EBJD Tank Mates

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nc_nutcase;3327179; said:
You have received horrible advice and should therefore question anything you read from that source...

There is nothing wrong with keeping a single Blue Dempsey...

Dempseys are pairing fish, and there is not reason not to keep a compatible male & female pair. It is true that a Blue male and a Blue female will produce exceptionally weak fry that do not survive, if they breed at all... but you have not said anything that indicates you whish to breed...

Two or more male Dempseys, Blue or not, are very unlikely to co exist as adults...

Keeping 3 females might work, might not. Chances are the dominant female would spend her live suppressing the subdominant females leaving them stressed.

If kept as a male, a female and a third wheel of either gender... the third wheel will be suppressed by the pair leaving it stressed if not damaged and possibly killed.

Dempseys are not "colony" fish to any degree and keeping them as such (as adults) will almost certyainly result in the smaller of the group being heavily stressed by the mid range of teh group who are stressed by the dominant fish of the group.

I have grown out Juvenal groups together on several occasions, but as soon as they reach sexual maturity they are split up. I have had adult male Dempseys fight one another when kept in the same tank just like I would expect any two male Dempseys to fight.


Keep in mind, their nature is no different than a standard Dempsey... they are just Blue and come from a little weaker genetics...
Click to expand...


I think they were more refering to the pair you get(if you are getting them as juvies) has a 50% chance to be male/male or female/female and cause more issues than not once they have grown up. If I am not mistaken they are extremely hard to sex before mature?

I was just told that they should be raised either as 1 or in more than 3. I hadn't really gotten to the adulthood part yet. :-P
 
as to your original question, I keep my 3" male (I think) EBJD with:

> 1 female convict
> 1 female pink convict
> 1 female gymnogeophagus (blue neon)
> otocinclus, siamese algae eaters, clown pleco and BN pleco

this makes for a fairly non-aggressive tank . . . the EBJD and the dominant female convict are largely inseparable, but no eggs or anything . . . I hope to eventually move him into a larger tank (with larger fish), but not until he gets some size, which is happening v e r y s l o o w l y . . ..
 
BE CAREFUL EBJD are EXTREMELY fragile.... most die out of nowhere with perfect water params.....
 
I decided to go with an EBJD and a chocolate pleco. I got the pleco about a week ago and he's been doing just fine. Picked up the EBJD today from the LFS and he's adjusting. He enjoys having hiding places to say the least. He has been coming out and hanging out by the corners of the tank. LFS said they had some from the same breeder go to a different customer and they are still alive and about 4" a piece. So I am hopeful!

These two are in a 55 gallon and will most likely be the only 2 in the tank until they gets moved into a 150 or bigger in a year or 2 (after I have more of a long term living arrangement =P).

Are the mini-granules a good food for the EBJDs or am i better off with bloodworms and the likes? My girlfriend has some of the granules around from her fish and they don't seem to like them at all(a couple yellow labs and a blood parrot). Would having a variety of diet be better for the JD? or will he be better off with something consisent as far as stress goes?
 
Update: He is already pretty settled it seems like. Swimming around the tank, not getting to upset when I come into the room. He stays near the front of the tank and continues to swim around like he was before i entered the room. Him and the pleco basically have just ignored each other, though I am sure they know the other is there :-P.
 
I am not sure if its an issue at this point or not... but it came to his first feeding(around 24 hours after he was introduced to the tank). And he just watched all the food fall to the ground. I saw him kind of look at it a little bit, but he seemed uninterested. Is there something that the EBJDs just love? Or is that more of a fish by fish basis? I'd like to get him some beef heart or other frozen protein packed food, but if he's not going to like that either then I am stumped :-(
 
This is the tank that him and the pleco are currently settled in the only difference being that I added a semi-large rock to the center and moved that plant over to the side a bit. I will get updated pictures of the tank and the ebjd as soon as I get my camera back.

Any suggestions though on changes or updates needed to this tank for the 1 ebjd and chocolate pleco?

edit: I forgot to add that there is now a black background as well.

6533_748849811959_14831267_43601626_8128993_n.jpg
 
thank you :-)

The Dempsey has been eatting and is a little bit crazy. He likes to chase his reflection around the tank and will kind of ignore me 75% of the time when I come in to check on him. The other 25% of the time he will either come to the front of the tank and kinda just stare at me or will go to the back of the tank and hide. I am okay with this behavior thusfar.

I am glad I decided not to get anything else and just stick with the EBJD and Pleco. Though I am a little worried about the pleco, but thats for a different thread altogether.

Thanks for everyone's input!
 
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