# Good tank mates for a single Jack Dempsey?



## Anna Moore (Mar 13, 2009)

In a 55 gallon tank? Preferably something colorful. Help please?


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## srook23 (Feb 21, 2009)

I have a JD that was a rescue fish from the hurricanes. He's in a tank with 12 africans (mbuna), 6 silver dollars, and 1 tiger barb (rescued from same tank).

They all get along fine.


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## Anna Moore (Mar 13, 2009)

Could I keep him with two convicts?


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## Tcarswell (Mar 18, 2009)

JD seem to vary alot in their temperament. I have had one that was the most timid fish and another that ravaged a tank and all the equipment it could.


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## Manoah Marton (Feb 17, 2009)

Sure!
You could even have a breeding pair of cons!
If you get them, post pictures!
Manoah


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## Tcarswell (Mar 18, 2009)

Manoah Marton said:


> Sure!
> You could even have a breeding pair of cons!
> If you get them, post pictures!
> Manoah


What about the fry ? Are you being sarcastic ?


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

the fry would just be an extra treat for the JD


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

hmmm... my JD eggs made nice treats for my Cons. JDs couple 5+7", Con couple 2+2.5"

4(2 pairs) out of 6 JDs have spawned before in the tank with a pair of Cons(who might be trying) and a firemouth, pleco and a gourami.


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

Manoah Marton said:


> Sure!
> You could even have a breeding pair of cons!
> If you get them, post pictures!
> Manoah


Manoah Marton, you recently posted a thread asking if a 5 gallon was ok for an adult male kribensis. That's simply way too small. If you need to post threads like that, you shouldn't be advising someone on stocking options. It's unethical.


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## Tcarswell (Mar 18, 2009)

Isis24 said:


> Manoah Marton said:
> 
> 
> > Sure!
> ...


  :lol:


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

I think Manoah Marton was joking....or at least I took it that way.


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## jack lover (Aug 12, 2008)

Well it can go WAY bad FAST with a pair of cons and a JD.One of the cons would most likely try to spawn with the JD and the other would be all pissy.Or the JD would get way bullied but the pair.Depending on the size i think my self that it would be way stressed out and wouldnt be suprized if it dies from stress but you never know just my 2 cents


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## Fulbahar (Mar 20, 2009)

Good filtration and water circulation is essential to prevent the tank from ... 
The minimum tank size for a single Dempsey is 55 gallons, ... temper out on 
tankmates if they feel that their territory is being "invaded


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

My JDs are 5 times the size of the Cons...so ok for now. The Cons don't take any lip either though...


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## Brother Anthony (Mar 16, 2009)

I just found this on going thread concerning Jack Dempsey tank mates so I thought I would leech onto it. I have an Eletric Blue Jack Dempsey. Thanks guys.

in there now with the Eletric Blue Jack Dempsey:

2 eletric yellow labs 
1 electric blue aceii 
1 mbuna of some sort 
1 peacock 
1 colorless peacock 
1 Tilapia buttikoferi

I have been told I might want to seperate the EBJD from these fish, what should I put in with it? What can I expect from this set up currently.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I haven't read your other thread regarding water quality issues... I do suggest you balance water quality out before adding/changing the stock...

Keep in mind once you get things balanced, if you remove a bunch of fish the bacteria colony will dwindle only to support the fish you leave in the tank. Which means if you take the Africans out and keep only the Blue Dempsey for a period of time, when you add more fish later you will want to do so slowly or you'll have water quality issues again...

How big is your Blue Dempsey? When they are young/small (under 4") I've had bad luck keeping them with other Cichlid. After 4" or so they start to settle in a personality and some do fine with semi aggressive Cichlids while others will not.

I have a few adult Blue Dempseys and some can be kept with Oscars, Green Terror, Convicts and the like... while others would hide constantly in such a tank. I have a male/female "pair" of Blue Dempseys currently which are (in my experience) about the middle of the line for Blue Dempsey aggression/confidence and they are in a tank with a group of Geos and a few Firemouthes and all is going well.


