth meant to grip fish, while Amphilophus have the stronger jaws (but the teeth aren’t as large) to crush hard shelled animals. Same with the Buttikoferi.
It’s the speed, high aggression and big teeth that gives the parachromis family a big advantage going up against other cichlids, while the Amphilophus family uses their more robust body, jaws and strength to their advantage. Now I’m not saying parachromis aren’t strong, they certainly are but at equal sizes, Amphs would be slightly stronger.
@@Buttikoferiii yeah I agree but most people see elognatus not fasciatus and from the half dozen times I owned them they fight much different from other cichlids they push the jaw lock away followed by a swift bite to the eyes under the jaw or gills when the tail slapping begins they bite the tail and body in the back then because this isn’t usual cichlid combat they panic and flee then they harass and destroy the scared fish and many times I’ve had the males get over a foot which was more than enough to terrorize my aquariums, I found Chancho, Dovii, Umbees and some large vieja cichlids, butties and hoogaborums were the only cichlids I could keep them with provided the tank was 300 gallons or more.
Motaguense aka red tigers weren’t mentioned by many neither, I often put them even with Freddies or yellow jackets, Beani are bezerker cichlids and totally antisocial as well as some of the larger more robust species of pike cichlids. I think red terrors are often very underrated too but I agree with Trimacs and I think they’re definitely a nice looking species and fun to keep as a pair of you can get a male to stand up to a big dominant female.
But as I said Fasciatus 5 spots, Dovii and Chancho are my top 3 in that order with
4) Beani
5) Buttikofferi
6) Grammodes
7) Umbee
8) Crenicichla marmosets/ marbled pike cichlid
9) Motaguense tied with Yellow jackets
10)Neetroplus small but mighty
@@gregoryanderson680 I agree that’s true, they don’t go to lip lock they target weak spots like the fins etc.
Imo Motas are absolute demons! Some rank them above dovii in aggression, I certainly think they’re over Jaguars in aggression.
That’s a solid list I agree with most on that! Although imo I haven’t seen much aggressive yellow jackets. I can’t believe I forgot about Neetroplus though, those guys make convicts and Salvini’s look like puppies lol
My cichlids I thought was breading we moved them to their own tank now she doesn't want to 😢 what can I do
I’ve had different Oscar’s for over thirty years and have never had an aggressive one.
I love my Texas, it is still a juvenile. But I've had them in the past, and they r very aggressive. But still one of my favorites
I pretty much agree with the list but not the order, I’d have buttis much higher and over the Red Devils/ Midas.
But my list would be
1. Grammodes
2. H. Elongatus
3. Dovii
4. Butti
5. Auratus
6. Devil/Midas
7. Jags
8. H. Frempongi
9. Any melanochromis
10. True Red terror
That’s a solid list, I agree with most on that
I remember that one time I’ve been away for school summer camp when I left my community tank at home, and one day my brother went home from carnival brought some strange cichlids with yellow strips I never knew (he got it as reward from winning some games there) and unknowingly put it into my tank
It took less than a month when I get home and realized that fish is zebra tilapia cichlid, wreaking havoc with tons of casualties 😂
Good information. How about a Cichlid Bros aggression score? Give each specie a score and tell us why. This will create viewer feedback, and opinion discussions between knowledgeable hobbyists. As well, I think it would be helpful to create separate lists of aggressive Cichlids broken out between Central, South and African. Realistically, most true cichlid hobbyists interested in these videos would not keep Africans and Central/South in the same tank. I appreciate and think it important to the hobby that the scientific name be given each time a fish is referenced. It would be informative to reference Cichlids by geographic region and also provide a more thorough description of the specie(s) native biotope. It would be really cool to see videos of all the Africans by each lake, region of the lake, depth of water they inhabit and native food preferences. Same could be done by country or geographic regions of C.A. and S.A. Anyway, thanks for what you create and share but I think there is room to dive in with more scientific descriptions and still be entertaining.
I had a mbuna.. single fish in a 40 gal. He was a savage
I want to a public aquarium and I saw a tank with buutterkofi tilapia Nile perch African tiger fish mbu puffer giraffe catfish and six banded distichodus and the butterkofi were 18 inches long
I had a zebra tilapia., it was so mean I had it a 75 gallon alone.
One of my most aggressive fish I ever had was Nicaraguan cichlid. I had to rehome mine. It was trying to kill the EBAs and Geos.
