# green terror or jack dempsey



## Skimboarder_07 (Mar 3, 2005)

On average how big do GT's get, I'm debating getting a female for a 29 gallon and have her as a wet pet, or do it with a Jack dempsey instead any opinions?

Please do not crucify me for wanting such fish in a 29 gallon (long) aquarium


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## AquaticLove (Jul 13, 2010)

GT's can get up 12" big. So, you'd definitely need a larger tank down the road.. Same thing with JD's. They can get up to 10". If you raise them as babies you'll have plenty of time to get a larger tank in the future.

I'd get a Jack, I love their personalities.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

I'd say get a Texas :thumb:

Yes, I agree a 29 gal is not big enough to house either fish as a wet pet for long term. You could keep either in there short term but you must be ready to get them a bigger tank when it comes. A 55 gal would be good :thumb:


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## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

Go with the GT they are a slower grower so that buys you more time to upgrade a the chance to save long enough to get something bigger then a 55g. Though a 55g would be fine for a GT IMO.

They are less skittish and more owner responsive then JD's in my experience as well and will be a better "pet". Lone JD's tend to hide a lot, heck most JD's tend to hide a lot.

I think GT look better too but that is a personal preference.

What ever you decide make sure to stay on top of the water changes until you upgrade, 29g can get nasty quickly.


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

My #1 rule of the hobby is to only stock to the size tank you have, not to the size tank you plan to get. Far to often that "next tank" never comes to be. Life gets in the way. Leaving both the fish and the owner with a problem.... and problems run people out of the hobby while killing the fish.

So my answer would be neither. Get the right sized tank, then get the fish.


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## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

Good advice.


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## sirnewb (Dec 3, 2010)

chrispyweld said:


> Go with the GT they are a slower grower so that buys you more time to upgrade a the chance to save long enough to get something bigger then a 55g. Though a 55g would be fine for a GT IMO.
> 
> They are less skittish and more owner responsive then JD's in my experience as well and will be a better "pet". Lone JD's tend to hide a lot, heck most JD's tend to hide a lot.
> 
> ...


I have heard about JDs being skittish, but that is not the case in my tank at all. My jack is definately the ruler of the tank. He and my GT do get along, but he also will bully the GT.


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## SinisterKisses (Feb 24, 2004)

kmuda said:


> My #1 rule of the hobby is to only stock to the size tank you have, not to the size tank you plan to get. Far to often that "next tank" never comes to be. Life gets in the way. Leaving both the fish and the owner with a problem.... and problems run people out of the hobby while killing the fish.
> 
> So my answer would be neither. Get the right sized tank, then get the fish.


This is exactly the advise I give out as well. Stock a tank for the size of the tank - not on what you "intend" to get later. Too many things happen in life, and plans often don't happen.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Have you considered a smaller wet pet species. There are a lot of choices, especially if you consider non-new world species as well as smaller new world ones. Here are a few examples:

Hemichromis Elongatus...the 5 spot jewel cichld. A west African predatory species that has major attitude. Tops out at 6 inches. Note, this is not the common "jewel" cichlid sold in fish stores.

Scianochromis Fryeri...the famous Electric Blue Hap from Lake Malawi.

And of course convicts, firemouth, or blue acara. Blue Acara actually can reach close to 1o inches, but that is very rare. I've rarely seen them larger than 8 inches.


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## marinerm10 (Feb 2, 2010)

GT's are one of my favourite Cichlids - never owned one of them before what is their growth rate like and how do they compare to JD in terms of aggression?


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

marinerm10 said:


> GT's are one of my favourite Cichlids - never owned one of them before what is their growth rate like and how do they compare to JD in terms of aggression?


Umm... my gt is about 7 inches long, my JD is about 9 inches long. It has been about 2 years since I got them at 1.5 inches (equal size for both of them). They live in the 55 gallon just fine till about a year ago they started fighting a lot and the GT got hurt real bad. The tank had a divider in it since then. I tried removing the divider before but the JD will just try to kill the GT.