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## Brother Anthony (Mar 16, 2009)

I think the water is balanced out fairly good now. I diff won't be adding anything until I am for sure though.

Thank you for telling me about the bacteria colony changeing to meet the fish quanitity; I did not know that. I was going to ask how I should go about the addition and numbers etc, but you just answered that also :thumb:

My Blue is a little over 1 inch atm should I grow him some solo then add more fish? Would he be very aggressive then because he was not use to tank mates?

What size do oscars get? Firemouths are pretty cool also. Are they pretty once older? I don't want anyone killing the Blue lol.

Here is a quick photo of him/her


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

That electric blue is awesome. DO NOT PUT AN OSCAR WITH IT YET!!!!!!!!! wait for a while let it settle in very well and grow a little then get a smaller jack dempsey or three and try to breed them. Or if you dont want to breed then wait even longer for him to get a lot larger and then you could get an oscar. Just be advised oscars get huge. I had a pair in a 125 gallon that were around 15 inches each. Also oscars seem to grow really fast" in my opinion ".


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## Brother Anthony (Mar 16, 2009)

You are calling my EBJD a him, so I got a boy =D What signs do I look for?

I am diff not adding anything with him until he is bigger. Would oscars be to big for a 55 gal? O I would love to have a bunch of JD's even if they did not breed or kill each other lol (i'm new to the hobby so breeding is above my head atm). That stripping and ultra protecting fish kinda scares me ALOT lol.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

I think something that has been missed here is that the mature size of a JD makes it barely suitable for a 55g to start with. Add a spawning pair of cons to the tank and ...well lets just say that the results can be less than stellar. I had a pair of 1.5-2" cons spawn in my 55g with large growout GT , Salvinis and Firemouths . The cons owned that tank while there was fry present. the bigger the cons get the worse that situation gets. JDs can be pretty mellow but they do vary quite a bit in temperment. Chances of a JD and con pair in a 55g working long term (and by that I mean longer than a week since cons breed early and often) is slim.


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## LJ (Sep 12, 2007)

Joels fish said:


> Chances of a JD and con pair in a 55g working long term (and by that I mean longer than a week since cons breed early and often) is slim.


I've had breeding cons and JDs peacefully coexisting in a 55 g before, although all though none of them were fully grown, and the cons were quite small.

I agree that it probably won't work long term, where long term is when the fish are fully grown, but it may work for a little while.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Yeah it might work for a bit, but long term just isn't realistic. The big issue that I see is the breeding Cons. If the cons were both males or females it has a much better chance of working . Better yet, one con and one othe smaller growing cichlid. The inescapable truth though is that eventually the JD will need that tank for himself or rehomed to a larger tank.


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## Brother Anthony (Mar 16, 2009)

So one EBJD needs 55 gallons to himeself full grown, they get 6-8 inches correct? Seems kinda lonely. Can you toss me a link concerning size of fish vrs tank size, or quickly explain it?

As of right now, the 1 1/2 inch EBJD is in there alone. If Cons are Convicts, I am leaning more away from those fish. I think its the name lol. Oscars get to big imo for my tank size; those are out also. I have plenty of time to figure things out (with the professional guidance of you all) while he grows some.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

JDs can grow to 10" provided they are well cared for and not stunted in small tanks . I have seen several at my LFS lately ,all were in that range or a bit bigger. EBJDs might not grow quite that large but the strain seems to still require refinement. Some get big some stay small some die if you look at them funny. All are expensive (EBJD). In my mind, the risk to the investment is not worth placing them with something like cons that could kick the snot out of them while guarding young . At least not untill the EBJD has grown and has a chance with them. Since the strain still has a lot of uncertainty to it , the best you can do now is to try and plan your tank as though you have a standard JD.

Tank size is a sticky issue around here. Most here will say that as an absulute minimum 4x the length of the fish housed in it , with 6-8x being a much better option for tank length . Width being wide enough to allow the fish to turn around with minimal effort. Taking this into consideration, a 55g becomes the min. tank size for a JD due to the size of the adult fish vs the tanks dimensions. You can play this a little one side or the other but not a lot. Tank dimention is more important in many ways than total volume.


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