Advice Appreciated On My 5ft Tank

[silverrabbit]

Hello

Basically, in the process of getting my new 5ft/90 uk gallons tank ready for fishy additions and so i've been mooching around for options on stocking! Was in one of my LFS' today and spotted the most gorgeous Jack Dempseys. Going by what i've read on here, I think the guy underestimated their adult size and so wanted to check opinions (his hand gestures looked something like 6inches) ?

Right now I have no other plans for the stocking of this tank, except for the addition of my common plec when he grows up a bit more. So, basically I wanted some advice and am completely open to ideas! First off, will 1 JD be ok in this tank (a group of them was suggested to me, but I don't think I have enough room ). Second, what else could I stock my tank with if I did purchase a JD? Was thinking of having a shuffle around and putting my parrot in the 5ft and getting 2 more - would they be ok with a JD? If parrots aren't advisable, what else could work? And if I added parrots, would I then have enough tank space for some dithers? Sorry, questions and more questions, lol. Just want to get this right.

Obviously I know there is a risk of aggression, but I don't want to stress my fishy friends unneccessarily by stocking stupidly. Hence asking here! I have a few weeks to think on things, and nothing is set in stone yet, so i'd be really appreciative of some help!

Thankees in advance x

 

[juanveldez]

well obviously you understand that they are/ can be an agressive fish so that is a good start. my last JD lived for 5 years and ended up being 8.5 inches TL when he did finally die. some day when I have tank space I hope to get a F0 JD which will be hard since they are commonly avalible.

 

[markandhisfish]

whats the tank dimension? for a 5 footer to be 90 uk gallons im guessing its not that wide. which could be an issue.

 

[silverrabbit]

Thanks for the replies... tank dimensions are 165x55x60.... does that still sound wrong? Maybe I calculated it wrong!

 

[markandhisfish]

that would be fine for a jd i make it 544 litres / 119 gallons. now they are quite a bit pricier than normal jds but have you looked at electric blue jack dempsey? stunning fish

http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/foru...iatus_blue3.jpg

 

[shroob]

Thanks for the replies... tank dimensions are 165x55x60.... does that still sound wrong? Maybe I calculated it wrong!

Those dimensions give 545 litres (120 imperial gallons / 140 US gallons call it).

In that size tank you can comfortably house a JD and other fish - the difficulty is the JD's aggression. Don't keep them in groups, the most likely outcome will be a pair forms and kills/injures the other fish.

I've seen JD's mix with parrots before, but it comes down to individual personalities, try and get all fish young and it stands a better chance of working. I'd certainly give it ago, in that size tank theres enough room for a JD and 2 parrots (if were talking the hybrid parrots) plus dithers if you wish. Other options other than parrots could be pretty much any robust CA/SA cichlid under 14", the real problem is finding the balance with aggression, so while a combo might work for one person the same fish combo might not work for another.

 

[silverrabbit]

LOL thanks for correcting that for me

Coooolios... and actually, the electric blue JD's are what I fell in love with in the pet shop a few days ago, hehe. There was a beautiful boy who I wanted soo much, but I have to wait until my tank is ready

Because I had the chance to buy this nice sized tank, I really wanted to fill it with fewer, larger impressive fish - hence the JD I only want the one JD really because I want him to be my pride and joy, and also because the one I saw was £55 but those guys were really worth it!

If the parrots (and yes Shroob, the hybrids ) + JD didn't work out, I have a back-up tank.

Oooh, i'm excited