Blue Jack Dempsey

[C_H_R_I_S]

I'm after some clarification on advice received from my lfs. I currently have 3 angels, 4 clown loach and 4 pictus cats and am looking for a bit more colour in the tank. My lfs said the blue Jack Dempsey's they have in stock would be fine with the fish I already have. I have read about Jack Dempseys being very aggressive but the advice I get from my lfs is usually sound and is the reason I return there. They say that the blue Jack Dempseys are not aggressive and are smaller than usual ones. Are they right? Cheers

 

[holidayinn]

If they mean electric blue jack demspey's, they aren't that different in behaviour and shouldnt grow smaller in size then regular JDs, unless its a poor quality specimen, which is the bigest danger in buying EBJD's.

They do have a reputatation of being less aggressive, but I've found every individual fish/cichlid differs in behaviour.

 

[C_H_R_I_S]

I dont think I'll take a chance on them if it might upset the rest of the tank. Thanks

 

[Verminator89]

The EBJD variant comes riddled with health problems. You can pay alot of money and still get a poor quality fish that just doesn't grow. I've seen many that grow up looking deformed and many other that seem to not grow at all. Mattlee's current EBJD seems to be growing exceptionally slow, and there are one or two others on the forum also. I havn't seen or heard of anyone in a long while who had one who grew anywhere near the size mine was, and look half as good. Which shows you how hard they are to come by, especially in good health. I lost mine the other week at only the age of three, one morning he was just dead. It a gamble you take with them i'm afraid. IMHO it was worth it with mine, he was something special and well worth it.

In general they will grow a little smaller than your average JD, mine seemed to have topped out at just under 9", but they are slightly slower growers than standard Jacks, so he could have grown some more but slowly over time. Termperament wise, mine was a big baby. The only fish he ever chased was his 7" female, i kept him with tetras, firemouths, rotkeil sevs, bichirs and plecs and he was absolutely fine to them all. Generally they are "thought" to be less aggressive, and this is a sentiment i somewhat agree with. Obviously they are a cichlid at the end of the day, so the odd one may be a little more boistrious then the next, so again its down to the fish you pick.

Overall, if you can find a good blood line and pay something you deem appropriate for one they are truely magnificent fish. I've heard a few people throw out the compliment that they are possibly one of the most 'marine' looking tropical fish you can get. Quite a compliment for a fish which nobody truely knows if its naturally occurring or man-made.

Good luck with your decision.

James

 

[walkers101]

who's? its all mine

 

[Verminator89]

Apologies Chris, Matt didn't correct me when i asked "how's your Jack doing?", so i assumed it was still as it was before. If he's all yours now great haha

 

[walkers101]

yeah i have had him for around 4 months mate