Jack Dempsey and Large Mouth Bass compatibility

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farraway1

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2013
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Ohio
Hello Folks. I'm new here and have a question concerning our Jack Dempsey.

This fish belongs to my daughter who recently married and moved FAR from home (1200 miles to be exact). He is about 7" long...maybe 8 years old and living in a 50 gallon tank with an undergravel filter. He eats mostly pellets and dried shrimp, although we keep live guppys with him continuously. He rarely eats them.

So, I'm looking for a new home for this fish, but he is in a borrowed tank and it's hard to find someone who will take him locally. One fellow said he has a very large tank with some Wide Mouth bass (about 12-14"?) in size. I am concerned that the bass will beat up on the JD or eat him.

I am not at all familure with taking care of this fish and don't know what is the best thing to do. I feed him and keep the water balanced, but other than that, I'm a novice.

Any advice would be appreciated. Would you put this fish with a large mouth bass--twice his size? My gut says no.
 
I think the bass would eat the JD in no time - they eat sunfish and other fish roughly the same size.

Also, bear in mind that the Largemouth Bass is a cooler water fish - likely more comfortable in 60-70F water. I dont think the JD would not like that at all.




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Why not keep him? If you do you will find Jack Dempsies are one of the easiest fish on the planet to have. They can tolerate a wide range of water conditions and many have good personalities.
 
A am strongly considering keeping him. He's no bother to me. Maybe I'll change my mind the first time I have to do a tank clean-out.
 
Basicly all you really need to do is a weekly water change of between 25 & 50% (when it comes to water changes more is better). Keep the filter clean, a once a month cleanning should suffice. If the UG filter is all the tank has I would suggest adding a Hang on the back type filter to the set up otherwise if the fish lived 8 years sombody's been doing somthing right so just keep it, sounds like you kind a like already anyway.
 
Thanks everyone! What is the life expectancy of a Jack Depsey? A 50 gal tank is sufficient for a fish this size, correct? I have no plans to increase the tank size, so if not, then I do need to find a better home for him.
 
farraway1 said:
Thanks everyone! What is the life expectancy of a Jack Depsey? A 50 gal tank is sufficient for a fish this size, correct? I have no plans to increase the tank size, so if not, then I do need to find a better home for him.
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Yes a 50gallon is just fine. JDs can live up to 15 years. Good luck with him. 👍 I'm glad you're gonna hang on to him.


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the bass could eat that jd even if he was 12inches aslong as the girth of the jd fits in his mouth which it would. i use to keep bass and they would eat a fish just as long as their body. half the fish would be sticking out of his mouth for about a day or so until it was slowly consumed all the way down.
 
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