will they calm down?

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Experiment397

Experiment397

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Feb 26, 2010
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Probably the Poly section
ok so the 2 demseys i got a while ago will not stop fighting and kill everything it seems like, or just beat it up. they are still in the 30 but are only 3-4 inches long and the only fish in there besides the pacu that just sits there trying to eat the plastic plants(he just needs to get a few more inches and the aquarium will take him). so when i put the dempseys in the 125 will they calm down, or do i need to sell them for a calmer cichlid species? i need something that will not beat up my ornate pim(hes in a different 30, i have 2) thnx. also what is the easiest way to sell a fish that is aggressive?
 
I would think that hopefully they would get along better in the bigger tank, my convict cichlids are much less aggressive since they were moved into the 125 gallon.
 
if they are opposite sexes then they will most likely calm down once they are in the 125 and actually have space, but you realize the 125 doesnt even come close to being large enough for a pacu right? but yeah i would get rid of the more aggressive of the two and get another type of cichlid once you have the larger tank set up. if you want a community type set up it usually works best to have single males of different types, and as far as rehoming an aggressive fish just post it on craigslist
 
With the added space of a 125, your JDs should get along better. But in the end they still could fight. You may have two of the same sex and that could be a reason for their fighting. Don't add anymore fish to the 30. Besides the fact that they are killing and beating up other fish, a 30 is too small for anything else in that tank. Add more fish once you have them in the 125. To sell a fish, aggressive or not, just find someone interested in the fish that you have. You could post here, craigslist, or on another site. Another alternative is to take it to a LFS for store credit.
 
Experiment397;5128444; said:
ok so the 2 demseys i got a while ago will not stop fighting and kill everything it seems like, or just beat it up. they are still in the 30 but are only 3-4 inches long and the only fish in there besides the pacu that just sits there trying to eat the plastic plants(he just needs to get a few more inches and the aquarium will take him). so when i put the dempseys in the 125 will they calm down, or do i need to sell them for a calmer cichlid species? i need something that will not beat up my ornate pim(hes in a different 30, i have 2) thnx. also what is the easiest way to sell a fish that is aggressive?
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get the dempseys out now to the 125G the 30G is kinda small for 1 dempsey..plus a pacu shouldnt even be in your tank they get way to massive..
 
the pacu is a long story. i am aware he is a monster. he is being given away to the local aquarium soon, or chopped into cat food(no joke) they are both females so i may have to sell one of them.
 
Bigger tank
 
get rid of them ! they aren't worth it . i had a Jd that was crazy a few months ago , i sold it and bought another male JD . the new JD was way better because i could have a community tank without any probs
 
I disagree with most of the post saying the 125g will solve the problems. Yes, it should decrease some aggression, but not fix the problem. Jack Dempsey are very territorial fish and if they are showing signs of aggression like this at only 4"-5" then it's not going to get better.

Likely they see each other as a thread to their space. I had my JD and O in a 125g from little to like 6" and my JD randomly started shredding my O as soon as he saw him as the only other cichlid threat in the tank. And these guys were below 6" and in a 125g. Only solution was rehousing my JD to a 90g and letting the O have the 125g.

However, my JD doesn't do this with any other fish. He is currently in a tank with a school of 14GD, 7SD, 1 Juvenile FM, and one Juvenile Pink Con. I believe he doesn't care about the dither as they are no threat and the FM and Con aren't nearly his size so don't proof to be any threat either.

The larger tank will help, but IMO they should likely be separated to prevent any further aggression problems in the future. And as far as reselling it, Doubt you'll get anything for a common Jack Dempsey at juvenile size. They are a very common aquarium fish sold in almost all LFS. I would just try to bring him to a LFS and get a couple bucks credit for him and put it towards something else you need or another type of cichlid.
 
Experiment397;5128472;5128472 said:
the pacu is a long story. i am aware he is a monster. he is being given away to the local aquarium soon, or chopped into cat food(no joke) they are both females so i may have to sell one of them.
Click to expand...
Two female JDs in a 30 explains the aggression problems. One female JD shouldn't be much of a problem in a 125 with larger cichlids or more assertive ones. JDs are not really high on the aggression scale of cichlids. Having a breeding pair may give the other fish some problems though. It all depends on the individual fish too. I have kept many aggressive cichlids and JDs are not on that list when compared to the others. You have a better chance at keeping a female JD with tankmates more than you do with some of the other aggressive cichlids. All the ones that I have kept, breeding pairs included, couldn't hang with any of the truly mean cichlids that I have kept. They usually hid most of the time, main reason why I don't keep them. Since you're going for a relatively peaceful tank, you may do better by doing as Jon suggested. Add a few SD, barbs, and/or some similar sized cichlids that will defend themselves.
 
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