Skittish Pair Of Jd's

[leecasey]

Hi, so I finally got round to stocking my tank. I found a pair (male and female) JD at Maidenhead Aquatics in Enfield, I reserved them and went to pick them up. They are around 6-7". When I got there I nearly didnt take them. They were pure white, with stress(?). Regardless, I took them home and popped them in my tank, they were acclimatised appropriately. I bought a large terracotta pot and they soon camped up in there. There colours are now great. The female has a bit of a red belly which I have never seen before though?

They come out every now and then but as soon as they see me they often get very scared and shoot off in all directions. I know fish need some time to settle in and I also know JD's like to spend a lot of time in caves etc. Should I expect them to ever come to the surface for feeding etc though like my Oscar used to? It's just it doesn't make a very comfortable atmosphere when you dont want to get out of your chair too abruptly in case of the fish giving themselves a heart attack!

 

[tenohfive]

I'm far from expert on JD's but if they've had a difficult trip to MA then I wouldn't have thought it would be unusual for them to be nervous now. Are you leaving the tank lights off? I generally leave the lights off for at least a few hours (if not overnight) as the dark/shade seems to help most fish I've kept settle down.

 

[leecasey]

I'm far from expert on JD's but if they've had a difficult trip to MA then I wouldn't have thought it would be unusual for them to be nervous now. Are you leaving the tank lights off? I generally leave the lights off for at least a few hours (if not overnight) as the dark/shade seems to help most fish I've kept settle down.

I left the light off for an hour or two when they first entered the tank. Been leaving it on during the day and switching to my moonlights in the evening. I'll try leaving it off for 24 hours or so. The female seems a bit more confident today, almost coming to the surface when I approached the tank, but the male is still very timid.

 

[Davo86]

Adding some dither fish will do a great job in boosting their confidence,

Is it just the pair you have?

 

[leecasey]

Adding some dither fish will do a great job in boosting their confidence,

Is it just the pair you have?

Yeah I did go to Amwell Aquatics today to get some dithers. They had a terrible selection. Only viable option was Silver Dollars really and they wanted £50 for 3! and no these were not big. 2" maximum. To be honest I don't rate that place or the people at all. So I'm off to Wildwoods tomorrow to see what they have on offer. MA have some cracking Congo Tetras at 3 for £20. I believe they must be close to fully grown though. So might grab 6 of those.

I have a GT in with the JD's. He is a lot smaller, around 2". Biggest I could find. I have loads of hiding places and at the moment there is no friction between them at all. I also temporarily took in my brothers Oscar who was getting beaten up by his Texas. I would love to keep him as he is quite a character. He's around 5-6" and gets a long fine with the GT and the JD's at the moment. But I know I'm overstocked with those cichlids together. So I should probably look at re-homing him

I've seen a very slight improvement tonight actually, I was at the end of the tank looking at my GT and the pair came up to investigate. Light has been off for 24 hours now so fingers crossed they are becoming more comfortable.

Will get some pics/vid up later.

 

[Jackiee]

My JD was very skittish when I first got him as well..
took him a couple weeks to get fully comfortable enough to come up to the glass and the top of the tank when I pass by or stand in front of the tank, now he's always out and never afraid of anyone.

Just took him a little while to build his courage up. He's 4 inches. But, I also have larger fish in the tank, a blood parrot and severum, that were used to coming to the front of the glass when I came around, he could've learned from them and not been so timid.

Maybe try feeding a little tiny bit every time you come up to the tank, just a pellet or two, then he'll associate you with food time.

 

[minnnt]

Good advice with the feeding Jackiee.

I had a group of 3 young and they were not affraid of anything. These seem like a fish that seem to be shy when they're bigger.

I'm sure they will be fine in time, when i went to Verminators house his was in hiding, probably because of all the movement near the tank at the time.

The Oscar sounds nice

 

[leecasey]

Good advice with the feeding Jackiee.

I had a group of 3 young and they were not affraid of anything. These seem like a fish that seem to be shy when they're bigger.

I'm sure they will be fine in time, when i went to Verminators house his was in hiding, probably because of all the movement near the tank at the time.

The Oscar sounds nice

Been over a week and not seen much improvement. A bit concerned that the JD's (especially the male as he seems most shy) are not eating as much as they should. They don't have a chance of getting any pellets with the Oscar in the tank. I am going to try the sinking variety though. The only time they feed is if I defrost some frozen bloodworms. I don't want to be feeding them bloodworms every day though.

I'm going to be totally gutted if these guys stay like this for good though, such beautiful fishes.

