vegetarian dempsey

[Fry]

i have a 75G with a 7" male dempsey who is the most gentle cichlid you'll ever meet or hear about - gets along with goldfish of any size and never attacks anyone since the female dempsey i bought with him died, 6" oscar who is fairly mild and loves eating goldfish, and 3.5" green texas (carpintis) who is really mean and killed goldfish even if not eating them

ever since i fed them a few feeder goldys (which the oscar ate most of, some the texas ate and none the dempsey ate) the dempsey has drooped fins and seems unhappy that his tankmates are killing, this dempsey is extraordinarily docile although no one really bothers him (or is big enough to), i don't know what to do, should i put him with a bunch of large goldfish which he doesn't hurt and seems to enjoy the company of?

 

[benzjamin13]

Feed your fish pellets. It's healthier for them. Since you have an Oscar, they're subceptable to Hole-In-The-Head disease that is usually caused by poor water quality and feeder fish. I would check on the dempsey though. I don't think it gets depressed by seeing the other fish eat feeders. It might be sick.

 

[Peanut_Power]

Whats the temp of your tank? Also, if you can find me where there is proof that feeder fish cause hole in the head I will believe you. I know about the wate quality being a factor in it though. Mostly its South American cichlids that get it. Causes are debatable...but thats a totally different subject. Are you wanting the dempsey to be more aggressive? I would be cautious what you put in there with it cuz just cuz its not eating goldfish doesn't mean it won't eat other fish. The oscar is probably the dominant fish in there...so maybe that has some explanation bout it.

 

[Fry]

The Jack won't eat live food or fresh shrimp, the other two would. But the jack is definitely the dominant one, he breaks up fights between the other two. The other two fight each other all the time. I don't really want him more aggressive but it seems very strange to have a jack behave this way. The jack touched a piece of raw shrimp once and couldn't get away from it fast enough...odd, the oscar and tex fight for raw meat. The temperature is at a very stable 76F all the time. I was just wondering if it's a good idea to have him with goldfish instead, since he loves it with them. Very strange specimen.

 

[HarpoGarza]

I started out with 3 Tiger O's and 2 JDs in my 180g about 6 months ago. Since then all the fish have grown to at least 3 inches, except one of the JDs. In fact, Little Jack is the SAME SIZE he was when we bought him. It got to the point where he wouldn't eat beef heart, krill, brine shrimp or even pellets. I ended up having to move him out of there and into a 5g hexagon. He's about the size of a really fat neon. He's docile as can be. In essence, he's boring. I think I got screwed and ended up with a dwarf JD. As for my Big Jack, he's a blast to watch. He spends the majority of his day hiding in his flower pot. He comes out to eat, then tries to avoid the O's, who really could care less about him. He sees them and freaks out. Kinda like a cockroach when the lights are turned on.