Help with breeding Jack Dempseys

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
RLHam3;4697809; said:
sorry but first let me ask you some questions:

1. What size tank?
2. What kind of filtration?
3. What are the water parameters? (pH, hardness, temp, etc)
4. Tankmates?
5. Food

Here is what I would recommend:

Well i would say the first thing that you need is an aquarium with a large enough footprint (75gallon would work). It will be a lot harder to get them to breed in an aquarium that’s too small. I would probably try to put the heat around 80-83F. Assuming you have the right amount of filtration, you should be doing constant water changes. I'd say something around 35ish% once or twice a week, but more is always better. They’re a tough fish and don’t really require any special water conditions, just keep them in the regular pH and alkalinity ranges. As for tankmates, I feel like if you want to have the best outcome, you shouldn’t house the pair with any other big or aggressive fish. Other big fish will stress them out. Small schooling fish, known as “dither fish” are always good at providing a “bonding experience” for the JD pair. They’ll work together to keep the dithers away from their nesting site. Some good dither fish are tiger giant danios, silver dollars (in a big tank), most barbs that won’t become food, and even smaller cichlids (convicts) as long as they’re all the same sex.
Speaking of the nesting site, that is the most important piece of tank décor. Cichlids like to lay eggs (which will number in the hundreds) on smooth surfaces, and like things like slate rock. Another option would be to put in a flower pot that they could fit into. Other tank décor isn’t as important. I would definitely add things for the dithers to hide behind. Also, since your male is so much bigger than your female, she might need a place to hide as well (always have a tank divider ready). Make sure to watch to make sure that your male isn’t too aggressive, but do expect a little bit of nipping and chasing and the usual.

But most importantly out of this whole response, DO YOUR RESEARCH. Not saying that you didn’t or won’t, but it just really frustrates me when other people get fish (especially big intelligent fish like cichlids) without having any idea how to properly take care of them.
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The tank is a 65 wide.
The filteration is called like a tetra i think and its like a 75 gallon filter.
I have one common pleco and three male convicts.
I feed them koi pellets that make their color explode
 
good set up! I think that they could probably do ok in a 65 wide. (same L and W as a regular 75?)

anyways i would take all of those fish out. The pleco is nocturnal, and will try to eat the eggs at night. The convicts might stress them out a little, especially if they're fully grown, becuase the JD's would be entering their established territories. Maybe you could use young convicts as dithers, but that all depends on the personalities of the fish. (worth a shot though, just try to get all of one sex because if they start breeding first...)

What brand of koi food is it? unless its a really high quality one, I would switch to Hikari. I like the floating hikari pellets in the red bag because they have some good protein and the fish seem to really like the blue bag sinking pellets. (hikari will also really help with color). There's more kinds of Hikari, but those are the ones i use with american cichlids. I'd definietely switch it up though.

Also offering live (perfer) or frozen invertebrates seems to help cichlids get into the mood. I would avoid live feeder fish because they're generally disease ridden and of almost no dietary value because they're in such bad conditions. (make sure any live inverts that you get are in good condition too)
 
RLHam3;4697994; said:
good set up! I think that they could probably do ok in a 65 wide. (same L and W as a regular 75?)

anyways i would take all of those fish out. The pleco is nocturnal, and will try to eat the eggs at night. The convicts might stress them out a little, especially if they're fully grown, becuase the JD's would be entering their established territories. Maybe you could use young convicts as dithers, but that all depends on the personalities of the fish. (worth a shot though, just try to get all of one sex because if they start breeding first...)

What brand of koi food is it? unless its a really high quality one, I would switch to Hikari. I like the floating hikari pellets in the red bag because they have some good protein and the fish seem to really like the blue bag sinking pellets. (hikari will also really help with color). There's more kinds of Hikari, but those are the ones i use with american cichlids. I'd definietely switch it up though.

Also offering live (perfer) or frozen invertebrates seems to help cichlids get into the mood. I would avoid live feeder fish because they're generally disease ridden and of almost no dietary value because they're in such bad conditions. (make sure any live inverts that you get are in good condition too)
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Alright. The tank is 3 feet long 18 in. wide and like 2 feet tall. Could I use feeder convicts that I breed my self to get them in the mood? What about guppies? The brand of koi food is Kaytee Premium Fish Food- Koi's CHOICE
 
Clean water and increased feedings will help set them into a spawn. I have never used feeder fish, freeze dried krill and frozen shrimp are good.
 
I had a pair of JD's in a 100 gal (by themselves) and couldn't STOP them from breeding...lol...I think all they needed was clean water, good food, and plenty of space
 
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