# JD and what?



## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

If i got a single, male JD. 
What would be a number of different groups of fish to accompany it with?

Here are my specs.

140 gallons. 60x24x24
filtration 
2x XP3
1x AQ500 (yes, a 500. it's old. but oddly quiet)

I'd like to have a small group of schooling fish. something with personality. 
Three to four species is what i'm looking for.

I'm looking at Bichir's, silver dollars, spanner barbs and keyhole's. 
Not too sure what is or is not compatible; but i love those guys :thumb:

Opinions, ideas?
Thanks in advance!


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

bump

:fish:


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

One male jd can eat most of this fish on that list except the bichar. The silver dollars can make it depending on size of them and the jd. Male jds can get pretty big, think about the size and speed of the fish you are choosing. Keyholes are way to passive to live with a jd imo. Juvies would work but not permanently. I kept tin foil barbs in my 125 with 5 jds in it. They just grow super fast and for the most part can out run jds.


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

Whatever you do, I would start with your cichlids as about as small as you can get them. I agree that most of your fish will have a shot at being a snack down the road as a Male JD gets large and has a big mouth. I would go with the silver dollars but if you can get them about an inch or more larger than your JD when you get him.

In a 140 you have a ton of possibilities to choose from. IME JD's are fairly easy to find tankmates from because they are not the aggressive but hold their own very well. What other cichlids are you interested in?

Another idea for a tank that large would be a pair of something. You could do a pair of something small to medium sized and still have a JD...or even do a pair of JD. Just an idea. Good luck and if you can give us more of your thoughts we can let you know if we think they will work.

-Cage


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

cage623 said:


> Whatever you do, I would start with your cichlids as about as small as you can get them. I agree that most of your fish will have a shot at being a snack down the road as a Male JD gets large and has a big mouth. I would go with the silver dollars but if you can get them about an inch or more larger than your JD when you get him.
> 
> In a 140 you have a ton of possibilities to choose from. IME JD's are fairly easy to find tankmates from because they are not the aggressive but hold their own very well. What other cichlids are you interested in?
> 
> ...


This is my first "big" tank. I've done breeding in smaller others and I'm just not interested in keeping this tank a species only. I had a chance to pick up a breeding pair of JD's for $50 off CL, but it just didn't appeal to me.

I've never owned a JD before, but it's a fish I seem to be obsessed with; so the tank is being based off of that. 
Unfortunately, I'm not too sure what is compatible with the a JD.

How about a JD, Bicher, and 6 silver Dollar? 
The JD would be bought young, 2-4". the dollars @ 2". 
Does it matter what size a bicher is? I tend to see them around 4" long.


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## Tiktaalik Owner (Aug 17, 2009)

The JD is worthy of obsession. It's a great fish. 6 Silver Dollars are a great idea (not Red Hooks, which get huge). Spanner Barbs get too big. I recently added Filament Barbs to my tank. They get over 5". (See the vid in my signature.) Dither fish make a difference when you have more than one cichlid. My tank is lively but not violent.

A Convict can hold its own with any fish. They're the most underrated cichlid in the hobby (probably because they're so common). I worry about the Firemouth sometimes. They're all bluff.


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## BigJag (Sep 26, 2011)

My first ever cichlid was a JD about 14 yrs ago. I loved the JD's and kept many at diff times until I got hooked on African cichlids. Thru the years though I never kept them with anything other thn cichlids. I always liked having them with Black Convicts. Never had much trouble with that combo. good lcck and enjoy a beautiful fish.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Well thanks for all the answers. I didn't think any would turn up!

1 Jack Dempsey
2 Senegal Bichir
8 Silver dollar

Too much? too little? 
all fish will be found young. and introduced at the same time.


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

I think that stock will work just fine, but a bit boring in my opinion.

Personally, I would add 3 or 4 more CA Cichlids along with the JD, replace the Silver Dollars with 5x Filament Barbs and then have the 2x Bichirs.

Other Cichlids that could possibly work with your JD are...

