Breeding Jack Dempsey's
- Thread starter Bigtdotcom
- Start date
mine bred in my 155gl, but i took them out because the male was way to aggressive toward everything else in the tank. The couple is in a 55gl by themselves, they haven't bred yet in the 55, but i'm sure it's only a matter of time.
I keep my breeding pairs of Dempseys in a 48" x 18" @ 13" tall 50 gal tank...
On the rare occasion a Dempsey grows beyond the 9 or 10" mark, when kept in a 55 gal they will develope an arched spine. Nut it's not common for them to exceed this size and it takes several years in the cases that they do...
On the rare occasion a Dempsey grows beyond the 9 or 10" mark, when kept in a 55 gal they will develope an arched spine. Nut it's not common for them to exceed this size and it takes several years in the cases that they do...
cool thanks for the info...
just a couple more questions????
At what age can the sex be determinaed?
what is the best way to get a pair? sould i by 3 or 4 them the wait till i can tell the sex of the fish then just keep 2 fish of oppiste sex?
could i keep any other fish in the tank with a breeding pair or is that just stupid?
I was thinking of a tank about 48 x 24 x 18
just a couple more questions????
At what age can the sex be determinaed?
what is the best way to get a pair? sould i by 3 or 4 them the wait till i can tell the sex of the fish then just keep 2 fish of oppiste sex?
could i keep any other fish in the tank with a breeding pair or is that just stupid?
I was thinking of a tank about 48 x 24 x 18
donut104st;3940645; said:
No, i wouldn't keep an oscar in there, there wouldn't be much room after the jacks claimed 2 foot of the tank. you could throw in a male convict to help build the pairs bond and give them a common enemy. But i wouldn't really keep anything other than the pair and some dithers.
Hello,
This is a female, notice the blue spangles all over the gill plate.
The second pic is of a male, check out the gill plate.
A tank with a footprint of 48x18x24 sounds real nice for a pair and some dithers
This is a female, notice the blue spangles all over the gill plate.
The second pic is of a male, check out the gill plate.
A tank with a footprint of 48x18x24 sounds real nice for a pair and some dithers
i wouldn't keep anything other maybe dithers (giant danios or buenos aires tetras) with them, especially not any other cichlids
Good pics above displaying the difference between males and females. Not all females show that much blue on the gill plate and not all males are that 'pale' on the gill plate.
Many people suggest that males have pointier fins, but I've owned many examples of this not proving true...
Sex can sometimes be determined whent he fish is a several months old, or 2~3" long... although sexing before the fish is mature is at least somewhat unreliable.
Dempseys typically reach sexual maturity at 3~4.5"
Buying a group and raising them in order to get a pair guarantees you will have a sibling pair producing inbred offspring. It's up to you if you want to make this compromise...
I kept a pair of Adult Dempseys and a pair of Aduclt Convicts in a 75 gal (48" x 18" @ 21" tall) with no real problems. Each pair had a cave set up on opposite ends of the tank with a large piece of driftwood in the middle breaking the line of sight between caves and acting as a barrier. I don't think the fish would be happy "for life" living this way but that set up lasted 9 months or so without incidence before I moved things around.
Many people suggest that males have pointier fins, but I've owned many examples of this not proving true...
Sex can sometimes be determined whent he fish is a several months old, or 2~3" long... although sexing before the fish is mature is at least somewhat unreliable.
Dempseys typically reach sexual maturity at 3~4.5"
Buying a group and raising them in order to get a pair guarantees you will have a sibling pair producing inbred offspring. It's up to you if you want to make this compromise...
I kept a pair of Adult Dempseys and a pair of Aduclt Convicts in a 75 gal (48" x 18" @ 21" tall) with no real problems. Each pair had a cave set up on opposite ends of the tank with a large piece of driftwood in the middle breaking the line of sight between caves and acting as a barrier. I don't think the fish would be happy "for life" living this way but that set up lasted 9 months or so without incidence before I moved things around.
i would suggest getting a small group and letting them pair as this would allow them to choose themselves and for the strongest bond but like nc_nutcase said this would allow possiblity for sibling to pair so i would try to get them from different stores, go to one store and look for the best looking ones that have no blue on the lower half of their gill plate, and then go to other store and look for ones with blue all over their gill plate, usually at the big chain stores like petco and stuff they are already big enough to sex (maybe not 100% but still good enough to have fair chance of getting males and females that you want) and getting a group also allows you to see which ones turn out the most colorful and outgoing