Jack Dempsey log

[Galactik]

Looks like after a week or so the male jack gave up on waiting for the blood worms and is now eating smaller pellets.

These guys are super finicky, the only thing he will eat now is fluval bugbites and flakes. The female is still not eating just picked at a few bugbites but not much.

I have tried offering omega 1 as well as NLS but they did not care for it at all... Hopefully I can get them on those too later.

The firemouths on the other hand, they go for anything lol.



I recently added two Carpintis to the tank as well. I'm closely monitoring for aggression but so far everything is good. I also noticed that after adding them to the tank the Jack's have started to come out more as well.

 

[Galactik]

Quick update - everyone is getting along great so far and looking good.

The male jack Dempsey seems to be getting a little more assertive lately and it seems that he has started to either try to spawn with the female or is trying to pick fights. He is a little ragged around the mouth for the last few days but I have yet to see any big stare downs with her.

I'm assuming hes locked lips with her at some point as shes the bigger fish in the tank, also no one else has exhibited any sort of aggression.

How much aggression between pairs is considered acceptable before throwing in a divider or moving to another tank?

Aside from the roughed up mouth there are no torn fins or scrapes on anyone.

 

[Galactik]

You can see the male shaking whenever the female is close by. Also they seem to follow each other more.

 

[YankeeJack]

Great pics! Loved the video too! The male is ready to spawn, but the female doesn't look interested. When the female is ready, she'll get dark as well.

Right at 2:00 she seemed to darken up for a few seconds, but then later her coloration faded.

I'm concerned that the female looks to be a bit larger than the male. I've not had any luck getting a smaller male to breed with a larger female.

If you continue to have trouble getting them to spawn, you may want to find a smaller female.

If they do spawn, that rainbow shark is going to be a problem. He'd prob eat the eggs and fry.