I keep a lot of monster cichlids, from my experience all Amphilophus and tilapia buttikoferi are the most aggressive the most difficult to allocate with other cichlids. What I find the most irritating in them is that other fish like texas, Starry night cichlid, oscars etc. can get along with other aggressive cichlids like parachromis for example. For the most part they will be lower in hierarchy and everythings gonna be fine. What's different about amphilophus is that either they rule the tank or they get killed if other fish is way bigger and meanier. As for adult amphilophus and buttikoferi you can only count that they will let other fish live in their tank. That's why I don't keep them even though i find amphilophus the best looking cichlid
Neolamprologus tretocephalus are pretty aggressive and would probably wreck any of the mbunas on that list. But you guys seem to avoid anything tanganyikan for some reason…
Its a rare fish, and most tanganikans aren't aggressive...
@@CichlidBros are tanganyikans not common in the Chicago area? I’m in Utah and they are all over the place out here. I prefer tanganyikans over anything Malawi though so that’s partly what motivated my comment. I just wish one of you would do a big tanganyikan community tank. The variety in tanganyikan cichlids is amazing compared to Malawi where most things have similar body shapes.
I more so meant the specific fish you called out. I love Tanganyikans (and do have the one shell dweller tank) but keeping a community or frontosa tank is definitely on the list in the future
Tretocephalus is my all time favorite, I have had a few. Lamprologus are pretty calm except towards their own kind.
@@CichlidBros a brichardi colony would be cool.
My dovii killed all. Looked peacefull in the morning in the tank with another big chiclid. When i got home he completely descaled the other fish no matter the size. Sad, had to keep him solo all times.
Ive had many monsters, including Flowers, Devils, Umbi, Mannys, and even the sleek and evil Wolf Fish.
Nothing, however, has been as aggressive , mean, and just downright evil as a Dovii.
My 14 in Dovii had to have not only his own 300g tank, after killing everything i thought could hold their own with him, but i had to give him his own room in my house...Damn fish literally had his own room ...
My daughter's kitten climbed on the tank, batting at the fish through the lid cracks. Dovii grabbed kittys paw and shredded it.
The Dovii was so mean, it would charge the glass, smashing its head against the glass just to go after humans in the room. It was truly an enigma.
Sadly, he and my other fish in other tanks died in a house fire back in 2010.
Im currently considering doing another 300 build and get back into the hobby.
Had a devil that would smash the glass too when anyone got near.
Tht was andy wolf big fish at the end
Cool. I just pulled a couple pics from google
@@CichlidBros he has a 20 foot wolf chiclids he calls Wolfy n tht was him at the end of your vid
Very nice!
Andy woods chiclids my bad
I got all my red terror festae from Andy I got a black nasty pair from him he has the red mrph of wolf chiclids also he sells them but he's in the UK
Got a Greene terror because of this vid… just lost him and his female yesterday because of the storm here in fl… sucks bruh really sucks
Jack Dempsey my favorite
I had 7 tanks with mostly multiple types of American cichlids but the maintenance got too much.. Now I only have one tank with a pair of the no1 aggressive cichlids.. Dovii Wolf cichlid 🥰🥰👍
Very nice!
@@CichlidBros thanks mate 👍 love your guys videos 🥰👍
Dovii and red devil should be tied if anything for #1
Does the Texas cichlid come from Texas?
I had a Red devil that was super aggressive ended up giving him the tank to himself
Hemichromis fasciatus is by far the most aggressive
It might be up there pound for pound, but no way id say it could handle a dovii or some of the bigger cichlids on this list
I used to have an imbuna tank. Aggressive fish I had. Was a bumblebee. Killed about everything in the tank.
Yep, another very aggressive mbuna
I had a Malawi eye biter I named Stripe It’s one of my favorite African cichlids because their head is shaped like a barracuda They just don’t have the gaping jaws of a barracuda🐠💙🔥
I’ve got a bumblebee that should rip your list. He’s the most territorial fish I’ve ever had. If he kills anymore I’m getting piranhas again. 😂
What about peacock bab
1.Texas chiclid...
2.Salvini chiclid..
3yellow jacket chiclid
4.jaquar chichild
5.Red devil
6.Wolf chiclid
7.Jack damsay
What about the Emperor cichlid?
Red devil, Black Umbee, Dovii
I have oscar,green terror and severum but my severum is the most agressive