# 125g new Jaguar pair



## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

Hey guys.

I got a pair of Jaguar cichlids tonight for $40! The lady at the LFS just got them in for adoption and she didn't know what she had! The male is about 8" and the female is about 6". They are beautiful, great colors, no damage. I successfully got them moved to my tank tonight and there has been no fights as of yet. They are living with a (F) 7" Electric Blue Jack Dempsey, 6" Texas Cichlid, 5" Firemouth, 7" Senegal Bichir Eel, 5" Common Pleco.

I'll try to snap some pics tomorrow, the light is off so they can take it easy and explore their new domain.

Should I get a flat rock for them to breed on? Also, should it be placed on one side of the tank so when they start to breed there is a better chance of the others not getting picked to death?


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

impacted said:


> Hey guys.
> 
> I got a pair of Jaguar cichlids tonight for $40! The lady at the LFS just got them in for adoption and she didn't know what she had! The male is about 8" and the female is about 6". They are beautiful, great colors, no damage. I successfully got them moved to my tank tonight and there has been no fights as of yet. They are living with a (F) 7" Electric Blue Jack Dempsey, 6" Texas Cichlid, 5" Firemouth, 7" Senegal Bichir Eel, 5" Common Pleco.
> 
> ...


Your $40.00 deal may turn out to be good money spent on a bad buy. If they are a true breeding pair and breed in their current tank you could have a recipe for disaster. They are going to claim the whole tank and terrorize their tank mates if not kill them. Now things could play out differently, good luck and I'm not trying to be a downer here but from your post you seem aware of that possibility. Your pair will find their ideal location and do what comes natural, yes provide them with some sort of surface to breed on.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

I appreciate the response. She told me that the couple who had the Jag's had them in a 40g tank and when they realized their full potential they had to re-home them for someone with a bigger tank. I really hope they are going to be a bit more of a mellow or tolerating pair, like my first Oscar was. We'll see I guess! Lucky enough to have another store locally where the lady running it is more of a hobbyist than a business. She pretty much always has big tanks available for emergency re-home situations.

The JD was a bit territorial of them entering the tank, since she was the boss before. The male is actually closer to 10" than 8", he's quite a bit bigger than the JD which worries me a bit. So far the JD has been pretty stern about letting him know who's boss, but I'm sure that will change rather quickly. My biggest worry is when they decide to make babies, they ARE a pair who were already breeding in their last tank. BUT I AM prepared to make this tank dedicated to the two of them if I need to. Ever since I upgraded to a 125g I've been prepping to get a Jag pair and this opportunity arose tonight that I couldn't pass. I think the only fish I couldn't part with would be the Bichir Eel, but from everything I've read they should get along just fine. This Bichir has lived with Africans, JD's, Oscars, and now Jags. He never seems to get any attention, he can rest on the fish and they just blow it off. It's really awesome.

I re-scaped the tank and added more vision barriers and places where the bigger fish can get down and relax. Tomorrow I'm going to try to find some decent driftwood to add to the tank and probably some more big fake plants. I don't want to do live plants since I use PFS substrate and they are so easily ripped out of the sand by the fish. This was previously an African cichlid tank so I have a pretty nice structure in the center of lace rock, surrounded by plants on both sides and a couple DIY slate caves on each side for them to take sides.

I'll be keeping this post updated. I appreciate ANY and ALL information or suggestions. Thanks all!


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

IMO the tank is overstocked. For a 125 a Jag pair alone is max for the tank. If you want the other ones to be ok and not be killed you will need to remove them to a different tank or re-home them. Get ready for thousands of Jag fry and I am not kidding. Also, I would get a divider ready for the pair you will need to keep an eye on them and separate them at the first sign of aggression between them.


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## jason_nj (Feb 24, 2010)

A big clay flowerpot would probably be best if you want them to breed but Jags are pretty aggressive and if they breed I would worry about your other fish. None of them will be able to stand up to your jags.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

CiChLiD LoVeR128 said:


> IMO the tank is overstocked. For a 125 a Jag pair alone is max for the tank. If you want the other ones to be ok and not be killed you will need to remove them to a different tank or re-home them. Get ready for thousands of Jag fry and I am not kidding. Also, I would get a divider ready for the pair you will need to keep an eye on them and separate them at the first sign of aggression between them.


