Always keep young
Jack Dempsey Cichlids with other cichlids of similar size and aggressive temperament so they wont fight each other to death. Lastly, when your fish grow up to an adult size, you should keep them alone if your
fish tank isnt large enough for pair or more of them. I recommend you to use a tank that has at least 2700 litres of water (1.5m x 1.5m x 1.2m). Try to create as many hiding places as you can, like caves,
rocks, some
driftwood to make an interesting environment. Males can be aggressive towards females (and also towards other males), as they are usually larger.
Like most cichlids they will accept
food such as
cichlid pellets, gold pellets,
cichlid flakes and
frozen food. Feed young fish 3 times daily. Adults should be fed at least 1 times a day. You shouldnt keep them in a tank with live
plants, because they will eat them. As they like to dig,
gravel must be at least 12cm (5 in) tall.
Breeding the
Jack Dempsey Cichlid goes like typical cichlid breeding. The female will lay eggs and the male will follow up and fertilize them. Of course, they will breed on a piece of slate as soon as they clean it off. When all eggs are laid, the female will start to fan them. The male will protect her until eggs they hatch after 3-4 days. Newborns will start to swim a few days after consuming the yolk sac. Small fish should be removed from that tank once they reach 1.5cm (about 1/2 in).
Jacks can go both ways. Some can be extremely aggressive and others can be housed in a community tank with larger barbs, tetras ect.. This is what makes the Jack Dempsey such an interesting fish. Each one has its own unique personality. It is true that females tend to be less trouble than males. So if you can tell them apart, it would make sense to put a female into a community tank setting and a male into a single species only tank of other male cichlids. As far as tank size goes, a minimum tank size for one full grow Jack would be 30 gallons. Anything less would be problematic.
