280L (61 Imp Gallons) Dempsey Tank

[minnnt]

Firemouth Firemouth Firemouth!!!!

 

[Jackiee]

You kept your Jacks in with angelfish?!
I thought they are way too aggressive for that?
I wanted to have a Jack in with my BP and Sev, but others recommended against it

 

[Verminator89]

My Jack is the biggest softy going. Even when breeding they don't pester anyone. I've been lucky to an extent yes, but they are still not always as pugnacious as people make out. The important word there being 'not always', yes some will be...but in my experiences with the 4 jacks i've had 3 of them have been wimps. The 4th was a rather fiesty little female who didnt take much encourgement to go on a rampage.

As long as care and concideration is taken into account and you introduce fish slowly in a big enough tank, you can make it work. When things go wrong, they can do so in an instant, look at mattlee's journal

 

[Jackiee]

Thanks for the information. The Jack Dempsey I'm looking at right now, somebody wants to sell her to me for a mere $10
just because he wants to sell all his fish and stock it differently, and she's beautiful. (It looks like a she anyways, by the markings on her face)
But she is not an electric blue, she' s the normal Jack Dempsey. But she is only 5 inches long, so is my BP, but my severum is larger than both of them at 7 inches,
so I'm curious as to if it would work since the JD is not larger than my other two fish. But, i'm weary to go for it because I don't want a fatal result

 

[Plecostomos Fan]

Havnt tried getting them down yet, will do soon though. As you can see i have enough slate to pin them down Right, i foolishy (not foolishly?) bought some more Redmoor. What can i say i love the stuff, atleast now i definately have enough to play around with in the final hardscape. Right so all this is just the new stuff, LOL?

And then just to leave with you some pics of my Dempseys that i took this morning. I'll post a few of my female aswell, she's beautifull but i focus so much on my male i neglect her a little when its photo time.


And my little flaring secret, i nicked my mums mirror. Spot it?

Must say he is indeed a beauty, alltough i still love mine hehe and he's also a softy doesn't bother the other fish inc two Angels.
BTW wrong section i know but how do you upload your photo's to individual posts?

 

[Verminator89]

Ofcourse they are cichlids, so nobody can second guess how any of them will react to be honest. So long as your carefull, and watch for any and all behavioural signs it can be achieved. Perhaps a divider so they can see each other for a month or so before they actually come into contact? Re-doing the entire scape to break up any claimed territory will help also. If it doesnt work out, surely you can sell the fish on somehow right.

They are beautifull fish, and the one your on about looks stunning also. I saw a picture in another thread i believe (?). My initial impression was female also, Jacks usually 'look' male or female, and the face is a big give away.

Go for it, you know you want to, just be carefull

 

[Plecostomos Fan]

Ofcourse they are cichlids, so nobody can second guess how any of them will react to be honest. So long as your carefull, and watch for any and all behavioural signs it can be achieved. Perhaps a divider so they can see each other for a month or so before they actually come into contact? Re-doing the entire scape to break up any claimed territory will help also. If it doesnt work out, surely you can sell the fish on somehow right.

They are beautifull fish, and the one your on about looks stunning also. I saw a picture in another thread i believe (?). My initial impression was female also, Jacks usually 'look' male or female, and the face is a big give away.

Go for it, you know you want to, just be carefull

I only have the one male, if i bought another male would they fight? i also dont come accross many Elecric's they seem rare, does anyone know a good place to find them bearing in mind i live in West Yokshire.

 

[Jackiee]

Ofcourse they are cichlids, so nobody can second guess how any of them will react to be honest. So long as your carefull, and watch for any and all behavioural signs it can be achieved. Perhaps a divider so they can see each other for a month or so before they actually come into contact? Re-doing the entire scape to break up any claimed territory will help also. If it doesnt work out, surely you can sell the fish on somehow right.

They are beautifull fish, and the one your on about looks stunning also. I saw a picture in another thread i believe (?). My initial impression was female also, Jacks usually 'look' male or female, and the face is a big give away.

Go for it, you know you want to, just be carefull

Yes, I did post a picture of her in another thread
I'll just watch them carefully. Even the owner said she's not necessarily aggressive, just needs her space, and she has a smaller tank than my 90 gallon.
And if it doesnt work, I can put a divider up and work on selling her. I'm sure I'll have some takers.

And yeah I thought with the bigger specs/flakes of color all along her face she looked female.

I think I'm gonna go for it

 

[Verminator89]

I only have the one male, if i bought another male would they fight? i also dont come accross many Elecric's they seem rare, does anyone know a good place to find them bearing in mind i live in West Yokshire.

If you were to buy another male they would probably fight, especially as they reach sexual maturity. If they are in a tank big enough for them to both have their own territory without any points where they both try to claim a spot then you could get away with it. You'll have the odd squabble, but ultimately you'll never know untill you try.

And yes, the Electrics are rare. They are very hard to breed, as its fraught with complications and isnt helped by the fact they seem far weaker than most other fish are as juvi's. I myself hav'nt seen an Electric Blue Jack in a shop for about 2 years now. I've heard of places that have had them in, but are too far afield for myself to get to easily. I've only ever seen them in a shop twice, and that was the same shop i got mine from within the space of about a month or two. So they are hard to come across, and no, i don't know where you would even begin to find one currently. They don't come cheaply any more either. My male cost me £25 as a 1" juvi back in Octover 08, however now it seems likely you'll pay upward of £40 for a juvi, potentially hitting £60+. I've heard of adults being sold for well over £100 each also. For that reason alone i'll be devastated when mines days are up, and i'd never sell him - ever

Good luck with finding them though.

 

[Plecostomos Fan]

Thanks m8 i bought this one as a nipper, well actualy bought two but one died they cost me 30quid each from Maidenhead aquatics but worth every penny.

 

[Verminator89]

Just a quick little update.

Now i'm not getting my hopes up because they've done this before and nothing ever came of it. But spawning behaviour has began once more. Its looking promising, with both male and female Jacks "shimmying" side by side with fins all flared, then they swim down to the front, where the female then beings swimming into the sand making it fly everywhere. Also taking mouthfulls of sand and sticks and spraying it all over the place. This is now day three of this behaviour so fingers crossed. I've had them on a diet of frozen bloodworm every day for a week prior to this to prime them both for this, and its working so far. I shall keep you updated, next update will either be that they've stopped, or i have eggs!

Watch this space. *cough*LESLEY*cough* Get active girl!

 

[star4]

Fingers toes and eyes crossed.

 

[Littlemonkey]

Me too, will be keeping my eye on this thread.

 

[Verminator89]

Ahh, it looked so promising, much more so than there halfhearted attempts in the last couple months. I'll give them a week or so off then start priming again. Fingers crossed.

 

[Verminator89]

On the off chance i found a big clay pot in the garden, so i broke it and added it to the tank. More out of interest to be fair. Well, the effect was instant. With the female beginning digging out all the sand from inside straight away, so all is not lost. Fingers crossed even further now