# I'm back! ;-) EBJD's



## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

*What should my 55 Gallon tank become*​
Keep just the Jaguar15.88%Raise the 1 EBJD in the 20 then move to the 55 with tank mates529.41%Raise a few EBJD's then move to the 55 alone741.18%Start a whole new tank with lots of mixed africans423.53%


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

hey guys, been a long time since I've been here, some of you may remember me, some of you have no idea who i am, lol, so let me catch you up.

Got rid of all my tanks except a 55, 20 and 10. Got a leopard gecko in my 10, all I have left for fish is my beuty female Jaguar in the 55 and the 20G is just running empty.

Well the LPS has a few EBJD's in, 30$ a piece, NO GUARANTEE, lol. I'm thinking about getting another one. I had 2 before, a long time ago, in a planted 20G with some Kribensis fry, unfortunately they didn't make it threw that hard first 2 weeks.

I would love to buy the whole group, or atleast 3-4 and raise them for the 55G and get rid of the Jag ;-( as much as I love her.

So I'm thinking, how many full grown EBJD's could be comfortable in the 55? Was thinking 4 tops. I'm just gonna do the 1 for now, and if it pulls threw this time I would be so happy to have a nice full grown EBJD. And maybe dive into breeeding it, if male, with my old JD I gave to my neighbor. Oh that would be a long but fun process.

Now, if this isn't feesable, what else would you guys suggest, thinking tank mates for my roughly 7 inch female jag, that she wouldn't destroy, or maybe trading her in and doing a nice african tank.

*golden girls* moment...Picture it! 2 really nice rock cave formations in opposite corners, covered in some kind of moss with maybe some ferns popping out here and there, with a tan gravel base, and in the middle a white sand like path bordered with little stones, and maybe a nice piece of wood thrown in somewhere. Whatcha think?

Keep in mind, ENJD's are first option, very important, then maybe tank mates for the Jag if I keep her, and if not that, do a whole new tank like I mentioned, what's your ideas? And that still leaves me with the 20G to do something with...


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

I was considering putting an EBJD ina 130gal with a jag a while back and was told theres no point in putting an EBJD in with a psycho killer regardless of tank size.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

A) A Jag has the potential to outgrow the 55 gal... at least in what I would want to offer her...

B) I do not think a Blue Dempsey and Jag would make good tankmates... I'm sure there are a few out there that could deal with her but I wouldn't be willing to risk my biggest one in such a mix...

C) Just like most other Cichlids, including Dempseys, I would not recommend keeping two sexually mature males in the same tank unless it was large enough for them to completely avoid one another (which a 55 gal is not). With that in mind I would suggest a 55 gal could only house 2 Blue Dempseys, either a m/f pair or two females... three females may work but good luck finding a female heavy group.

D) Why did your last Blues die and what are you going to do different this time to prevent it from happening again?

E) I've used UV lights to raise my baby/young Blues and have not experienced any parasitic infections which are by far the most common cause of death in them. I would highly suggest considering a UV light if you wish to invest in them again. I understand UV lights are expensive, but so are Blue Dempseys.

PS - Welcome back


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

RESPONSE:

A) yes my jag could very easily outgrow that tank, lol, even a female, i feel I may have stunted her growth by keeping her in the 20G for so long, it's hard to find her a home, everytime I check no stores will take her.

B) I would never put a EBJD and Jag together, lol, that would not end well. Maybe with a large enough tank that I could divide up into territories, but that will never happen, LOL.

C) I definately want a male EBJD, they are just stunning. So if I do decide to get just 1, I hope to god it's a male, and if I get more than 1 I hope for atleast 1 male, 2 females, that could work as well, not the best, but could work.

D) They died, I believe, because the water wasn't quite ready yet, and I had just 2 kept together, so they were gettiting very territorial towards eachother, lots of stress, not good to just keep 2 at a time with them when young, and I also kept them in with my Kribensis fry, so the large group of kribs could have been herassing them ass well, extra stress.

This time I'm going to either be keeping just 1, or a group to help prevent this, and the water will be perfect for them to live in. I might take your UV light suggestion into consideration depending on the cost.


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

Correct me if i'm wrong, but Jacks are pairing fish. Keeping 1 male and 2 females would result in the unpaired female getting the scales beaten off her.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

mok3t said:


> Correct me if i'm wrong, but Jacks are pairing fish. Keeping 1 male and 2 females would result in the unpaired female getting the scales beaten off her.


absolutely correct...


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## BlackShark11k (Feb 16, 2007)

how ya been bro long time no see, eh?

anyways, if I were you I would get rid of the jag and keep a _single_ pair of EBJD's in the 55g! three or four will just mean trouble. :wink:

i would make the 20 into a shell dweller or a SA dwarf community.

cheers!
tim


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

lol, hello Artemis, I remember you.

Yeah I didn't think about that, the extra female would be out of place, well then...

Say I get 2 EBJD's, which at this point there is no way in telling which would be which, sex wise. I wait a few months to even determine which is which, what if i get stuck with something I wouldn't want, or that wouldn't work, I guess I can always return one.

LOL, people always trying to get me to do a dweller tank, I don't have any in my area, would have to get them online. I get lucky when the EBJD's are in town, about as exciting as it gets here.


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

What I did to insure not loosing an EBJD when you first bring them home from the LFS or get them in the mail. I did 50% water changes daily the first week. Then the second week 50% water changes every other day. Then 50% water changes twice a week. I also heard that like 90% of all EBJD are male.


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

hmmm, that seems like a lot of water changes, I can see the pros and cons of that.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I rarely suggest "buy a group to form a pair" for several reasons... one is you typically end up with a sibling pair and another is it is often hard to find suitable homes for the "extra" fish...