 

[holidayinn]

I would persevere and give them time...Ime JD's are generally pretty skittish and adult cichlids need more time to adapt to new surroundings.

 

[leecasey]

I would persevere and give them time...Ime JD's are generally pretty skittish and adult cichlids need more time to adapt to new surroundings.

Yeah, not ready to give up on them for a while yet, will re-evaluate in a couple of months!

 

[GShorty1981]

JD's can be very shy, i have kept loads of them in the past 10+ years (ebjds, gold, standards) and they tend to be more shy than out going like a Oscar, Green Terror or a Midas, i currently have a little female and she is very pretty and out going

 

[Jackiee]

Fish can go weeks without eating and be fine. Some people leave on vacation and only feed their fish when they get back. I had a fish that was sick once and didn't eat for 3 weeks. she recovered and got her appetite back. and I'm sure they are catching small particles and picking off the bottom when you aren't looking.

I know what you mean about the oscar hogging all the food too. My jack didn't get near as much food when the oscar was in the tank, because he tries to hurry up and gobble EVERYTHING in sight before the other fish even get a chance. I have to distract him while i hand feed the JD and other fish. Now that the oscar is in a hospital tank, they eat much easier lol.

Just give them some time. it could even take a couple months. took my JD a month to get comfortable enough to come up to me when i approach the tank now, but not all of them are that curious or daring. get some sinking cichlid pellets, even if they drop to the bottom, the fish will get them.

Or maybe try getting some algae wafers, breaking them up into smaller pieces and dropping them by the JD's.
All of my fish love this especially my JD. He chases the piece all the way down and gobbles it up, it makes my fish go into hunting mode.
Algae is a good supplement, most fish need some vegetation in their diet.

Also, with the blood worms, if you'd rather not, there's no reason to defrost them. Just grab the chunk, hold in your fingers (my bloodworms are in cubes) and move it back in forth in the water, the warm water from the aquarium melts the frozen chunk and the blood worms begin falling off very fast and easy. My fish learned not to be afraid of my fingers this way also and now eat from my hand.

 

[Verminator89]

My female is extremely skittish. Slightest movement in the room and shes straight to the back of the tank, or in her flowerpot. I'm quite lucky if i can sit infront of the tank and she swims around happily infront of me, thus why i get so few pictures of her. She often makes big splashes from where she suddenly bolts around the tank in shock, often i hear a loud crash as she butts straight into the glass full tilt.

My male on the other hand is the most chilled out fish you'll ever see, nothing fazes him in the slightest. He swims around my hands during maintenance on a really chilled out day. And rarely, very rarely he'll feed out of my hand, but he has to be rather hungry.

Jacks are timid, its a known fact. Some more so than others. Give them places to hide, corners to sulk in and open space with dithers and they may come out of their shelves a little. Once timid though, its often hard to break it i've found. Just depends on the fish itself. Good luck with them, i enjoy mine no end despite the females obvious shyness.

 

[leecasey]

My female is extremely skittish. Slightest movement in the room and shes straight to the back of the tank, or in her flowerpot. I'm quite lucky if i can sit infront of the tank and she swims around happily infront of me, thus why i get so few pictures of her. She often makes big splashes from where she suddenly bolts around the tank in shock, often i hear a loud crash as she butts straight into the glass full tilt.

My male on the other hand is the most chilled out fish you'll ever see, nothing fazes him in the slightest. He swims around my hands during maintenance on a really chilled out day. And rarely, very rarely he'll feed out of my hand, but he has to be rather hungry.

Jacks are timid, its a known fact. Some more so than others. Give them places to hide, corners to sulk in and open space with dithers and they may come out of their shelves a little. Once timid though, its often hard to break it i've found. Just depends on the fish itself. Good luck with them, i enjoy mine no end despite the females obvious shyness.

I'm starting to think maybe JD's are not suited to me. I've only ever owned Oscars and the experience is completely different. I have my tank in my living room and I really hate scaring the life out of them when I get out of my chair or something. I've decided, as beautiful the JD's are, I'm going to find them a new home. I'm going to stick with the Oscar I rescued and I'm picking up a GT tomorrow. I hope they get on! GT is another fish I find really beautiful. Never owned one so it will be a new experience too.

 

[england]

I agree, i found the jacks ive kept to be exstemely skitish, strange as there a beautiful cichlid and quite big in stakes, i found the tank needed to be pretty fully stocked with rocks and plants providing alot of hiding places for them to feel secure, the bigger the tank the better,i kept a female in my 5/2/2 ft with oscars etc, she was fine, moved her to a 3.5ft she would only hide, then it was just here and a few skirted tetra, lol