Electric Blue Jack Dempsey in a 10 gallon tank?

[mr.cichlidiot]

before you all shat on my life for having a Dempsey in a 10 gallon tank please realize this Electric Blue Jack Dempsey is LESS THAN 1 INCH in length!

my set up, i have the one inch EBJD in a ten gallon tank with tunnels under the rocks, live plants, caves for hiding, a 18in bubble strip, 10-15gal tank filter with bio filter, i do 25% weekly water change, tank is heated at 74 degrees, he eats blood worms, brine shrimp, pellets, flakes, and cucumbers.

my question is how much time do you think it will take for him to outgrow this set up and how big will he be when he is to big for this set up?

 

[surfpalmsncycads]

keep up the water changes. he will be fine for a very long time. i personaly would put him in a 20 by the time he reaches 3 inches. also i would raise tank temp to 78-80 range.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

can be done, just keep up with the WC's...it will probably be able to live there for quite a while

 

[Chicklette]

They grow really slow so you should be okay. You will know when the time is right for a bigger tank by the looks of her/him.

 

[mr.cichlidiot]

well thank you guys for your input i really feel more comfortable about it because this is only my second cichlid but i LOVE the fish all of them they are so amazing, my last questions are approximatly how long will it take him to get up to three or four inches? i have read that the blues max out at 7" or 8" but do they do most of theri growing within the first year or throughout their life?

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

I've heard of one growing from 2'' to 4'' in 6 months. As well as 2.5'' to 3.5''.

So it varies. I'd have him out of there at 3 MAYBE 3.5in.

 

[Aquanero]

I think you'll be ready for a bigger tank by St. Patty's day. The issue with a ten gallon tank IMO is the bigger the fish gets the more it eats and the more waste it'll produce and the more maintance ie water changes you'll need to do. If you don't keep up with the maint the fish could stunt or become sick. I would keep the temp up too, around 80-82. At 74 it's metabolism will be slower and will grow slower but they are fragile and should be kept warm in very clean water. Veggie pellets and NLS Thera +A is a good diet for them since they are prone to intestinal parasites and digestive problems when young. Once these guys hit the 3, 4" mark they seem to become less suseptable to these problems.

 

[mr.cichlidiot]

thanks for the advice and i just bought a heater and have the water at 80

 

[Gatorxxx420]

As others have said, your EBJD will be fine in this tank for some time. I had 2 smaller ones that never really grew in months. One died of disease and the other got beat to death. I now have a 7 ish inch one that I got at 4"s and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down in growth. He's quite healthy and eats very well.