Jack Dempsey Eating?

[cwj108]

I picked up a gorgeous male Jack Dempsey, about 5 inches long, a month ago. Since I have had him I have only seen him ingest food once. He just swims around at feeding time and looks at everything but seems to have no interest. He hasnt lost any weight but I am not sure whats going on, I have had demspeys in the past and they were nuts when it came time to eat? Maybe he is living off of scraps left behind when I am not around? Everyone else in the tank is eating great! He is even the biggest in the tank.

 

[cwj108]

Anyone experience this with their Jack Dempsey?

 

[tomomothy]

Havent owned a jack before but Ive had plenty of other cichlids. It could be the jack is eating off of the gravel when the lights are off and it feels most comfortable. After a month of not eating I think the jack would start losing weight or showing stress. What is your feeding regimentand what do you feed? What are the tankmates and is the jack being picked on?

You can try not feeding at all for a few days, then see how the jack responds.

 

[cwj108]

I feed hikari gold pellets as the staple and occasionally mix in freeze dried bloodworms/krill/shrimp. Feed twice a day... noon and late evening. I also add in spirulina pellets a couple times a week. He is the largest fish in the tank at almost 6 inches and the tank boss. There is a 4.5 inch oscar who is very passive and non aggressive and also a 2inch green terror. He shows no signs of stress, always has beautiful colors, swims around all the time, does not get timid and hide when I come to the glass. At feeding time he slowly swims up to the food but just looks at it, occasionally he will ingest something but spits it back out.

 

[tomomothy]

Hes probably feeding on scraps. Id say you can skip a couple feedings and see how he reacts but if he looks healthy theres probably nothing to worry about

Sent from over there

 

[cwj108]

Thanks, I will try that. Im just not used to a cichlid not bein food crazy, let alone a jack dempsey!