I have a bunch of egg crate I could split them up with in that case. Right now nothing is full grown and they are still pretty uncomfortable in their new home. The two of them are just swimming back and forth on the back of the tank pretty rapidly. I'm sure they won't be comfortable for at least a couple weeks, this should give me enough time to get some new homes for their mates. I'm pretty set on trying to keep the Bichir though, I'd like to see if they will leave him alone.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

So far so good, got a home for the Texas today. He's been in the tank for about 30 hours so far and has really calmed down. The two of them just roam the tank together ignoring the others so far. The female accepted pellets (I feed NLS pellets) but the male has yet to show any sign of interest in the pellet food. I went out and got some beefheart and he also wasn't too interested in that either. I'm sure he's still a bit nervous and just doesn't want to eat yet.

I'm really hoping that the old owner didn't feed them feeder guppies and he's waiting for live food, because he won't be getting any  . I'm sure once he gets hungry enough he'll grab just about anything 

I've never owned a fish who just wouldn't eat after a day or so. How long until I should worry about him not eating? (Not stressed right now, more of an 'if' question)


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## Boston_Guapote (Jun 2, 2003)

Trust me when I said this... your other fish are at risk, move them or get rid of them before they become shredded fish. Doviis are mean as ****. You can divide them, but you would be restricting their movements, and a pair Dovii's require big tanks.

If you still don't believe me, take a look at these pics of my beat up female



















The offender









You can breed the pair in a 125 gal at that size, but you will need a bigger tank in the future, and the tank mates won't survive.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

Boston_Guapote said:


> Trust me when I said this... your other fish are at risk, move them or get rid of them before they become shredded fish. Doviis are mean as #%$&. You can divide them, but you would be restricting their movements, and a pair Dovii's require big tanks.
> 
> If you still don't believe me, take a look at these pics of my beat up female
> 
> You can breed the pair in a 125 gal at that size, but you will need a bigger tank in the future, and the tank mates won't survive.


I wouldn't put Dovii in this tank. I got Parachromis managuense (Jaguar Cichlid).


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## BigJag (Sep 26, 2011)

Your $40.00 deal may turn out to be good money spent on a bad buy. If they are a true breeding pair and breed in their current tank you could have a recipe for disaster. They are going to claim the whole tank and terrorize their tank mates if not kill them. Now things could play out differently, good luck and I'm not trying to be a downer here but from your post you seem aware of that possibility. Your pair will find their ideal location and do what comes natural, yes provide them with some sort of surface to breed on.[/quote] I agree, i love Jags and have kept them in the past. Ideally, however, u would like a 150 gal tank for JUST the pair of Jags. Also, the Jags are very, very territorial and even more so when spawning. Very high chance that once the Jags settle in, your male will begin to assert his aggressiveness and begin to dominate the entire tank. Now i have seen some Jags that are a little mire mellow than others, but this is not the norm. I would suggest moving other inhabitants to another tank. Better safe then sorry.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

BigJag said:


> Your $40.00 deal may turn out to be good money spent on a bad buy. If they are a true breeding pair and breed in their current tank you could have a recipe for disaster. They are going to claim the whole tank and terrorize their tank mates if not kill them. Now things could play out differently, good luck and I'm not trying to be a downer here but from your post you seem aware of that possibility. Your pair will find their ideal location and do what comes natural, yes provide them with some sort of surface to breed on.
> 
> I agree, i love Jags and have kept them in the past. Ideally, however, u would like a 150 gal tank for JUST the pair of Jags. Also, the Jags are very, very territorial and even more so when spawning. Very high chance that once the Jags settle in, your male will begin to assert his aggressiveness and begin to dominate the entire tank. Now i have seen some Jags that are a little mire mellow than others, but this is not the norm. I would suggest moving other inhabitants to another tank. Better safe then sorry.


