Shy jack dempsey

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swifty

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2013
268
1
0
California
I bought a really nice jack dempsey the other day. As expected, he explored his new home for about a hour yesterday morning, and since then he's taken a liking to a piece of driftwood. He's been hiding behind it for going on 36 hours.

My firemouth did the same thing, as did a convict I used to have when I first got them. As do a lot of cichlids it seems. They opened up when I added dithers, specifically black skirt tetras.

Firemouths and convicts don't get as big/personable as jacks though, so I was thinking does the jack just need some time to adjust, or will it need the dithers?

I have 11 black skirt tetras in a 29g with my male firemouth. Would it be ok to move some with the jack? If so, how many? I know the 6-8 minimum schooling rule, but I want there to be as little tetra as possible. Would 2 or 3 be ok? The jack is in a 20g long growout, with a 55 waiting.
 
Jack Dampsey is by nature a shy fish and should never be kept single. To bring out his shyness, you have to keep him in group or in company with other cichlids to challenge him. Even non-cichlid tankmates like danio don't seem to work, but a few boisterous Mbuna will force him out of his hiding place but may be too much for him.
 
Some little tiger barbs would do, as they do come cheap for dithers, and might go survive longer than black skirt tetras. Plus you should take away the driftwood first and let the fish acclimate with your presence. Last month I did bought a Juvi JD which is also shy, he (I'm sure it's a he) usually go hide back at a sponge filter within a 10g growout tank, with some corydoras and ghost shrimps in there. Give him some personal time, like observe him 5 steps away, after feeding, and make the less step away the next 2 days, until you can go upclose to him, Hey I could handfeed him after 3weeks with some mealworm. It always goes down to feeding, and making the fish to know that you're it's source of food.
 
I've never had any luck with JD's not being shy. I've tried 3 JD's at various sizes, different tankmates, more cover, less cover. The only thing I didn't try was multiple JD's at the same time. I've given up on them at this point. Very beautiful, but too shy for my liking. Hope you find the solution


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Regardless of what you do, JD's are naturally going to be a bit shy and elusive. Out of all the adult JD's I've kept in the past 20 years, I've only had one who was personable and interactive. Even with that being said, they are nowhere near as personable and outgoing as RD's, Midas, etc. In time, I would expect that your new JD will come out of his/her shell (especially during feeding time). However, they are a naturally skittish fish that startle quickly. At the same time, there are few CA Cichlids as beautiful and colorful as a full grown Jack Dempsey.
 
Yeah, I was told that firemouths were extremely skittish as well, which I witnessed first hand. I've had him for 7 months, and only in the past several has he really started to be boisterous. He's still small at 3-3.5", but he really started to come out when I added the skirts.

That being said, I added 3 skirts in the jack tank a few hours ago, and the jack is still in hiding. I'll either move more skirts from the 29, or just give it time. My firemouth hid for 2-3 weeks, and really gained some personality once I removed the convict and he was able to "dominate" the tank.
 
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