Cichlid newbie with ebjd, seeking advice.

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DrawnToBeaches

Gambusia
MFK Member
Aug 31, 2011
216
5
18
Orange county, CA
Hey everyone, I hate to admit i was one of those I have laughed at for impulse buying, I bought this little baby at petsmart... I saw him and have never seen an ebjd baby with such wonderful color, so he ended up in a 10g quarantine for a month, he is now just over an inch, took him out and he is 1 inch and about 1/4, I know he will need a very sizable tank, I am no where near experience with larger cichlids, and have been treating him to live food just like all my other fish, I am a planted tank hobbyist though I had fallen in love with cichlids before i had my first tank, so he is here to stay he even has a name. currently he is in a 18inch cube and I hope to only have him in here for him to be about 3-4 inches, he is also being housed with rummy nose tetras and bloodfins, anyway was wondering what is the bare minimum sized tank i can keep him in and what tropical fish can i keep him with that aren't as aggressive, tank I am looking at is 36x24x24 and is 90 gallons, hopefully enough as it is one of my favorite footprints, any input for a newby monster keeper is much appreciated, i can guarantee this wont be my last jack dempsey or large cichlid, can't wait for green terrors!



Thanks, David
 
couple species i'd like to keep my baby with in a heavy planted and hardscape tank, roseline sharks, bristlnose plecos and
Krobia Sp. Xingu if i can get a hold of a few, maybe even a pair of convict cichlids, this is assuming my tank is 90-150g
 
don't get a pair of convicts unless you can get rid of their babies ... "How do you make convicts breed? put them in water" i had a group of convicts that had babies at the size of 1.5-2inches, don't get me wrong, they make a good feeder fish :-)
 
When the ebjd gets around 4" it will start picking off your rummy nose tetras. A rainbow cichlid should work well with the ebjd in that tank.
 
and besides not being able to get rid of the babies, a convict pair would tear an ebjd to shreds. for the most part (especially when young) ebjd are not NEARLY as aggressive as regular JDs and should be kept either with other really peaceful fish large enough to not get eaten or by itself. a 90g would be a great display tank for an ebjd, if its male you could even add in a female blue gene if you wanted to breed them in there. ebjd are quite the slow growers though on average so you dont have to be in quite as fast of a rush as you would if you had a midas or something like that. also i would limit the amount of live foods hes getting to a couple times a week at most, you dont want to risk him bloating from too much protein when he is that little. these guys are really finicky at that size, also keep a close eye out for stringy white poo and treat for parasites as soon as you see it, you dont want to wait until hes not eating (i find jungle parasite clear to be the best meds for this) as for other tank mates a school of higher bodied tetras and pictus cats at the bottom would look great, if you can find them spotted silver dollars would be awesome and too large for him to eat when grown
 
Well my ebjd are around a year old now, i got them at half and inch and theyre now about 5". They are very slow growers and can be housed in a 55 for life. Chances are he wont pass 7-8"...they arent really aggressive at all unless showing off for a mate
 
a thank you so much for the replies, will be looking out for the stringy poo, i know he'll eventually eat these tetras if i'm not careful, though im not too worried i wont risk it, hoping his new tank comes soon and he can go in it when cycled and set up. as far as feeder fish, that is pretty much what i am seeing tankmates as, besides the plecos. read up on convicts didn't know they got so big, i saw a 1.5 inch breeding pair and assumed those were adults.... I may still add adult roseline sharks with him to add an attractive fast moving fish, I can't wait to see this guy grow up, i'm actually hoping it is female and when it comes time i'll try to get it sexed, and then hopefully the name doesnt change =p


I have a lot to learn about my little baby
 
Yuor going to need atleast a 55 gallon tank just for himself and be very watchfull until he reaches the 3" to 4" length due to the fact that ebjds are more vunerable to disease and such since they are basically an albino of their breed so just be carefull. As for fish that you can keep with him/her in a 90 gallon would be basically anything close in size,but be aware that jack dempseys tend to be pretty aggressive but you never know you might get lucky and him/her will keep to their own in their little territory
 
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