tank mate for my mean JD?

[dontgetbit]

Well I lost my pleco after a year in my 55g with my JD. I am not sure what happened or how old the pleco was. I acquired it from a tank I bought on CL. Now I am down to my 9" JD that is really aggressive, 3 silver dollars that are around 3", and 1 buenos aires tetra (my JD took at the other 5).

I really want to add a new fish to the tank but am not sure what will work with my crazy JD. The pleco was never out and I would rather not add a pleco or catfish that is going to hide all day. I do plan to upgrade to a 120g or 90g tank in the future.

Any suggestions on what to keep with a really aggressive cichlid?

 

[baseballman1321]

maybe a green terror when you upgrade but im not sure.

 

[ibz_rg]

Usually if your cichlid can take out a year old pleco, you can expect him to be a loner. By then plecos have started to develop their thick outer shell and are extremely tough.

 

[dontgetbit]

Usually if your cichlid can take out a year old pleco, you can expect him to be a loner. By then plecos have started to develop their thick outer shell and are extremely tough.

I would not say the JD took out the pleco. It just stopped hiding during the day and was not very responsive, then a day later it was dead. I'm guessing is was at least a couple of years old but was in a 20g when I bought the tank and fish, so it was not very large at just 6".


I tried to add a firemouth and a convict in the past but the JD is truly a monster!

 

[ibz_rg]

Sounds like you need something bigger than the JD, which will require a bigger tank. I'd push for a 125g and then add a male Festae or Midas.

 

[dbD1nonly]

if he took out a plec your only chance of him not being a loner is to take him out rearrange the tank and try something bigger than him when you put him back. Worked once for me with a ebjd in a 110. I put him with a jag and gt about a 1.5-2 inches bigger than her

 

[Jason_S]

I wouldn't add anything else cichlid-wise until you get that larger tank. And if you want your best chance to keep him with another cichlid or two you should definitely go with the 120.

 

[Batboi3000]

I wouldn't add anything else cichlid-wise until you get that larger tank. And if you want your best chance to keep him with another cichlid or two you should definitely go with the 120.

I agree with the above. If your jack is that big already you don't really have the room in a 55 gallon. He needs that space. I would say, once you get the 120 bought and set up, you could try either a really big oscar, a green terror, a texas, red tiger motaguense, cuban cichlid, or a couple severum. I think these options would probably go well for you if you can find them in a comparable size to your dempsey. I wouldn't get anything too much smaller if he is being that aggressive. This is just my 2 cents. Good luck!

 

[DMD123]

You could add 2 more silver dollars for a nice full looking school. Or add a Featherfin Catfish (Synodontis Eupterus) which are usually pretty active and can fend for themselves pretty well.

 

[dontgetbit]

I may look at adding a couple of SD's and then just wait for the upgrade. I looked at the syndo cats but they are not CA/SA and I wanted to keep it from that region.

For now I am filling it up with live plants and the SD's are actually not eating them this time around. The JD has not uprooted them either, but he loves to spit sand in my filter intake.