Rescued Jd

[Gooner]

On Sunday morning just popped out to get the paper and overheard a young lady frantically asking the shopkeeper if anyone keeps tropical fish in the area, with a reply that he had no idea and he couldn`t help, so I politely interupted and asked if I could help, (explaining that I keep fish). "Yes please, my tank has sprung a leak during the night and ALL the water is on the floor" came the reply. Anyway to cut a long story short I followed her to the disaster site where her boyfriend was mopping the floor and a bucket in the middle of the room with the only survivor, A little Jack Dempsey about 2". All other fish sadly perrished.
To my horror I noticed they had two JD`s two Convicts and a Common Plec in a 15g tank. After a lengthy conversation explaining the general criteria about keeping fish in general the young lady asked if I wanted the JD as she no longer wanted to keep fish.
How could I refuse.

Now, my dillema, could I permanently house the JD in my tank?

42g with 1 x Acara, 1 x Firemouth, 6 x Red Rainbows, 1 x Bristlenose, 1 x Clown Plec.

The JD seems quite happy at the moment with no aggression from the other fish, it has started to chase the Rainbows around but I cannot see it doing any harm as they are nearly twice the size of it.

What are my options?

 

[kniesh]

I would say yes at the moment. I cant see anything in there challenging the J.D for dominance once it's larger and as long as the tank is a mature one you should just get away with it so long as you add no more. What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[Gooner]

Sorry, forgot to mention the size, L40" x W16" x H18". Its a Juwel Rekord 160.
Ironic that my previous Rekord (120) sprang a leak about a fortnight ago due to the kids throwing toys in front room (cracked the front pane). Luckily I dont live too far from home, the wife rang and I was there in about ten minutes, thankfully no casualties. (Expensive though).

 

[ox5477]

I would say once the JD starts to grow then it will start to squabble with the acara. PLus, for a full grown JD, I would want atleast 55G, not including having other tank mates. So, for the long term, need to either upgrade or give away to the lfs or someone who can house it, but for right now, it was the right thing to do if the lfs wouldn't take the JD

 

[Gooner]

Cheers ox5477,

I am planning to get bigger additional tank in couple of months so I`ll have a few options open.
How quickly do the JD`s grow, my acara has nearly doubled in four months, now about 5".
TBH the most aggresive fish has turned out to be the Firemouth.
The Lfs have just put a notice up explaining that they cannot take any fish for the forseen future (I belive it has had something to do with cross-contamination). Sounds serious.