EBJD Survivability and Sexing

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HybridHerp

HybridHerp

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 18, 2012
1,192
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New York
Hey, so, after Sandy has decimated my main tank, I figure that I am going to want to re-stock my tank.
Now, its been about two years since I last owned an EBJD and I've only ever owned one, and I'm considering owning one again if I can find the right one. They are a very pretty fish and would work rather well with whatever set-up I want to try. I do have two questions though
1. Has the survival rate of EBJD increased at all over the years, or are they still relatively fragile fish up until they hit the 3+ inch mark?
2. I've never known the answer to this, but since I might consider either a pair of EBJD or sourcing a blue gene JD or just a plain JD to go with an EBJD, I'm wondering if there is any way to easily tell the gender of EBJD. I know in normals the females have more blue in the gill plates, but I'm not sure if there is a trick like that for the EBJD. Side question, if I found a gold JD are there any sexing tricks for that?

Thanks for the help, they really are a great fish once you get them going strong
 
I would think that over the years with so many people working hard at widening the gene pool and pooling efforts in breeding, EBJD are sturdier now. A lot of people talk about them being susceptible to parasites, but I don't really see how that could happen unless you feed live. As for sexing them, you can't really tell just by looking. The only sure way is to see what they do when they breed. Another way is to try and vent them. Gold JDs exhibit the same sexual dimorphism as normal JDs. It would actually be a lot easier to sex gold JDs IMO. The blue beard on females would be much easier to see on a gold JD.

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I would get a group of ebjds, or find a breeder with a group and get the biggest dominant one. Male ebjds have a much higher survival rate them females, so get a female. Then grow him out till 6"+ an make it strong and healthy, then try breeding with a 4" or so bgjd


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Outbreeding rather than inbreeding - the problem with outbreeding is it's a lot more difficult than just breeding offspring to parent
 
Yes, that's the problem, unfortunately. :/

Anyways, to breed more vigorous EBJDs is quite a problem. Obviously EBJDs have a defective physiology, and it would seem to be linked directly to the EB gene (allele) as there's a correlation between the presence of the allele and reduced vigor. Widening the gene pool simply provides more 'genes to choose from' essentially, but the issue is that as the EB allele is correlated to the weaker fish, there needs to be a different gene that will increase the vigor, therefore effectively 'masking' the negative side effects of the EB allele. I'm afraid just 'widening the gene pool' will not be enough - to be honest the best way is to obtain a more vigorous strain of JD and breed EBJDs from that, as hopefully whatever the vigor-conferring gene in this strain is is not an allele of the same gene as the EB allele, and therefore will confer vigor that offset the weakness conferred by the EB allele.

But since I've yet to find a breeding program that does that, I doubt they're that much sturdier than previously. Selectively breeding for vigor can only go so far, really. Unless one finds a more vigorous strain to outbreed to, all one is doing is keep on breeding in hopes that eventually there'll be a mutation that confers higher vigor.
 
I have two EBJDs from this outfit (http://www.blackwateraquatics.com/cichlid/electric-blue-jack-dempsey.html), both around 4-5 inches. They exhibit more normal JD behaviour than my normal JDs themselves! If you have the opportunity to order from them I highly recommend it.

EDIT: Seeing as you're in Oz, that may be a little difficult! Nonetheless, there are several breeders in the US that have developed vigorous EBJD strains. I suspect they started with Asian stock and bred from there
 
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