How To Take Care Of Your Red Devil, Midas Cichlid

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Common Name: Red Devil, Midas Cichlid

Scientific Name: Amphilophus Citrinellus

Average Adult Fish Size: 12 inches / 30.5 cm , but specimens up to 16 inches / 40.6 cm are not uncommon.

Place of Origin: Nicaragua, Costa Rica

Typical Tank Setup: Rocks, caves and driftwood/swamp. The Red Devil can be an excellent digr, so place heavy objects such as large rocks directly on the glass of the aquarium to avoid accidents.

Recommended Minimum Aquarium Capacity: 55 gallon / 220 litre for one. 120 gallon / 480 litre or larger for a pair.

Compatibility: Very aggressive. Keep only with other aggressive S. or Central American Cichlids, plecostomus, or large catfish. This fish is a predator by nature and will eat any fish that will fit in its mouth!

Temperature:  21 – 26 Deg C  /  70 – 79 Deg F

Water Chemistry: pH 6.5 – 8.0 with 7.0 preferred

Feeding: Red Devil Cichlids are opportunistic predators that eat a variety of foods in the wild. Although it is primarily a carnivore, it will need plant matter in its diet. If you keep your red devil cichlid in a non-planted aquarium, it’s even more important that you regularly add lettuce, boiled peas or something similar to your diet. A varied diet is recommended. For example, you can use high-quality pelleted carnivore food as a base and supplement it with fish, earthworms, snails, and insects.

Sexing: Sex determination of adult red devil cichlids is not difficult, as adult male red devil cichlids have a prominent bump on the forehead and pointy genital papillae. Males are also generally larger than females. While these characteristics may help experienced players, ventilation is the only sure way to determine the sex of smaller specimens.

Breeding:  Red Devil Cichlids form monogamous pairs, and both sexes are involved in their parenting. Before spawning, males can be very aggressive towards females. Therefore, it is important that the female has plenty of suitable hiding places in the aquarium. You can also install a net with holes that are too small for male red devil cichlids to swim through. If the female has nowhere to escape to in the aquarium, she can die from her injuries or become seriously ill from the stress. Provide a large flat surface, such as a piece of slate, on which the female can lay her eggs. Newly hatched fry will eat mucus extracted from adult fish skin. Parents will continue to protect their offspring and after about five days the fry will be old enough to start swimming in the aquarium. The fry will accept small live foods such as microworms or brine shrimp (BBS) or finely ground powdered feed.

Additional Information: There are many different color variations in red devil cichlids and two red devil cichlids from two different geographical regions can display very different colors. For example, you can buy red-yellow demon cichlid, red-orange demon cichlid, or red-orange demon cichlid. There are also a small number of red and white demon cichlids. About 10 percent of red devil cichlids are xanthomorphic in nature and will change color as they age.