The lights are pretty bright. I've got 2 of the Marineland LED 24" hoods on it. The temp is 79°
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Frustrated with JD's
- Thread starter Curtis Rouse
- Start date
The lights are pretty bright. I've got 2 of the Marineland LED 24" hoods on it. The temp is 79°
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I would like to see a full tank picture, it might help making an assesment of the situation a little eaiser.
I have owned some very cryptic JDs and others that were right out in your face. As far as digging goes it is a very common behavior they will arrange things the way they want them which may not go along with your plans. The reasons for them to be acting the way they are could be many. What is your maintance schedule like? Is the tank very brightly lit? (just saw your post about the lighting) Sometimes making the fish comfortable is not the best situation from an astetic view point as far as we are concerned.
Try using one light fixture over the center of the tank. This will allow the ends to be more subdued and might help them relax. Do this for a couple of days and see if it makes a differance.
I have owned some very cryptic JDs and others that were right out in your face. As far as digging goes it is a very common behavior they will arrange things the way they want them which may not go along with your plans. The reasons for them to be acting the way they are could be many. What is your maintance schedule like? Is the tank very brightly lit? (just saw your post about the lighting) Sometimes making the fish comfortable is not the best situation from an astetic view point as far as we are concerned.
Try using one light fixture over the center of the tank. This will allow the ends to be more subdued and might help them relax. Do this for a couple of days and see if it makes a differance.
There is nothing wrong with your water quality, filtration, aquascape, lighting or size of your tank. JD are naturally very shy cichlid. JD should never be kept as a wet pet and needs company of tankmates to feel secure. You kept a lone female for months and without companion of her kind, she felt insecure and hide. When you added a male months later, he is observing her behavior to guage his own security. Because she is skiddish, so is he.
I had a skiddish JD before that I had to approach the tank slowly or else he would jump up. He wouldn't come out to feed until I sat quietly or walked away. But after I moved him to another tank with a community of African cichlids, the smaller but boisterous Africans drew him out of hiding instantly.
If you raised both JD as juvenile at the same time or with other cichlid tankmates, they will not be shy. You gave them Danios as dither fish but it is still not enough to bring out her shyness as Danios don't challenge them. It may be difficult to change their behavior now as shyness can be contageous, unless you can completely change the environment and gave them a bunch of boisterous tankmates.
I had a skiddish JD before that I had to approach the tank slowly or else he would jump up. He wouldn't come out to feed until I sat quietly or walked away. But after I moved him to another tank with a community of African cichlids, the smaller but boisterous Africans drew him out of hiding instantly.
If you raised both JD as juvenile at the same time or with other cichlid tankmates, they will not be shy. You gave them Danios as dither fish but it is still not enough to bring out her shyness as Danios don't challenge them. It may be difficult to change their behavior now as shyness can be contageous, unless you can completely change the environment and gave them a bunch of boisterous tankmates.
Find out what is freaking the male. He's probably affecting the way the female feels. Maybe its the rainbow shark or the pleco. I would first remove those.
If that doesn't get him to come out more, then I would swap out the male for a bigger one.
If that doesn't get him to come out more, then I would swap out the male for a bigger one.
From what I can tell, without clearer photos, you have two males. The big one certainly is, but I do not see any blue on the operculi of the smaller one, indicating a male.
+1
My Dempseys have always had social and rowdy tankmates and behaved the same way. If they were alone, they got skittish.
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I haven't uploaded any photos... The big one is definitely a female... I'd upload some pics but the app isn't letting me for some reason.
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If you're referring to my pics, the little one is DEFINITELY female
And a beautiful one at that.
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It really depends. The JD I have now is the biggest fish in the tank. He's somewhat shy, but once I'm settled at my computer. He's out and social. The initial lights on in the room and movement will cause a lot of JD's to hide. Just think how patient Mo Devlin must be to get the shots he does. I doubt every fish is like hey take a picture of me 
