Are they really THAT aggressive?

[mshill90]

Are Jaguar Cichlids really as aggressive as I have been reading?

I ask this because I have a male Jaguar Cichlid that I won on ebay for $13. He's 8" on the small side. I have him in a 50 gallon tank by himself right now, but I have other plans with him, and I don't want him to kill everything.

He seems pretty docile, but I have never put anything in the tank with him.

I have a 135 gallon long tank that I really REALLY want to set up as a river tank, and I want him to be part of it, but I am afraid he will kill the rest of my stock.

I am looking to add the following:

Male Jack Dempsey
RTSNX Catfish
Common Pleco
Datnoid
African Leaf fish (they would more than likely be dinner, so maybe not)
Silver Dollars?
Flagtail?

I had a list, but then it seemed that it may be too crowded, so I am still messing with my stock.

The tank isn't even set up yet, but I need to get my ideas together.

I was told to get all males to keep the aggression levels down.

 

[Experiment397]

i have seen a 4 inch jag beat up some oscars twice his size and back some africans into a corner...seems like a mean little $h;t to me...

 

[preston5321]

They are quite territorial rather then plain aggro. A tank that size with a fulll grown male would be pretty hit an miss I think. On another note if you add a rtxtsn the jag will be the very least of your worries.

 

[vaine111]

I had a 17" jag that I kept with oscars, pacu's and sevrums but he grew up with them. The only fish he killed was his female mate when he was about 6-8".
All fish have different personalities though. If he were mine I'd add him to a tank but not add something to his to be safe.

 

[mshill90]

I already have the RTSNX, he's about 4". I know that he will get incredibly larger, and he will one day have a tank that will fit him. We have a 1500 gallon tank that I am looking to down size to 1,000, so that's plenty big for him when the time comes.

I also know that the cat will more than likely eat everything, so that's why I am adding him in small, and the others in large.

At least I'm not adding a goonch! haha.

I just don't want Harry (the Jag) to get hurt, or him to hurt others.

I put my hand in his tank a lot when I feed him, and he's always come up to it, and he's gentle.. kind of nudges it..

 

[Sarah88]

yeah as said, jags are more territorial than outright aggressive, but these are big fish and if they feel they dont have enough room then they have no problems making room by taking out competitors. in that size tank i think you would be ok with having the dempsey though i would make sure its already grown since the jag is already larger, and i would add them to the tank at the same size, also STAY AWAY from a TSN RTC or any mix with them in it, they all get huge (as in the size of a small child) and will need a huge pond in order to be comfortable. stick with just the jag, dempsey, pleco and silver dollars and you should be ok, as long as the jag and dempsey get along, but its very hit or miss when mixing cichlids together when they are already larger

what are the dimensions of this 1000g tank your talking about? also he will most likely outgrow the 135g within 8 months, these guys grow faster than any other fish i know of, and also i would stick with the 1500g tank, he will be much more comfortable in there than the 1000, 1000g is kind of pushing it for an adult tsnxrtc IMO

 

[mshill90]

yeah as said, jags are more territorial than outright aggressive, but these are big fish and if they feel they dont have enough room then they have no problems making room by taking out competitors. in that size tank i think you would be ok with having the dempsey though i would make sure its already grown since the jag is already larger, and i would add them to the tank at the same size, also STAY AWAY from a TSN RTC or any mix with them in it, they all get huge (as in the size of a small child) and will need a huge pond in order to be comfortable. stick with just the jag, dempsey, pleco and silver dollars and you should be ok, as long as the jag and dempsey get along, but its very hit or miss when mixing cichlids together when they are already larger

Just a Jag and Jack will be boring. haha. I dont even like silver dollars, i kno thats not what I was thinking of.. dont know why I thought of them.. haha.

I have several Jacks, and honestly... I was in love with them when I first learned of them, but now I don't really care for them. They have no personality. Well, mine don't atleast. I have 5, and I would loveeee to have 0.

I don't know if I am out of my element on this, but I would love to have a peacock bass.

If I keep the Jag in his tank, what could I put in a river tank that can stay in there for life?

 

[Sarah88]

peacock bass get too big for a 135 and no way you could leave a male jag in a 55g without severely stunting him, IMO bare minimum for a male jag by himself is a 90g, these are large growing active fish that need lots of room, what are the dimensions of the 135? how long and wide it is will affect what can go together, and what kind of fish do you like that your thinking of wanting and have access to? jags take up a lot of room so will diminish what all you can put in the tank, and getting any larger cichlids to get along no matter what the species is much harder then growing out juvies together

 

[mshill90]

peacock bass get too big for a 135 and no way you could leave a male jag in a 55g without severely stunting him, IMO bare minimum for a male jag by himself is a 90g, these are large growing active fish that need lots of room, what are the dimensions of the 135? how long and wide it is will affect what can go together, and what kind of fish do you like that your thinking of wanting and have access to? jags take up a lot of room so will diminish what all you can put in the tank, and getting any larger cichlids to get along no matter what the species is much harder then growing out juvies together

The minimum for a JD is a 55, and they grow to be the same size. He was kept in a 10 gallon almost all his life before the last person had him, so I am sure he is done growing, as he is a few years old, so I was told.

the 135 I know is 6 feet long. I believe 18" high? I don't know the entire dimensions, I just know its 6 feet long.

I want a river tank. I don't want pacus, oscars, anything pirahna looking..

And I don't want cichlids, as in aggressive schooling cichlids.

What if I did earth eaters, leaf fish, and butterfly fish? What could go with them?

 

[Sarah88]

ok well if he is severely stunted then that is another matter, normally jaguars grow much larger than JDs, a male JD is lucky to reach 12in, most stay 10in or under while a male jaguar can easily reach 14-16in if cared for properly (with some rare specimens getting up to 18in). as ofr a peaceful tank, you could south americans with 3 or 4 male severums, some angels and school of some type of geo, but i dont know anything about leaf fish or butterfly fish so dont know how they would do with severums and if you had them in the tank then i wouldnt do the angels cus that may be too overstocked