# jack dempsey help



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

hello just joined this forum looking for help with two jack dempseys i recantly rescued. at the moment they are about 4cm long with very few blue dots.i have been feeding them tetra pro energy flakes and frozen brine shrimp. i have only had them a few days so would like any info on tank layout, aparently small terracotta pots are good caves so they can form terratories. hopefully i can get them some tankmates soon too.


----------



## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

I haven't kept dempseys myself for many years, but I think that dithers will encourage them to be more outgoing. Maybe giant danios?


----------



## stalefish83 (May 22, 2014)

It's all going to depend on how big your tank is. What is the length and width of the tank they're in?


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

the tank is W30cm H45cm L80cm. I know as they grow i will need a much larger tank, i was originally setting up for gouramis. i just happened to pass a fish shop that had a closing down sale thought i could get some ornaments. but when i noticed the 2 jacks in very murky water (nearly all the other tanks were empty, apparently the supplier wouldn't take these back) i couldn't leave them. already they have become more active and darkened in colour, but i have never kept this sort of fish before


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

okay, the jacks seem to be settling in fine, however they appear to have developed a large apatite for brine shrimp while not being to interested in the tetra pro flake food. Dose this type of cichlid normaly eat alot ?? what else could i get them so they have a proper varied diet.?


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

You could try a quality pellet food. Offer the brine less and add the pellet to the mix. It will cost you less. At that size, feed several times a day, but in small amounts. Mine does not eat pellets, but greedily takes flake and blackworms.


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

thanks i will have to look around, finding specialist food can be hard here in SW England. could you recommend any makes i could search for.


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Popular foods used by members on the forum-
New Life Spectrum
Omega One
Dainichi(sp?)
New Era

There's plenty more. Good luck.


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

okay... little update jacks seem to be doing well, they are now 6cm long already and very colorful. now that i have moved them into a new 140l tank. however they are still very skittish even though the tank is well planted, and occasionally chase each other. one is now slightly more brighter coloring's than the other is this normal?. it was recommended to add a shoal of tiger barbs to make them feel safer, but im concerned the barbs would just get eaten, they seem to ignore the bristenose plec and 1 adult Colombian tetra currently with them. any views would be helpful


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Good to hear they're doing well.

140 liters is small. What are the tank dimensions?


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

the tank is H76 W46 H54 cms. it was my old community tank which i upgraded to a 220 liter tank. unfortunutly im still saving up for anouther similer tank to be the dempseys home, which is at least larger than the dwarf gourami set up i had to put them i originally. so im completly unprepared for them. if you dont think this is suitable for at least anouther 5-6 mounths then i may have to consider rehoming them.


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

just a bit of extra info, the sort of tank im saving up for is the Juwel Rio 240 Aquarium i don't really have the room for anything larger


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sounds like you have a plan. The Juwel tank is 4'(I can't convert cm to inches in my head so I'm writing it down). This should work, but if you end up with 2 males or 2 females you could run into problems. Even if they are a 1:1 ratio, they may not coexist. Either way, a school of dither fish like Buenos Aires tetras will help. Try to get that tank asap please keep the thread updated...


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

as a back up plan if it looks like it will take any longer to get the bigger tank, my new closest fish store (recently moved closer to civilization) have said they would take them for re-homing as they have extra large tanks (300 liters +) for specialist large fish, and apparently jack dempseys with good colours like mine are very popular. i hope it doesn't come to that though as like my rainbow cichlid I've grown attached to there personality's and would really miss them.


----------



## lostdragon (Jul 9, 2014)

i would just like to thank people for their help. unfortunately when i contacted the company that built our house to find the location and spacing of the floor joists. They could not guarantee the floor would be able to support that tank and accessories combined weight. So i have been forced to re-home the 2 jacks, i miss them dearly but they've gone to a better home, this guy has apparently been looking for jack dempseys for his 400lt (100usgl) tank to be the main show fish and complete his collection of central american cichlids.


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> The Juwel tank is 4'


No, the tank is 2 1/2 foot.


lostdragon said:


> the tank is H76 W46 H54 cms. it was my old community tank which i upgraded to a 220 liter tank. unfortunutly im still saving up for anouther similer tank to be the dempseys home, which is at least larger than the dwarf gourami set up i had to put them i originally. so im completly unprepared for them. if you dont think this is suitable for at least anouther 5-6 mounths then i may have to consider rehoming them.


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

BC in SK said:


> Iggy Newcastle said:
> 
> 
> > The Juwel tank is 4'
> ...





lostdragon said:


> just a bit of extra info, the sort of tank im saving up for is the Juwel Rio 240 Aquarium i don't really have the room for anything larger


http://www.aquaticsupplies.com.au/juwel-rio-240-aquarium-240l.html


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Ah, I was looking at the tank he currently has (140 litre). The tank he is considering purchasing is indeed 4 ft!


----------

