My Jack Dempsey Is Crazy, Need Some Advice

[ChilliPepper]

I have no sympathy for the Jack Dempsey, after what he did to the oscars, I dont really care if the green terror kills him.

I think it's more the fact that you said the quote above.

People here recommend fishless cycling as it is the most humane method. Of course many fish have and will survive fish-in cycles, but the fact is as we now know so much about the effect fish-in cycling can have on a fish, we do our best to make it as easy as possible for them and care for them so they enjoy a good life.

 

[Davo86]

I've also cycled with fish, although it was in early days of fishkeeping, and I had no idea of fishless cycling. I've cycled a lot of tanks since then, and used mature media from other filters. I have not actually done a fishless cycle. Some people get offensive....... when there is a better way of handling a situation that you don't agree with. I just don't get why there needs to be an attack! It serves no purpose, and certainly saves no fish, and helps no fishkeeper. Fish forums are a place to get help...not get attacked and made feel like a monster! I've seen this twice in two days....What's the deal

Actually, Tiger Barbs are hardy fish, and could probably cycle the tank and survive. It's just easier to do fishless...less stress on you and the fish, and it's quicker. What are the plans for the JD, if the Barbs are in the tank....

Ok lets me get something straight here, I have no problem with people doing a fish-in-cycle,
however IME you should be using a relatively low number of small none messy fish,
A GT is large and messy and so will have a much greater effect on the ammonia level than if you cycled with 4 danios for example,
Once the tank is fully cycled, bacteria can double in 24hours, so in the case of cichlids it will be fairly easy for you to add to the stocking each week

Oh and the reason i got a bit offensive above is because you asked for advice and then rejected the answer, something that many people seem to be doiing lately on this forum.

if you are cycling with fish it is a Fact that you need to keep the levels low if you want the fish to survive,
and the only way to keep them low is to test regularly to see if they are still low

 

[aloys]

If I put the barbs in the tank the JD will go into a different tank, a 29 gallon tank at a friends house that is already cycled, which right now only has a pleco in it since he just moved a couple other fish a couple days ago to another bigger tank. It will probably only stay in that tank for a couple months and then i will probably sell it back to a fish store or put it back in my tank.

I am not a fish killer, the only reason i said i didnt care what happens to the JD is because it was such a jerk to the other fish that used to be in the tank.

The eventual plan for my 75 gallon tank is still up in the air. I was going to put a couple oscars in it and eventually sell them back when they got to around 8 inches or so. But i think i want to try to get a male JD to coexist with some other fish like a couple Bolivian Rams, red tailed shark or some other cichlids....I want to keep the amount of fish relatively small....

 

[Davo86]

If I put the barbs in the tank the JD will go into a different tank, a 29 gallon tank at a friends house that is already cycled, which right now only has a pleco in it since he just moved a couple other fish a couple days ago to another bigger tank. It will probably only stay in that tank for a couple months and then i will probably sell it back to a fish store or put it back in my tank.

I am not a fish killer, the only reason i said i didnt care what happens to the JD is because it was such a jerk to the other fish that used to be in the tank.

But i think I want toThe eventual plan for my 75 gallon tank is still up in the air. I was going to put a couple oscars in it and eventually sell them back when they got to around 8 inches or so. try to get a male JD to coexist with some other fish like a couple Bolivian Rams, red tailed shark or some other cichlids....I want to keep the amount of fish relatively small....

a JD simply won't co-exist with Bolivian Rams,
possible cichlid tankmates your looking at are maybe 1 or 2 of the following

Convict
Firemouth
Blue Acara
Rainbow Cichlid
Nicaragua Cichlid
Severum
Sajica
Salvini
Green Terror

 

[aloys]

Good advice, If I could get a male jack dempsey to live with a male green terror that would be great

 

[Davo86]

Good advice, If I could get a male jack dempsey to live with a male green terror that would be great

well it can be done, so goodluck and i hope it works

 

[vinylman]

I am not a fish killer, the only reason i said i didnt care what happens to the JD is because it was such a jerk to the other fish that used to be in the tank.

It was YOU who chose the fish, YOU who subjected them all to Ammonia (which will permanently damage a fishes gills, and probably contributed to their behaviour once the Ammonia poisoning kicked in, along with stress) and YOU who are willing to stand back and watch something happen in YOUR tank which YOU could easily prevent. And it's the FISH that's a jerk?. Wow.

 

[aloys]

I am not a fish killer, the only reason i said i didnt care what happens to the JD is because it was such a jerk to the other fish that used to be in the tank.

It was YOU who chose the fish, YOU who subjected them all to Ammonia (which will permanently damage a fishes gills, and probably contributed to their behaviour once the Ammonia poisoning kicked in, along with stress) and YOU who are willing to stand back and watch something happen in YOUR tank which YOU could easily prevent. And it's the FISH that's a jerk?. Wow.

Yea you might be right, the first one he killed was still being active and eating and then it was dead. It was getting picked on a bit, but its color was still good and still seemed ok. I was still hoping that the JD would calm down, its a 75 gallon tank and there are 3 small fish in the tank, so there was a ton of room for them to swim around. The fish were all less than 2.5 inches. After the first oscar died the JD and the 2nd oscar were ok for the rest of that day, but the next day the JD was bad so I had to take the oscar out.

I did learn a lesson to just cycle a fish with zebra danios or something like that. Or steal a bunch of water out of a friends tank to start a tank with.

 

[nosoup4you]

Stealing water from your friend's tank won't help much, it's the filter media that you want.

 

[vinylman]

Using water from another tank would do absolutely nothing to cycle yours, but as you're willing to sacrifice fish needlessly, I think you're just going to carry on doing what you want and the well-being and health of your fish is of little concern to you.

 

[aloys]

Screw you man, this forum is just ridiculous. I lose one fish during a cycle, which I am sure has never happened to any of you, and now i am a monster.

Vinylman I dont understand your comment at all, to me its just being a dick for no reason. I understand that the water alone won't cycle a tank but if i switch filters with him which i would, it would work out nicely.

So for the people that tried to help, I do appreciate the help, and I have learned quite a bit by just reading different posts. For the people that are douche bags, have a nice day, cause I'm done with this place. There are plenty of other places to try to find some good advice. That won't attack you for killing one fish during a cycle.

 

[SharonCC]

I'm not surprised!

 

[vinylman]

I hope he manages to get a refund from the John McEnroe charm school.