Blue JD or not??

[Headrush]

I have a 90 gallon with a 5-6" female JD, 4 1/2" GT, and a 3-4" male firemouth, along with 2 plecos and 5 cory cats. They are all doing very well together.

Now...Last weekend i was out and stopped in to the lfs and saw blue dempseys for sale. When i first started keeping cichlids I read as much as i could find on these fish but when I bought one for over $40 it was killed after living for a month in a tank with this same JD, GT and a salvini I used to have. I got home and it was up in the corner by the heater with all of its fins chewed down to stubs. I put him in a quarantine tank by himself to try to save him but it died a day later. The salvini gave him the most trouble and i figured he was the culprit.

Should I try again in this bigger tank? The first time was in a 30 gallon and all fish were 1-2". I have 2 blue rams in the 30 right now with some 3-4" boseman rainbows and thought I could grow one Blue JD out to about 3' in there and then introduce it to the 90?

Good or bad idea? I know they sometimes die from mysterious causes etc... but they are SOOOO cool when they get bigger. Could be an expensive experiment tho

Please let me know what you guys/gals think! Thank you

 

[REDKID!!!]

bad idea.. with the fish you have now you already need a 120 if the aggressions is that bad twoards new fish. i would wait until you have a bigger tank or you could try to put it in with the rams but there might be some fighitng

 

[dougefresh]

I would personally just leave it in the 30 with the others, you might lose a ram or two but it would be worth it instead of losing the EBJD....I put my EBJD and GT in a 75(both were around 6") and all they did was fight constantly .......good luck though ...........

 

[AquataHolic420]

IF u want to successfully keep EBJDs you need to have them be the most aggressive fish in the tank. NO SALVINI, NO GT or JD, especially if the EBJD is small in size.

EBJD are typically weaker fish, and not as aggressive as many other cichlid.s

If you want a EBJD to grow up and look nice keep him with eartheater cichlids, like Geophagus species, and other easy going fish.

Unless you are trying to breed and sell baby EBJD there is no need for the blue dempsey to be housed with a original jack D.

get rid of the GT/JD and get a couple of EBJD, or just keep what u have now, i wouldnt mix the two. But what do i know. my EBJD died at 5", but that was a few weeks after i added 2 JD's to try and breed the blues correctly.

 

[MJB]

get a bigger tank man!

 

[Headrush]

get a bigger tank man!

HA! How'd I know that was coming? Cant believe it took 4 posts to see it

Thanks guys/gals I thought it was a long shot but couldn't help but think of the color in this 90 if they all "fit". Guess it's just a dream for now, but I'm sure you can ALL relate to that sort of thinking in your years of fishkeeping Sorta like... Dream big and get a tank thats bigger!...right?

I won't put the blue JD in the 30 either cause the rams a very cool little cichlids and I'd like to keep them around a while.

And sorry Redkid but I don't believe I need a 120 for 3 SA/CA cichlids, 2 of which will be 10" max. Maybe you misread the post? Not to flame you or anything like that, all comments are useful and i always appreciate your opinion. I'm all good right now, and everyone in there's fat dumb and happy with lots of room

Thanks for all the input from you all tho

 

[labiatus55]

I ahve a 5in. male in my 180 with 5in. salvini, 8in. dempsey male, pair 8in. loiselli, 3 3-4 in. cons., 2 6-7 in. tinfoils and 4in. silver dollar, he holds his own and even chases/liplocks with larger fish??

 

[dougefresh]

IF u want to successfully keep EBJDs you need to have them be the most aggressive fish in the tank. NO SALVINI, NO GT or JD, especially if the EBJD is small in size.

EBJD are typically weaker fish, and not as aggressive as many other cichlid.s

If you want a EBJD to grow up and look nice keep him with eartheater cichlids, like Geophagus species, and other easy going fish.

Unless you are trying to breed and sell baby EBJD there is no need for the blue dempsey to be housed with a original jack D.

get rid of the GT/JD and get a couple of EBJD, or just keep what u have now, i wouldnt mix the two. But what do i know. my EBJD died at 5", but that was a few weeks after i added 2 JD's to try and breed the blues correctly.

This is necessarily true at all......You just need a bigger tank to house them in...I have kept mine(7") with bigger oscars(was aggresive to), slightly smaller jags(was fine with), same size festaes(beat up the festae), and a slightly smaller JD......so you absolutely can keep them with bigger more aggresive cichlids.......

 

[Headrush]

This is necessarily true at all......You just need a bigger tank to house them in...I have kept mine(7") with bigger oscars(was aggresive to), slightly smaller jags(was fine with), same size festaes(beat up the festae), and a slightly smaller JD......so you absolutely can keep them with bigger more aggresive cichlids.......

Thanks. I'm begining to think (my poor experience with this fish included) that these blue JD's have even more attitide variation than most cichlids I've kept (GT, JD, Salvini, FM, Tilapia). I've heard everything from chicken, pansy, wimpy EBJD's to mean tough as nails EBJD's so I think I'll use that $40 and buy some Krill and plants for my current fish and maybe set up a 55 later for a blue and some schooling fish to go with it.

Is 55 big enough for one EBJD? they'll only get 6-8" right? not 10" or so like the regular JD? What are your recommendations (everyone) for min tank size for 1 EBJD?

 

[MJB]

everything will work out, just be patient