Red devil behavior and eating habits?

Question

Hi Everyone,

Im keeping a Red Devil. Had him for 3 weeks already. Hes not that large yet. Still around 3 inches. I not even sure if he has grown at all since I got him.

He had ick on the first week. Hes fine now. No white spots whatsoever.

I just noticed that he doesnt eat that much. He is very picky too. I would drop 3 pellets and he would only take 1 or 2 if im lucky. He sometimes doesnt eat at all.

I also tried feeding him small earthworms, he eats one or two of those. But just like with pellets, he sometimes doesnt bother to eat at all.

The only thing he eats no matter how plenty i put is mosquitoes! Weird. Hehe.

Im thinking hes stressed or something?

Most of the times, he dwells on the bottom of the tank where he dug up the gravel. He is also seems to be very analytical and sensitive to movements outside the tank.

Anybody on this? Is this all normal?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Answer 1

first off, pick up some food that he'll be more likely to eat. I've never had any luck with pellets and cichlids. Mosquitos and earth worms? I've never even heard of anyone trying that... Get some frozen brine shrimp, and some protein enhanced flakes. Start him simple. If he's alone in there he probably is stressed. Most cichlids are community fish (within their own community) so having a tank mate will aleviate some of his stress. The thing I've noticed with cichlids is that I never see them grow, I just notice one day, "man he's bigger!"