Polyptasaurus;3207489; said:
Blue Dempseys are still Dempseys... and in my experience adult males will not tolerate each others company, especially in the presence of a female...
Breeding Blue x Blue will produce weak/deformed fry that will not survive beyond 2 weeks. I've made 3 Blue x Blue pairs and know of several others who have done the same and we all had this same experience.
Breeding Blue Dempseys is a very long process, keeping Blue fry alive is quite difficult work and in the end you will yield very few fry in comparison to other Cichlids. I am not saying any of this to discourage anyone from trying, but for anyone interested you should know the reality before investing in such an attempt.
Polyptasaurus, although I completely understand your idea that a tank full of Blue Dempseys would look amazing, you should refrain from throwing out random suggestions that overlook practical realities. This sort of useless speculative advice can lead someone into wasting time, money and uselessly killing fish.
carolinafishkeeper;3207461; said:
I suggest you watch aquabid. You will often see breeders offering small groups of Blue Dempseys much cheaper than $50 each.
A group of 5 Blue Dempseys with shipping will probably cost $120 but will give you FAR better odds of obtaining a healthy adult specimen, will give you a chance at obtaining an adult pair and may possibly leave you with a couple of fish to sell off in six months turning the investment into a small profit.
The other approach is to buy one fish from an unknown source/breeder, hoping it has strong genetics and will survive (Blue Dempseys are known to be weak when young for a number of reasons), hoping it does not have internal parasites (Blue Dempseys are known to be prone to parasitic infections) and hoping that you do not get a deformed fish (Blue Dempseys commonly develop or display deformities as they mature. Some people suspect this is due to the mutated gene while others feel it is caused by excessive inbreeding).
Personally I use the concept, "If you're going to do it do it right". I would far prefer to invest a little more into a project and be pleased with the outcome than lighten my investment and the outcome be defeat.
I also suggest you put a UV light on the tank to greatly reduce if not all together remove the threat of parasitic infection. This is yet an additional expense but again will greatly increase your chances of success.
carolinafishkeeper;3207461; said:Ima hold off on making this set up aggressive, I might get a few blood parrots to keep him company...this should work ,shouldn't it.
Most of my experience has been with glass bangers, so will something like keyholes, rams, or kribs, be ok to place in the 75
A lot of this will be timing. I've put baby Blues in with adult Apistos and had the Apistos kill the baby Blues... and I've put adult Blues in with Apistos and had the Blues eat the Apistos. I currently have a Blue x Blue pair of with a group of Red Head Geos and they make great tankmates. There is a pair of Firemouthes (Thorichthys ellioti actually) in the same tank that gets along very well. There are many other Cichlids in this same 'aggression range' that you could keep with Blue Dempseys...
As most Blue Dempseys turn out to be slow growers, I still suggest you start off with just the Blue Dempsey(s) for a while to give them a head start.