Don't get me wrong GT are pretty aggressive too. My Gt attacks the glass and the divider. I think the only reason why it lose is because it's not full size yet (my JD is about fill size).

The other day i tried moving the JD into my 100gallon. It was shy at first just sitting in the cave but after two days I start seeing some aggression toward my severum and 7 inches oscar. I can see that the oscar is no match for it. No damage was done but I decided to move the JD back to the 55 gallon.

I bought the GT and JD together before I joined any forum like this so I had no idea of the aggression. I wouldn't recommend the combo to anyone. hope that helps

As for filtration I have a big cannister 300gph along with a homemade plant filter.


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## justin3p0 (Apr 5, 2010)

the fish that *oldcatfish* mentioned

Scianochromis Fryeri

i had one in a 38 gallon and people often told me it was the coolest fish they have ever seen


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## cichlidsrule16 (Sep 14, 2010)

I would also say a green terror, they're amazing. My two jacks do nothing but hide, until it's time to eat of course. But as stated above, a bigger tank would be better but it's your choice. Other good choices would be convicts, firemouths, or rainbows. Good luck


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

oldcatfish said:


> Hemichromis Elongatus...the 5 spot jewel cichld. A west African predatory species that has major attitude. Tops out at 6 inches. Note, this is not the common "jewel" cichlid sold in fish stores.


Not a commonly kept fish in aqauria. I think if more people kept the fish and had them for a longer period of time, it would be seen as a much larger fish then this. Anton Lamboj in his book on west african cichlids (one of the few books out there on west Africans) lists all three banded jewels (H. elongatus, H. fasciatus and H. frempongi) as getting 10". A picture is shown of a wild caught H. fasciatus that looks to be about 10" (in comparison to a hand and wrist). Seeing that the regular common jewel can get 6", I think it's not unreasonable to expect these larger type of predatory jewels could easily get 7 -8" or more.

JD CAN get 10" or more, but this really is an exceptional specimen. The largest I have seen shown on a fish fourum with a tape measure beside it was just under 10" (9 3/4" or 9 7/8"). Look at how large the JD is that the Fish Guy has recently shown on this C.A. fourum. That's a big JD. Looking at his list of fish removed from his big tank, my understanding is that it measured 8 1/2".

Probably better choices then JD for 29 gal., though IMO it's really not such a big deal to keep one in this size of tank. I really don't see it as any different then keeping an H. elongatus in this size of tank.As well, fish often don't reach their larger sizes when kept in smaller tanks, for a variaty of reasons. But any of the Cryptoheros/Archoecentrus are a good size for this tank; as is the common regular jewel.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

H. Elongatus is in most literature considered the smallest representative of the piscivorous jewel cichlids. To my knowledge there has never been a documented one over 6 inches standard length (doesn't many that it couldn't happen). It's close relative H. Fasciatus is usually considered the largest, and there has been many documented specimens reaching the 10 inch range.

I've kept both H.Elongatus and JD's. I've had many JD's reach 10 inches standard length, with a couple that were a bit larger. The Elongatus that I've kept only reached about 5 inches standard length.

But, Bernie I do agree with you that a 29g isn't totally out of the question for even a JD....especially if a sump is used to increase surface area and water volume, along with frequent water changes and careful feeding.


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## c333davis (Apr 2, 2010)

marinerm10 said:


> GT's are one of my favourite Cichlids... what is their growth rate like and how do they compare to JD in terms of aggression?


My GTs are younger than my JDs. One of the GTs seems to have grown several inches in the past year, while the other GT and the JDs' growth has been less noticeable.

My sweetheart had originally housed them all together, and the JDs bullied the GTs, even tho the GTs are larger.

We just put the GTs and JDs in their own species-only tanks, and they all seem happier to me - more calm and more curious.


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