I plan to purchase a juvie Jag and grow him out in a 75g. Once the fish outgrows the space at around 12-14" I can upgrade. With that said how long before I would need to upgrade or would it realistically be good in this tank permanently? I have read much conflicting stances on this topic some say 75 is min some say 125 is min. Lots of size variation too; some say they get 18" but realistically rarely hit more than the 12-14".
Thoughts on Jaguar Cichlid
- Thread starter MC4RKiller
- Start date
Buy the tank before you buy the fish.
75gallon for a 12-14" fish is not big enough imo. For now its perfectly fine and it will grow 1-2" per month. You need a new tank by the end of this year for sure.
I would say you need a 150 gallon min for a large jag and will live peacefully for many years to come.
They can get to 18" in size.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...he-biggest-youve-seen-and-owned.527496/page-2
75gallon for a 12-14" fish is not big enough imo. For now its perfectly fine and it will grow 1-2" per month. You need a new tank by the end of this year for sure.
I would say you need a 150 gallon min for a large jag and will live peacefully for many years to come.
They can get to 18" in size.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...he-biggest-youve-seen-and-owned.527496/page-2
I have kept numerous jags and they never reached 15+ most of them topped out around 13" 125 gallon would be the minimum size for a jag pair. But your 75 will do for around a year to 14 months before you need to upgrade. I would plan to upgrade around the one year mark. They are an awesome fish and all of mine have had great personalities, definitely one of my favourite in the hobby.
IMO a standard 125 is not is not big enough for a full grown Jag. They can and do get to 16" to much fish for a 125....again IMO.
I do have a question in regard to this size fish requiring a fairly large tank to itself. It appears that they typically hit about 14" at most on average. Why would a Jag this size require a 125G when I have owned many 13-14" Oscars which seem to be quite happy in a 75G. Not arguing with anyone; just doesn't really make sense.
I have kept several female and male jags and none have past the 12" mark. I have housed them in both 80g and 100g tanks. Really depends how long it will get but a 75 may do in the end, especially if its a female. Would never go smaller than a 75 though.
long term health, can you keep a jag in a smaller tank for 3, 4 years? sure. but in the end a fish that should live 10, 12 years aint going to happen, so seeing the 16" + jag aint going to happen. same can be said for oscars. water quality and low stress. big fish in a small cadge is not a happy fish, it eats? sure. it swims? sure. but it aint happy. between the water quality and the stress it will die before its time. now you happ with your fish living 5 years or so, I am fine with that, i like to strive and see them live allot longer.
now to jags, they are not friendly fish. not to the tank, and not to you, they will tear up your tank, and unless hungry want nothing to do with you.
so you want to keep jags do not expect a frisky little face planters. they are nothing like an oscar.
FYI I have 3 Oscars, i love em.
now to jags, they are not friendly fish. not to the tank, and not to you, they will tear up your tank, and unless hungry want nothing to do with you.
so you want to keep jags do not expect a frisky little face planters. they are nothing like an oscar.
FYI I have 3 Oscars, i love em.
I don't expect Jags to behave like Oscars; it's just a widely suggested stocking guide that an O does fine in 75Gs when it really gets to be the same size as a Jag. It really didn't make sense why they also wouldn't do well in the same setup solo; especially if the keeper were dedicated to filtration and WCs. Of course larger tanks are better, that is a given for any fish, was just curious if anyone had done it successfully in a smaller tank. I wouldn't think of a 16-18" fish in a 75G that is just too much, but a 12-14" fish alone just seems like a manageable situation.
Agreed, 75g is usually listed as the absolute min tank size for both. Oscars are more messy and water sensitive than jags on top of that. I wouldnt keep another O unless I went bigger myself.