Jack Dempsey
- Thread starter TakkerDada
- Start date
Not a Dovii. It may work while small, but Dovii are the worst cichlid in aggression. Most of the time, they will kill all other tankmates, very rarely does it work. A full grown male is twice the size of a jack, so the jd wouldn’t even stand a chance. On a scale of 1-10 on aggression, doviis are an 11.
In nature JDs share habitat with mostly molies and catfish, sometimes Thorichthys and do very well.
Although they are considered by some aggressive, that's on an old school community of angels, gouramis, live bearers scenario, not on a community of aggressive cichlids type scenario attempted these days.
When Rocio (normal JDs) share habitat with more aggressive cichlids, they tend to suffer, IMO a managuense would not be a good cichlid to share a tank with a JD, or would any Prarchromis type.
Below two videos I took in a couple Cenotes in Mexico where JDs live.
In the first,, they are practically the only cichlid, and do well, because they dominate.
Eden2
In the next video, Mayaheros uropthalmus are the dominant cichlid, and as you can see the JD population is much smaller, and the ones that are there, are quite a bit torn up.
027 zps4b102ffd
In the 2nd Cenote there are thousand gallons to divy up, in the first video, perhaps a million gallons of available space to divy up.
If your tank is 300 to 500 gallons a Parachromis might work
Now a video where i didn't see any JDs, but there were Parachromis, and invasive Tilapia.
Aktun Ha
Although they are considered by some aggressive, that's on an old school community of angels, gouramis, live bearers scenario, not on a community of aggressive cichlids type scenario attempted these days.
When Rocio (normal JDs) share habitat with more aggressive cichlids, they tend to suffer, IMO a managuense would not be a good cichlid to share a tank with a JD, or would any Prarchromis type.
Below two videos I took in a couple Cenotes in Mexico where JDs live.
In the first,, they are practically the only cichlid, and do well, because they dominate.
Eden2
In the next video, Mayaheros uropthalmus are the dominant cichlid, and as you can see the JD population is much smaller, and the ones that are there, are quite a bit torn up.
027 zps4b102ffd
In the 2nd Cenote there are thousand gallons to divy up, in the first video, perhaps a million gallons of available space to divy up.
If your tank is 300 to 500 gallons a Parachromis might work
Now a video where i didn't see any JDs, but there were Parachromis, and invasive Tilapia.
Aktun Ha
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I had an ebjd and a gold jd and both were pretty mellow. I would rate them on a scale of aggression at a 2 out of 10. 10 being aggressive haha
I kept mine with HRPS, mollies, and swords, they often hid behind driftwood and were not open swimmers. They found their spot and hunkered down like a bottom dweller. My tank often looked empty. Beautiful fish, but maybe not the best choice for someone who wants active fish or aggressive fish
I kept mine with HRPS, mollies, and swords, they often hid behind driftwood and were not open swimmers. They found their spot and hunkered down like a bottom dweller. My tank often looked empty. Beautiful fish, but maybe not the best choice for someone who wants active fish or aggressive fish
Hard to say when it comes to aggression as every individual fish is different, as for JDs as a whole, they aren’t crazy aggressive at all.... and imo are on the milder scale of cichlid aggression and honestly i think a jag would harass a JD all day long....
Thanks for the help guys. I’ve come to a conclusion. I’ll be getting a Jag, EBJD and an Oscar, all not more than 3” long and will be keeping them in a 75 grow out till December. Gonna set up the tank with a lot of rocks and driftwood so that they don’t fight much and feel safe. Thoughts?
An oscars size would make it a better fit for the jag, I’ve seen them together more than jags and jds. EBJDs are smaller and nicer than jds, which makes it more likely to get killed, if you are gonna do a jack, I would definitely do a regular.
Are you set on a jag? What about a Freddy, they stay smaller and aren’t as bad as other parachromis (still a parachromis though). They also share the same origin as jds (don’t quote me on that, but I remember seeing a video of wild ones with jds and Mayans), so they are essentially more equipped to handle each other. It’s smaller size would also make it a bit tamer.
Are you set on a jag? What about a Freddy, they stay smaller and aren’t as bad as other parachromis (still a parachromis though). They also share the same origin as jds (don’t quote me on that, but I remember seeing a video of wild ones with jds and Mayans), so they are essentially more equipped to handle each other. It’s smaller size would also make it a bit tamer.
Jags have to be there in the set up, the whole family loves that fish. If the jags cause a problem to the EBJD I’ll probably give it to a friend then
What about a jag pair? You get two big cichlids out of it, with less of a chance that they kill each other. If you throw in a few dither fish (large tetras, danios, even smaller cichlids like convicts), it would become a really nice tank.
