Jag Dilemma

[xEchOx]

125 gallon aquarium:2 large oscars, 1 male texas cichlid, 1 male jaguar cichlid, 1 male convict cichlid, 5 silver dollars, 2 pictus cats, 1 common pleco.

I have a male jag in my 125 tank that is blind in one eye. I don't really know how this came about, but I treated him for two weeks, and the ailment never went away. Although he cannot see out of this eye, he is still a bully. He bullys everyone who will back down, but on the flipside, the fish he can't bully, take advantage of him, and will nip at him when on his blind side. He hides most of the day now and only gets leftover food, or food that I deliberately put in front of him.

So the true dilemma here is that my 125 is overstocked, and I had planned on removing the texas and convict, and one of the cats. I could still do this but it will not improve the situation the jag is in. He really needs a tank all to himself, but I don't have the space. Moreso, everytime I have kept him solo, he truly seems bored. He doesn't eat as much, doesn't move around much, doesn't do much of anything. I want to give him up for adoption at petco, but I'm afraid his eye defect will prevent him from being wanted, and with his bad attitude, he would probably be returned anyway. That's all assuming he isn't picked up by some ignorant, irresponsible twit who doesn't really care about him. I'm just not sure what to do with him. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[cichlaguapote]

Well first how long was it that you kept him by himself and he seemed bored? Days, weeks or hours? He should be more than ok in a tank by himself, if nothing else try some small danios or something that might make him more active.

I agree he needs a tank by himself. But petco isn't your only option try placing a ad here in the classifieds for adoption also try www.cichlid-forum.com who has a pretty good classified section and if nothing else try aquabid. You have a ton of different places to try though. That eye for someone who notices it will make people think twice but there are alot of people who want to rescue fish, there's even thefishguy in ohio at last resort maybe you could ship the jag to him.

 

[rhetor]

I had a 24" Pacu that i thought would meat a terrible demise, but i posted on here and 20 minutes later a member replied and said he would take him. 3 days later he was in a much bigger tank and happy as can be!

 

[xEchOx]

I kept him solo for a couple of months when he was a juvie (2-3 inches). Giant danios, and any other dithers became a late night snack, or went airborne, and became a late night snack for my cat. The ads aren't a bad idea though, I just don't really feel like paying 30 bucks to send one of my fish to someone else. I don't know if anyone would pay for a one eyed jag either... I guess its worth a shot.

 

[cichlaguapote]

You might find someone local. At 3" a jag isn't going to be active by himself. Doesn't mean he's bored, just means his personality isn't out yet.

 

[xEchOx]

You might find someone local. At 3" a jag isn't going to be active by himself. Doesn't mean he's bored, just means his personality isn't out yet.

I'll do the ads when I get home then. True his personality might change, but right now he's more like 6 inches. I still think he is a stunning fish... I just can't accomodate him.

 

[Caveman]

I guarantee if you give him to PetCo their is a one in ten chance someone will "adopt" him that will truly understand the amount of tankspace and care a full grown Jaguar will need. Is their any mom or pop shops in your area who you can give him to? Mom and pop shops IMO give out better information then the big name stores and will give him a good shot at finding the proper home he will need.

 

[Jason_S]

I agree with Caveman. try the buy/sell forum here (post pics ), aquabid and even craig's list. you might even try ebay. you never know, you may find someone who wants him enough to pay for shipping (assuming you know how to safely ship a fish) especially if you charge a relatively low price for the fish itself.

also, at only 6" the true personality of your jag still hasn't come out yet. I'd say he/she is just starting to come into his/her true personality and aggression is likey to get worse over the next month or so.

 

[xEchOx]

Thanks for the advice. I will call some of the local stores that are not corporate. There are a couple in town, and a couple more I would be willing to drive to about an hour away. It would be nice knowing that he would atleast go to someone who has a basic knowledge of what a full grown jag will need.

 

[xEchOx]

Well I took my jag back to the lfs friday. Unfortunately none of my ads online were responded to, and none of the ma and pa stores had room for a 6 inch jag. So I had to take him back to petco where I got him. They did, however, let me put a sticky not on the tank he was in that said 75 gallons minimum, no tankmates, not a community fish. The reason I chose 75, is I didn't want to deter everyone so he'd end up in the care of the lfs for too long, but at the same time, I didn't want an irresponsible kid to throw him in a 30 gal. I thought this was reasonable for his situation. The eye has improved mildly since the occurence, but he still cannot see. It is less of an 'imperfection' you could say. The fact remains I have no room for him, and I can't believe I even bought him thinking I would upgrade so soon. A Caution, to everyone who thinks they will upgrade for a fish... think twice, because its hard to let them go once you've had them, and even harder on them...