# Electric blue jack dempsey, female chases male



## semistro (Oct 7, 2015)

hey everyone, 
a few weeks ago I added a couple young-adult EBJD's to my tank
the woman from the store told me that they thought the bigger one was the female and the smaller one was the male.
in the store they just got along fine, and they did too in my tank, for the first 2 weeks or so, but then she started chasing him, to the point that he was forced to stay in a corner and later hide under a small rock.
I started worrieng him being stressed out. so after a couple of weeks I made a small cave in the other corner of my tank witth a few entrances that only he could enter, so he has a place to rest.
he seems pretty happy with it and he is staying inside most of the time. sometimes they are outside just sitting next to each other like nothing is wrong though.
I know there is always a dominant cichlid in the tank, but they are supposed to be a couple
I also noticed that when searching for EBJD half of them look like mine and half of them look a lot more pure blue and when searching for texas cichlid some of them match mine pretty well.

so I could use some advice.
do I really own 2 EBJB? (I am 90% sure of it)
Why is the female picking on the male, is the tank to small, maybe they are both male? since the woman from the store just said they thought the bigger one was the male, or maybe something else?
what can I do to resolve the problem?
should i worry about them, or will they just get along when they grow bigger and are maybe ready to mate.
any other advice?

The female is 11.5Cm (4.4 inches) and the male around 10Cm (3.7 inches)








My tank is 50G (189L)








The male in his cave








I also got 3 convicts, 3 labidochromis yellows and 3 melanochromis auratus (all 3 - 5 cm) but both the EBJD seem to completely ignore those

all help appreciated


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## semistro (Oct 7, 2015)

the pictures


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

The large fish is a male, but I believe the smaller is also male. That's why the big one chases the little one, there's only enough territory for one male.


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## semistro (Oct 7, 2015)

I had suspicions that the bigger one was male, though I am not sure how you can see it. as far I have read it is very hard to tell with JD's and EBJD's. most Threads suggest vending, but i have never done this before and I am not really sure how to proceed in doing so, is it worth trying to be 100% sure?


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

The long fins and the body shape of the bigger fish tell me that it is a male. The smaller fish also has fins that appear much longer than I would expect on a female, however, I could be more certain if you had a good broadside shot of the smaller fish so that we could see the body shape.


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## semistro (Oct 7, 2015)

the fins of the smaller EBJD


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