price question on red devils

[scheri11]

I am looking at a red devil to buy that is about 12 inches. What would be the price range I should stay in and what is the smallest tank for just a litle while I can house him in till I get another 100 gallon or so?

[DavidS]

No offense, but to me Red Devil's are almost a pest fish like convicts. You can buy them at a local fish store in the 2-4 inch range for $3 each or less.

So, I wouldn't pay much for it since they grow very rapidly anyway.

[donkey]

No offense to David but I like Red Devils and lots of people like Convicts.I consider them great fish and some of my favorites.2-4 are usually more like $8 and up at the places I shop.Anyway back to your question a 12 inch red devil really depends on what he looks like.If he is solid orange with no hump on his head or just a little hump I would say about $25 would be an average price.Solid orange with a good size hump probably$35.Orange and white usually $50-$75 depending on how they look.He will be ok in a 10 gallon as long as you have good bubbles and a filter.I would not keep him in there more than a couple weeks if you don't have to.Make sure you change the water often as it will go bad quickly with that size a fish in a small tank.

[scheri11]

from the pic he looks to be white on the rear and orange on the front with a pretty big hump

scheri11 added 3 Minutes and 19 Seconds later...

it almost looks like a flowerhorn hump but it is a red devil

[Carg]

What's with lfs charging through the nose for both red devils or convicts?

And I like the convict as well, small enough to fit just about any tank, and horny enough to spawn under any circumstance. If only they were a soft rayed fish, then they'd be the perfect feeder fish.

[scheri11]

from what i can tell by the pic it looks like a devil i hope so

[DavidS]

I'm not suggesting that Red Devils are bad fish. I'm just saying that IMHO they're not worth that much. Heck, I'm using them as cycling fish.

One of the sponsor LFS's is selling medium sized RD's for $2 -$3 depending on quantity.

[donkey]

What's with lfs charging through the nose for both red devils or convicts?

I don't buy convicts but I have noticed they used to be everywhere for like 2 or $3 and now I am seeing the for $7-$10.Not sure why they are still the same fish.

[scheri11]

well I got him home and he is doing great I will post pics when I have them.

[fishman76092]

I don't buy convicts but I have noticed they used to be everywhere for like 2 or $3 and now I am seeing the for $7-$10.Not sure why they are still the same fish.


The deal is that there is some new blood in the convict line and there have been a number of recent wild imports. People are breeding them/farmers too and they are trying to sell them for more money.

IMO $50 for that red devil/midas is plenty good.

[donkey]

I have thought that some of the convicts that I have been seeing lately have been more of a blue like they had some honduran red point in them.So maybe that explains it.