Thanks,

Like I've said above I've started moving others away. I'll be keeping this pair together in this 125 with the Bichir eel and Common plec. I am prepared and making the steps to let them live alone in this tank, for the safety of the other fish. I only have to re-home two more fish.

My main concern right now is that he hasn't responded to any food. He is healthy and swims all around the tank and is acting completely normal, but just dismisses the food that I have tried to feed him with. I've tried pellets, beefheart, raw shrimp, krill. It's been about 3 days, my next step would be trying some live feeders JUST to see if he reacts to them. Should I just stop worrying? How long until I should be worried about this? Throughout my 5 or so tanks I've never had a fish just not eat for more than a day or two (except when my africans were holding).


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

impacted said:


> Like I've said above I've started moving others away. I'll be keeping this pair together in this 125 with the Bichir eel and Common plec. I am prepared and making the steps to let them live alone in this tank, for the safety of the other fish. I only have to re-home two more fish.
> 
> My main concern right now is that he hasn't responded to any food. He is healthy and swims all around the tank and is acting completely normal, but just dismisses the food that I have tried to feed him with. I've tried pellets, beefheart, raw shrimp, krill. It's been about 3 days, my next step would be trying some live feeders JUST to see if he reacts to them. Should I just stop worrying? How long until I should be worried about this? Throughout my 5 or so tanks I've never had a fish just not eat for more than a day or two (except when my africans were holding).


He'll eat when he gets hungry enough especially since the female is eating sooner or later he will take a cue from her and try a nibble. I wouldn't add anything to their diet you don't plan on feeding to them on a regular basis, just my opinion.


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## BigJag (Sep 26, 2011)

Unless bredding feeders yourself i wouldnt do it. Too much risk od introducing disease to your tank. I wouldnt worry about it, he will eat once hungry enough. I had a female that had done that when i had a breeding pair in my 150. After a while they both would take worms from my hand!! The male would even jump outta the water a lil to take it from my hand!!! They r such an amazing fish and r very personable and curious. U may want to get a divider incase male gets overly aggressive during breeding. However, it may not be needed, my male got aggressive, but never attacked her to wnere she got hurt. Heck, most of the time she held her own unless he quit playing and got mad, then he "put" her on the other side of the tank. Good luck and enjoy your new fish.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

Awesome, I'll just keep trying in small quantities daily. Normally I feed every other day. I just wish I could know what he ate before, and I'm guessing he ate feeders before based on him not reacting to pellets/non-live food. I'm sure like you guys said sooner or later he's going to be starving and will try to eat about anything!


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## BigJag (Sep 26, 2011)

impacted said:


> Awesome, I'll just keep trying in small quantities daily. Normally I feed every other day. I just wish I could know what he ate before, and I'm guessing he ate feeders before based on him not reacting to pellets/non-live food. I'm sure like you guys said sooner or later he's going to be starving and will try to eat about anything!


 Have you had any luck yet? You oughta post some pics of them if you can get a good shot.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

BigJag said:


> Have you had any luck yet? You oughta post some pics of them if you can get a good shot.











Here's the male. (Bad quality, phone shot)

He hasn't responded to anything yet, no. The female will eat pellets. I REALLY don't want to have to get him a feeder fish to eat, but I'm definitely thinking the old owner fed him feeders. I've never seen a fish not respond to food like this, he has taken a pellet into his mouth but just spit it out. My tanks been cycled for like a year, ph is always steady at 7.5 and he is acting completely normal. He doesn't show any signs of stress, no fish are picking on him.


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## mattmean (Feb 9, 2012)

frozen, krill? freeze dried krill? any luck with that atleast. Try those hikari food sticks, they are close to a pellet and every fish i own that can fit one in its mouth eats them.


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

impacted said:


> BigJag said:
> 
> 
> > Have you had any luck yet? You oughta post some pics of them if you can get a good shot.
> ...


When was the last time you did a water change and how often do you do them? Also, what is the temp of your tank?


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

Steffano2 said:


> When was the last time you did a water change and how often do you do them? Also, what is the temp of your tank?


