# Jack Dempsey Tank Mates



## JosephKern (Jan 23, 2016)

I am starting up a 130Gal tank. I am going to move my small JD into it once its up and running. Right now the Jack is only about an inch or so long. I am wondering what people have had success keeping with a Jack. I am not really wanting to do all Cichlids. Things I'm throwing around are, Green terror, Convict, pair of Fire mouths, Schools of Tiger bards and Silver Dollars, Bichir, Pleco. Thanks for any help


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## sirdavidofdiscus (Dec 8, 2006)

Green Terrors, Convicts and firemouths are all cichlids. All 3 of these should be compatible with a jd. Tiger barbs don't grow as fast as a jd so they may become snacks for the jd when they are smaller. Silver dollars I have seen others have success with JD but have no experience with myself. And Birchirs I know almost nothing about. In any event keep decent hiding spots and line of sight breaks for whatever you decide on.


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## JosephKern (Jan 23, 2016)

Yes, those are just a few other Cichlids I was considering. I was just thinking about the Jack then maybe one or two other Cichlids, and then some others to give it some diversity.


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

Don't forget Salvini's


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## JosephKern (Jan 23, 2016)

Also, any opinion on filtration? Thinking Eheim 2217/2075. Pair or maybe one of each?


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## erinjo316 (Feb 1, 2016)

I have an electric blue jack dempsey that we have had in the tank with multiple different types of fish. We had gold fish, little black and orange shark fish, angel fish, I even had neon tetras that were the bigger body type instead of the smaller thin body ones. They were all "okay" with jack and honestly i really do not think that my jack as the one that killed them rather the African mama cichlid we have. Currently he is in a tank with other cichlids and the shark. Ultimately I would imagine you would have some of them that would not survive but we were also told that my fairy cichlid would be an aggressive one that would attack all the others and it seems to be the nicer ones out of my other tank.


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## katherine7 (Jan 25, 2016)

JosephKern said:


> I am starting up a 130Gal tank. I am going to move my small JD into it once its up and running. Right now the Jack is only about an inch or so long. I am wondering what people have had success keeping with a Jack. I am not really wanting to do all Cichlids. Things I'm throwing around are, Green terror, Convict, pair of Fire mouths, Schools of Tiger bards and Silver Dollars, Bichir, Pleco. Thanks for any help


Yes, I think it should be diversity.


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## Dilly (Apr 12, 2016)

In the wild, Jack Dempsey Cichlids monitor schooling fish, or general dither fish activity to know if their environment is safe. I have giant danios in my tank and they REALLY help the Jack Dempsey get over his shyness. Just after three days in the tank he's starting to come around, whereas some cichlids may take months to get over a change in environment! Check out the tankmates I have for my Jack Dempsey!


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