Jack Dempsey behavior

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hoosier;513778; said:
I messed p on using the term "wet pet" because I just want afishthat can be hand fed or come to the glass when I enter the room...that' all I want from the JD's. I'm not going to separate the two JD's unless the bigger one really bites the heck out of the smaller one.
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Well its still the general idea, even if he wont be a solitary pet, you want him to be owner responsive i think right?

JD's seem to be very popular with people on these forums, I'm sure someone here will help you out. Me personally, I would go with a RD, Midas, Jag, Trimac, Flowerhorn, or even a Buttacofferi. I've kept all these fish atleast close to the 8 to 10 inch mark and can attest (alteast for me) they all are very smart and will even recognize you when you walk in the room! There are even videos all over the net of people teaching thier Red Devils tricks, hand feeding them, petting them, etc. :headbang2

Good luck with whatever you choose tho.
 
Like i said mine are out and about all the time.. I took more pics yesterday:)... I believe water quality, surroundings and traffic have played a role in my success here... They never came out for the previous 2 owners... And the were in a 160 then :)

What is the tank size and how do you have the hiding spaces setup... ? Mine came out all the time in my 55, my 150 and now the temp 110... when i move them to the 250 i don't know but i'm willing to project that they stay the same behavior :)
 
they're in a 55 right now. i'm looking to purchase a larger used tank. they're pretty small JD's right now and they were pretty beat up when I adopted them from petco. the smaller one is a little more outgoing and is attempting to eat but spits out all the food i give it, including hikari gold! i think they're just getting used t the surroundings. I have a large driftwood they can hide under and a clay pot for the younger JD for right now... i'll give them another week to get used to the tank. The larger one should be health because it ate 2 rosie reds as of right now
 
These fish are extremely timid, for several days after being relocated. I have found that you MUST make them see that you are GOD, meaning that they have to see that food comes from YOU. The first few feedings will be skiddish, a quick snatch and dive, but soon they will come to the glass wagging their tails behind them knowing that GOD is coming to feed them.
 
Bichirman;517715; said:
These fish are extremely timid, for several days after being relocated. I have found that you MUST make them see that you are GOD, meaning that they have to see that food comes from YOU. The first few feedings will be skiddish, a quick snatch and dive, but soon they will come to the glass wagging their tails behind them knowing that GOD is coming to feed them.
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I understand this thread is about JDs but everything you mentioned here describes my RD exactly. He has been like this for 4 months now ever since I've kept him alone and got rid of his siblings. He's very skittish about taking food from the top of the tank for some reason. He'll make a quick dash for it and then chicken out for some reason. There have been times where I put in 7 or 8 Hikari pellets in the morning before I go to work and when I come home 9 to 10 hours later, Half of them are still there sometimes!

Man I hope he gets over this, because this guy is just too sweet looking to give up on. Any advice? He's not skittish at all, other then when he has to take food from the surface.
 
Mine finally ate tonight after starving them for a few days. The larger one took about 1.5 hours to eat one hikari pellet and the smaller sampled bloodworms, flakes, and pellets and spat them right out. I think the mai problem with JD's is that they don't have a big appetite...even if the do know that the food comes from me they wouldn't care because they don't hve a voracious appetite compared to the other larger cichlids. Still, I've decided that I'm stickin with them cuz they're too damn beautiful!
 
TenaciousTankBuster;517841; said:
I understand this thread is about JDs but everything you mentioned here describes my RD exactly. He has been like this for 4 months now ever since I've kept him alone and got rid of his siblings. He's very skittish about taking food from the top of the tank for some reason. He'll make a quick dash for it and then chicken out for some reason. There have been times where I put in 7 or 8 Hikari pellets in the morning before I go to work and when I come home 9 to 10 hours later, Half of them are still there sometimes!

Man I hope he gets over this, because this guy is just too sweet looking to give up on. Any advice? He's not skittish at all, other then when he has to take food from the surface.
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DITHERS man lol... ones that he can't kill.
 
nomadofthehills;518012; said:
DITHERS man lol... ones that he can't kill.
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"Ones that he can't kill"? LOL You do understand that this is a RD we are talking about bro? Dithers don't help one bit. As a matter of fact I have totally given up on dithers as a whole. If they don't become food, they become a "plaything" that my fish enjoys torturing just like a cat with a toy mouse.

Dithers don't help Red Devils and Midas Cichlids. That's the end conclusion I've come to my friend.;)

Don't get me wrong Nomad. I apreciate and respect all your input and advice on this forum and the others, but seriously, I'm not going to buy a dither that is twice his size. Either this fish changes his personality in a few more months or I move on and get another fish.
 
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