I do 50% twice a week. I did a water change the second day I had him and another today. The trAtes stay ~20. I have the temp steady at 78. I use two 200w heaters to ensure stable temp and I never see it fluctuate.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

mattmean said:


> frozen, krill? freeze dried krill? any luck with that atleast. Try those hikari food sticks, they are close to a pellet and every fish i own that can fit one in its mouth eats them.


I've tried Hikari large pellets, NLS large pellets, frozen krill, raw shrimp, beefheart, sinking shrimp pellets. I just can't toss too much into the tank at once, I don't want a bunch of uneaten food or too much waste because I'm throwing a ton of extra food. He definitely sees it, I'm thinking he will HAVE to eat once he's hungry enough.


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

impacted said:


> Steffano2 said:
> 
> 
> > When was the last time you did a water change and how often do you do them? Also, what is the temp of your tank?
> ...


Just for the heck of it try raising the temp to 84 degrees and add 1 Tablespoon of Epson Salt per 5 gallons to the tank. It won't hurt them and Epson Salt is a good for the digestive track. This is just a suggestion and what I would do in your position. At this point if he is mouthing food and spitting it out means he is hungry and the higher temps will increase their digestive rate and the epson salt is a purger. Just make sure you have plenty of breaking bubbles on the surface of the tank since the higher tank temp will decrease the oxygen levels.

I find it odd that they are pair came from the same source and the female never hesitated and is eating prepared foods while the male isn't, which means to me that they probably weren't fed only live food.

Again, just a suggestion not saying this is a magic bullet but it couldn't hurt.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

Steffano2 said:


> Just for the heck of it try raising the temp to 84 degrees and add 1 Tablespoon of Epson Salt per 5 gallons to the tank. It won't hurt them and Epson Salt is a good for the digestive track. This is just a suggestion and what I would do in your position. At this point if he is mouthing food and spitting it out means he is hungry and the higher temps will increase their digestive rate and the epson salt is a purger. Just make sure you have plenty of breaking bubbles on the surface of the tank since the higher tank temp will decrease the oxygen levels.
> 
> I find it odd that they are pair came from the same source and the female never hesitated and is eating prepared foods while the male isn't, which means to me that they probably weren't fed only live food.
> 
> Again, just a suggestion not saying this is a magic bullet but it couldn't hurt.


Thanks for the advice! I set both heaters for 82, and I'll up them to 84 tomorrow night. I have some extra aquarium salt from when I treated ich a few months ago, that would work the same as Epson, right? Oh and I'm running two AQ110's with my canisters on the tank so I get a lot of gas exchange, as well as a whisper 150 air pump into the tank so I'm sure raising the temp will leave them with plenty of oxygen.


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

impacted said:


> Steffano2 said:
> 
> 
> > Just for the heck of it try raising the temp to 84 degrees and add 1 Tablespoon of Epsom Salt per 5 gallons to the tank. It won't hurt them and Epsom Salt is a good for the digestive track. This is just a suggestion and what I would do in your position. At this point if he is mouthing food and spitting it out means he is hungry and the higher temps will increase their digestive rate and the epson salt is a purger. Just make sure you have plenty of breaking bubbles on the surface of the tank since the higher tank temp will decrease the oxygen levels.
> ...


In this case I would search out Epsom Salt as it contains magnesium sulfate and magnesium sulfate is commonly used as a oral saline laxative or osmotic purgatives.


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## Boston_Guapote (Jun 2, 2003)

I was in the same boat as you not too long ago with my Dovii. My Dovii was caught in a private pond in Florida and wasn't used to being in a tank. It took about 2 weeks for him to eat. I wouldn't worry too much, he needs to adjust and big fish tend to be a little stubborn. Healthy fish will not starve themselves.


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## impacted (Oct 2, 2011)

Boston_Guapote said:


> I was in the same boat as you not too long ago with my Dovii. My Dovii was caught in a private pond in Florida and wasn't used to being in a tank. It took about 2 weeks for him to eat. I wouldn't worry too much, he needs to adjust and big fish tend to be a little stubborn. Healthy fish will not starve themselves.


Thanks. Nice to hear!


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