Jack Dempsey...attitude, temperament, etc?

[BMac91]

I wouldn't say they are overly aggressive. I've never had one picking on other fish for no reason.
They tend to spend most of their time near the bottom of the tank but will become much more active when they think food is coming.

I have 2 or 3 that were very aggressive towards anything, grew up with the fish in his tank and he eventually had to be separated. He had an order of fish he didn't like, he picked on the Oscar first, then once the Oscar was floating all crazy and not happy, he would move to the Texas cichlid and beat him up instead.

I had another that was pretty modest, you would see him once a day at feeding time, he would come to the front of his cave and eat the food that came by his cave, then when it was over disappear until the next day.

 

[newworld]

Here's some crappy pics...

 

[JoeBoxer]

Here's some crappy pics...View attachment 1193509 View attachment 1193510 View attachment 1193511

Absolutely gorgeous!

 

[JoeBoxer]

I've watch a mated pair of JDs defend an area in nature of about 250 gals (4ftx4ftx4ft) from any other cichlids, while allowing entire shoals of live bearers free reign, although they will occasionally eat some. I believe the reason many JDs are shy in aquariums, is because they are not given those shoals of dither fish to watch, and judge danger (like in nature), and that tanks provided are too small, and as you can see in my video from the Yucatan in Mexico, they like lots of cover.

That is an incredible video. That water is crystal clear. Just beautiful. What catfish were those?

 

[duanes]

The catfish are of the genus Rhamdia, maybe R guatamalensus or quelen, not sure. Most of the Cenotes are very clear, and have a deceptively strong flow coming from below ground (often caverns). Here is a video from one right next to the one with the JDs, only this one was full of Mayaheros uropthalmus.

 

[Steven Williams]

Jack Dempsey are awesome fish
Their temperament varies by each fish since I've owned both sides of the spectrum (very mild to very agressive)
From my experience only agressive ones where a young pair, but my current female is very mild only chasing off the parrot cichlid when it gets too close she's 7 years old and about 7" and she's currently housed with 5 angelfish, parrot fish and a silver arowana.
Mine was cihlid pellets, arowana sticks, market shrimp, ghost shrimp, and occasionally some fruit.

 

[MonitorSpiderCichlid]

Generally JDs are quite mellow, territorial but not aggressive.

However, each fish has its own personality. I've had JDs whoop Red Devils, jags, dovii and Grammodes. They have fairly powerful jaws that tend to really damage the parachromis jaws, not to mention one JD I owned ripped a chunk of meat off my Red Devils lip. In my personal opinion green terrors are pansies.. Each one I owned was all bluff, JDs will hold their own and make the GT reconsider

As far as wet pet goes, these nail it. They are fun, colorful, hardy and just overall great. Only other cichlids that might beat them personality wise is Midas, Oscar, and buttikoferi.

Underrated IMO, their personalities varies.

 

[MonitorSpiderCichlid]

Oh and last, remember this carefully.. Warmer water increases JDs attitude and activity levels. Warmer water gets a lot of cichlid stirred up.

When I raised my temperatures to 82-84.. Each one of my JDs become more wild.. Really interesting

 

[JoeBoxer]

Generally JDs are quite mellow, territorial but not aggressive.

However, each fish has its own personality. I've had JDs whoop Red Devils, jags, dovii and Grammodes. They have fairly powerful jaws that tend to really damage the parachromis jaws, not to mention one JD I owned ripped a chunk of meat off my Red Devils lip. In my personal opinion green terrors are pansies.. Each one I owned was all bluff, JDs will hold their own and make the GT reconsider

As far as wet pet goes, these nail it. They are fun, colorful, hardy and just overall great. Only other cichlids that might beat them personality wise is Midas, Oscar, and buttikoferi.

Underrated IMO, their personalities varies.

I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that the "most aggressively cichlid" talk is nonsense. Yes in general some species are consistently worse than others but to say one is by far the most aggressive doesn't make sense. It's all about the individual fish.

My RTMs were psychotic. I've heard from some people that theirs were bullied a lot. You said your GTs were pansies, I had one that harassed a bigger wolffish constantly until the wolf jumped out of the tank.

All depends on the individual methinks!

 

[fmcgregor]

I have a JD. He has killed tank mates, including my female JD. These fish can be very aggressive when they want, let's be honest they are American cichlids. I have tried a Blood red parrot, and I am currently trying a GT, but it looks like I am moving it out as well. He is 2 years old and about 9" and is smart enough to only attack the other fish at night. I also had to get rid of my 11" Plecco because he was getting beat up and his fins were getting torn. Gonna have to be a solo fish I guess.