Jack Dempsey Tankmates

[JosephKern]

Hi,
I'm looking at starting a 125 gal tank with my Jack as the main fish.  I've seen a few older posts about this topic but would like to get a fresh look at what people have had sucess in as far as tankmates.  Not looking for all Cichlids.  As of now I'm thinking My 1 Jack (just over an inch), a convict or 2, school of tiger bards, school of silver dollars, bichir.  I am looking at just a couple different cichlids and want to see what other options I would have.
Thanks for any help

 

[CSnyder00]

I just put Tiger Barbs in with my Jack Dempsey pair. So far, they've been great, and the Tiger Barbs act as dither fish for the Jacks. I also keep Plecos with my Jacks. Let me know what you find out with the Convicts. I think you might have some fights on your hands.

 

[JosephKern]

Thanks for the reply, I just picked up the tank today.  Hopefully soon it will be up and running with some fish.  Any others have suggestions I might want to look at? 

 

[JosephKern]

Also, any flitration recomendations?  Thinking eheim 2217 or 2075, pair, maybe both.

 

[Brodeur30]

I put a pair of jacks (they were young, turned out to be one male and one female) with my 3 female convicts, firemouth, and salvini and they are getting along pretty well. I have plans to move the male jack to a bigger tank eventually or find him another home eventually because he's a jerk (as expected) but the salvini keeps him in line. Oddly there is very little aggression and they all seem content. I highly recommend convicts, especially females  

 

[SherLar]

   I have 3 jacks and 3 oscars in my water garden, where they happily co-exist with an eclipse catfish, a bichir, and 3 red-eared sliders (yeah, I have to do frequent water changes). The jacks, at about 6", are smaller than the oscars, but are just as ravenous and piscivorous as the oscars. I give them 2 dozen feeder guppies every other week as a treat and the jacks eat as many as the oscars. All guppies are gone within a couple hours.
   The jacks have smaller mouths than the oscars, but I'd be hesitant to ad tiger barbs, or any small fish, as they may become snacks as the jacks grow. IMO, I'd stay with Central American cichlids as tank mates.