Sajica
Cutteri
Nicaraguan
Rainbows
Salvini
Firemouth

Even if you want to keep the Silver Dollars, I would still definitely add more Cichlids. Just cut the number of SD's down to 5.

Good luck with whatever you decide! :thumb:


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

CjCichlid said:


> I think that stock will work just fine, but a bit boring in my opinion.
> 
> Personally, I would add 3 or 4 more CA Cichlids along with the JD, replace the Silver Dollars with 5x Filament Barbs and then have the 2x Bichirs.
> 
> ...


Thank you. I'll re-evaluate, and post back.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Thought about it again and I'm in love with this stocking list.

1 Jack Dempsey
2 Senegal Bichir
5 Silver dollar
- Rainbow
- Salvini

now should i do 1 rainbows, and 1 salvini? or are these best kept in groups? 
i dont really have room for a group of anything (except the SD's of course).

any help is great


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## marvo (Nov 24, 2010)

you mentioned 2 jd's fyi there spawn is aprox. 3 to 5 hundred. they sell 4 about $3.00 where i am.. they tend to b bottom dwellers and hiders except at feeding time lol. free swimers are imho a good idea.. i would suggest peacocks or ob's nice color. jewles will give the jd a run for his money.. my question is how big is the jd??


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

ahh yes. The aggression level with spawning JD's is too high, and this will be a show tank where i would like more than just two fish 

i might go for Ob's. not too sure yet!


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

I think that stocking sounds good. A few recommendations...

Try to get all the cichlids around the same size and you will have a better chance of everyone getting along in the long run.

Watch out for the Rainbow getting picked on by the JD or Sal. Rainbows have a pretty mild temper compared to the other two. You may be better off replacing the Rainbow with something like a Sajica or Cutteri. If your really set on the Rainbow and your not against pairs, I think a pair of Rainbows would work better than a lone one. They aren't hyper aggressive when spawning like a lot of other cichlids, but should be able to hold there own better as a pair when it comes to the JD and Sal.

With the Bichirs, you may want to add them after the Cichlids put on a bit of size as they can and will eat fish that fit in their mouth...

Good luck!


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

I do have my mind set on the rainbows. they are very beautiful fish  
So My plan is too get all these guys while they are around the same size/age. Now, if i want the rainbow's to form a pair, should i get like 5-6, and remove the extra's once one pair forms?
Same with the JD, should i maybe get two, and keep the more attractive one?
I'm on pretty good terms with my LFS, i've told them what i'm doing here and they agreed to 
refund me 80% of the initial cost of my fish, once i return them.

And i will add the bichers last, thank's for the comment.


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## SEAN420 (Nov 24, 2011)

How big is your jack dempsey? you could throw like 5 cory cats in there.. i just got 10 of em.. assorted.. they are pretty cool to look at swimmin around and they clean up the food my cichlids dont


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

SEAN420 said:


> How big is your jack dempsey? you could throw like 5 cory cats in there.. i just got 10 of em.. assorted.. they are pretty cool to look at swimmin around and they clean up the food my cichlids dont


Aha, the stock is nonexistent right now. But It will be about 3" upon purchase.


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

As far as getting a pair of rainbows, yes, I would get 4-6 of them. Then, once you see that two of them have paired up you can return the rest.

With the JD and Sal, you could get a couple if you wanted to but I would probably just get one of each. Its pretty simple to sex JD's and even Sals from a young age in my experience. But, if you want to grow a couple out of each, I don't see any harm in it as long as you return the "extras" and end up with one of each for your final stocking.

Also, I know someone mentioned cories... I would NOT add them if your going to have Bichirs. The Bichirs may try to eat them, which could be fatal for both the Cories and the Bichirs; as the Cories have spines in their fins that could easily get lodged in the Bichirs throat.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Cory's won't be added. I'm only interested to new species to my tanks. I've loved cories in the past.. but they wont be for this tank.

Thanks chris!


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## SEAN420 (Nov 24, 2011)

well dont worry bout other fish too much. just introduce all simultaneously  n good luck.. lets see some pics after :thumb:


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