Since Blue x Blue pairs are for show only and will not produce healthy fry anyway, the sibling pairing is far less important... as long as you learn not to think about it 

Blue Dempseys are one of those fish that are fairly easy to rehome as adults and hold a noticably high price than they do as juvis...

I have raised groups together before in large (125 gal) & medium (55 gal) tanks with no aggression issues until they were sexually mature...

I'm not sure of percentages... but in my experience the large majority of Blue Dempseys that survive to sexual maturity end up being males...


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

well that's cool, atleast I'm most likely going to get a male, probably going to get him today, can't wait. I'll be REALLY pissed if they are sold out, lol. I found someone in my area on craigs list looking for agressive cichlids, so I might have a suitable home for my Jaguar, but I want to make sure she's going to ga good home and this person isn't just throwing the monsters of the cichlid world in a tank and not giving a **** what happens.


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## rmcder (Jul 9, 2005)

Another thing to consider... EBJDS are often ill-formed, but that may not become obvious until they grow out. If you are really serious about having a nice specimen as a centerpiece, then you might want to take as many as you feel you can afford, grow them out, keep the best, and sell the rest. There's usually a market for ebjds that have lived beyond the 3" stage.

However... You MUST stay on top of the water conditions! Vacuum often, change water frequently, use a UV sterilizer, etc. You an EASILY lose a high percentage of juvenile EBJDS if you're careless (and even if you aren't if you happen to be unlucky and the fish are weak). In any event, good luck; they are beautiful fish if they make it to adulthood.


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

just got the fish, spent 50$ on 2 bags of gravel, some live plants, and the 30$ fishm let's hope he makes it!


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

I had a little scare there for a second, saw these tiny little white guys crawling around on my glass, I'm pretty sure it's just Planaria. Heres some pics for you guys of the new fish and tank. Sorry they arn't the best quality, camera battery is charging, had to take them with my cell.


























































And a video:

http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j73/u ... dvideo.flv


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

*UPDATE* Got some more Cabomba to fill out the back of the tank, kept the 2 fake plants to fill in some spots. Purchased 7 neon tetras for the EBJD to "play" with. Found an old backround for the tank and taped 'er on.

Got a better pic of the EBJD:









More Plants, no flash:









More plants, flash:









The Neon Tetras hiding from my beastly EBJD, LOL:


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

My EBJD at 1" ate 6 neon tetras in two days. I really like your tank, very nice set up. Nice little EB, good pic, he seems pretty bold.


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

yeah, he seems really happy right now, doing really good. But I'm gonna try not to get my hopes up with him. He's really showing whose the boss of the tank with the tetras so far. LOL. I added some Parasite Tablets to the tank too. Hopefully they will get rid of any un-wanted problems that occur with EBJD's.


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

When I bought my EB the breeder told me to do 50% water changes every day for the first week. Then 50% every other day. Then 50% twice a week for the nexrt week. He claims this will keep you from loosing them in those first few weeks. I have mine in a ten gallon tank so these water changes were easy to do. I do see what he ment because they don't eat well at first and you don't want any extra food left in the tank. Mine has doubled in size and is as fat and healthy as can be.


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

see, mine seems to be eating quite well, always swimming up to get food, and snagging little sinkers before they get down, and the tetras pick up the rest, maybe I should compromise and do 25% water changes everyday threw the gravel.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

If you had a UV light you could do typical weekly water changes because there would be no risk of parasites..............................................................


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

I can't seem to find a UV light around here, I don't think Petsmart had any, or my LFS, where could i get one for my 20G, and how much?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I've tried a couple of the little 7W units with built in powerheads... I'm convinced that 7W of UV just isn't strong enough to kill parasites... I ran them with the flow rate turned down as low as possible and even with additional media wrapped around them to further slow the flow rate... They still didn't clarify the water to the degree I am accustom to, therefore I assume they are not killing parasites either...

I do confess I gave up on the above attempt before I â€œprovedâ€


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## jamesman_1994 (Jun 23, 2009)

can u give me a close up on the plants... i just want to c if they r this one i had
it totally took over the tank =[


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

jamesman_1994 said:


> can u give me a close up on the plants... i just want to c if they r this one i had
> it totally took over the tank =[




















Those are some closer up shots, yeah it can take over a tank, they grow very tall, are very fragile, leaves break off easily and clog your filters, fish love to snack on them. If that's what you have, or had, it's Cabomba.

I'm gonna go look online for UV lights, did some looking around last night for moonlights, those should be fun to get, instead of using my 18 inch Blacklight everynight, it's too purple for me and not bright enough.


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

Oh yeah, and I got more Neons, have about 14 now, and I actually purchased a plastic SW, cave like decoration, LOL, I know...I know...


















I actually like it, for now...


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

well the EBJD died last night, so the post is closed I guess. Was absolutely fine and just died...


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I hear so many people who do not use UV lights have problems like this... and so few who use UV lights have problems like this...

I am very sorry for your loss... I know you were excited about him...


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## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

Gosh I'm very sorry to hear about your EB


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## underOATH87 (Apr 14, 2007)

Yeah, I'm really bummed about it. Atleast the Jag is doing a LOT better.

So here are my plans for the future. That 20G is probably gonna be a simple Krib breeding tank. I used to breed/sell them for a while and have always had nothing but success with them.

Part 2, taking a majority of the female fry and placing them in the 55G for a beautiful all female Krib tank. Not sure how well it could work, and not sure if anyones ever done it before and what their temperments would be like. but I don't see it being a problem. I could even throw 1 male in there to have his way with all those pretty ladies, LOL.

I would probably sell the fry when they are big enough to distinguish their sex in an even group of M to F, and keep extra females from each brood for the 55.

Sound like a plan?

Oh of course the Jag will be sold, gonna be hard to see him go.


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