# Yes!!! Another n00b with Jack Dempsey questions.



## cichlidiot75 (Feb 22, 2005)

Allright, so I got this 63 gallon tank.

Dimensions:
47.244 inch length 120 centimeter 
15.748 inch width 40 centimeter 
19.685 inch height 50 centimeter

I tell my wife, "I have a nice idea for a Tanganjika Cummunity. It costs us 170 Euro/200 USD". So she looks at me like, NO WAY!  So I said, I can also stock it with two fish, we pay 9 Euro/12 USD, and in a year or two, they will be these monsters from the nightmares you get after we visit our LFS. :thumb: So I show a picture of an adult Jack Dempsey and she goes, "Hm, that doesn't look bad at all" 

1. Is the tank big enough for one adult pair?
2. Would the tank be big enough for some additional other species? If so, what fish?
3. How much time does it take to grow from Juvenile fo Adult?
4. How about algae control. Will a big fat sailfin Pleco live?
5. Anything else I should know?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I LOVE to see people pic CAâ€™s (especially Dempseys) over Africansâ€¦



> 1. Is the tank big enough for one adult pair?


Yesâ€¦



> 2. Would the tank be big enough for some additional other species? If so, what fish?


You said â€œstock it with two fishâ€


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## cichlidiot75 (Feb 22, 2005)

Toby_H said:


> I LOVE to see people pick CAâ€™s (especially Dempseys) over Africansâ€¦


Thanks for all the answers! Second time today, btw  I never liked Malawi tanks, too boring, no action. What I'm looking for is fish with big attitude. A bit of colour in addition would be great. So it will be Tanganjikan, SA or CA.

Most difficult with CA/SA is that the fish are so bloody huge :lol: Stocking is a puzzle to me with CA/SA, if you want a community tank more than 3 pairs seems impossible... So I try to keep it simple and go for the "wet pet"

Currently I have a breeding pair of Thorichtys Ellioti in the tank. I guess I should get 'em out when the Dempseys arrive.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I think you are mistaken about Malawis being boring....some of the larger predatory Haps have quite a bit of attitude too. And many reach over 12 inches.

But anyway...I agree with most of what Toby H said. I personally wouldn't try to put a pair of JD's with anything else though, unless it was a 6 foot tank.

However, a somewhat similar looking fish that would do well with something like a pair of firemouths or Rainbow cichlids in your size tank, is the often overlooked South American Blue Acara complex. If you get good quality ones, they look sort of like a cross between a JD and a Green Terror...but can be kept as pairs in smaller tanks, with smaller tankmates. Blue Acaras can get nearly as large as JD's when properly cared for. In addition, they are much less likely to prey on smaller dither/target fish than JD's.

If you really like JD's, you could go with a single JD, and several other single CA cichlids of the same sex.


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## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

Go with a good quality male GT. Great color, attitude to spare, and with the 15 in width you will have plenty of room IMHO.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/308 ... 899c49.jpg

Better looking fish then a JD in my opinion and not as likely to be shy and hiding all the time.

Loved mine. Everyone who saw it was impressed and it would charge the glass at kids and new comers. Great fish.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

chrispyweld makes a great point---you have a lot of more colorful and outgoing choices, if you are willing to go the "wet pet" route.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

> Currently I have a breeding pair of Thorichtys Ellioti in the tank. I guess I should get 'em out when the Dempseys arrive.


Woah!!! What are you going to do with them?? You aren't going to get rid of them and get the JD's over them are you??  

I think Ellioti's are awesome and beautiful! :thumb:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Despite my love for Dempseys...

Since you already have the Ellioti's... and since they are very cool fish (I have a young adult pair myself  )...

You may consider some smaller growing less aggressive tankmates for them such as one of several species of Geos... Acaras... Rainbows... etc...


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## cichlidiot75 (Feb 22, 2005)

CiChLiD LoVeR128 said:


> > Currently I have a breeding pair of Thorichtys Ellioti in the tank. I guess I should get 'em out when the Dempseys arrive.
> 
> 
> Woah!!! What are you going to do with them?? You aren't going to get rid of them and get the JD's over them are you??
> ...


Woah! Relax! I'm just going through a number of options 



Toby_H said:


> Despite my love for Dempseys...
> 
> Since you already have the Ellioti's... and since they are very cool fish (I have a young adult pair myself  )...
> 
> You may consider some smaller growing less aggressive tankmates for them such as one of several species of Geos... Acaras... Rainbows... etc...


I like the Elliotis too, and I may have a South American community. I am familiar with Acaras, but what is the scientific name for Rainbows and Geos?


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

Rainbow cichlids are actually a smaller central american: _Archocentrus multispinosus_. Though they were formally under Herotilapia.

Geo's can either refer to members of the _Geophagus_ genus, or a catch all for the entire Geophagine family: Apistos, _Geophagus_, _Satanoperca_, rams, _Gymnogeophagus_, heckelli, and _Guianacara_ ... red hump geo's and brasiliensis geo's as well.


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## cichlidiot75 (Feb 22, 2005)

I can get my hands on a pair of these tahuantinsuyoa macantzatza:

http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aqua ... tzatza.htm

Speaking of rare, they're not even in the profiles section of this forum...

They're South American, from Peru.


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## jamesman_1994 (Jun 23, 2009)

cool


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

cichlididiot75...I'd go with the rare cichlids that you have pictured. Never heard of them...but they look great.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

They are a very cool mouthbrooding acara, very pretty too!! :thumb:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Being an Acara... I would assume they would also blend well with the Ellioti's you already have...


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## cichlidiot75 (Feb 22, 2005)

There's one thing, though... Two shops in my neighborhood have two of them. Both pairs (are they pairs?) Have one of them with torn dorsal fins because they don't like eachother. I can buy all four, have a pair form, and sell the remaining two.

But... If they are all four male, then I'm screwed. Even Verduijn Cichlids, a huge cichlid-only LFS who know everything about every cichlid, are not able to tell male from female. At 60 Euro/80 Dollar for four fish, it is quite a gamble.


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## jamesman_1994 (Jun 23, 2009)

up to you if you want to take the risk, i apparently acording to these guys take stacks of risks and havn't had a problem yet. (but i seem to be lucky when it comes to fish, it is a different story when it comes to turtles :? )


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## cichlidiot75 (Feb 22, 2005)

Sorry guys, it will be a Tanganjikan tank after all. But not a regular one, I bought 6 Astatotilapia Burtoni (Kivu). The Elliotis are in good hands at the local LFS


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