Electric Blue Jack dempseys

I was wondering if anyone on here had any knowledge on EBJD? I purchased 3 and 2 died originally but I was at my lfs today and they ended up selling one that was bigger than the rest due to him bullying the others so I purchased him because I wanted a few of them. I know how they are extremely hard to keep alive and their history. I put the new the male in my established tank today with my original female and they eventually started flarring, shaking at each other establishing dominancy but now he’s chasing her all over the tank so I put a divider and separated them for now. There are plenty of caves and live plants to hide or retreat in my 55 gallon aquarium. My main issue is she wants to be “friends” and he just wants to be an A hole. Is there anything I can do or try to help ease aggression? I will note I only had them together for a few hours before separating. I just didn’t want her to get stressed out and possibly die. The male is bigger than her but we’re supposedly from the same batch from the dealer. I have a few panda corys, synodonis catfish, clown loan, pleco and Otto for maintenance. I also added a few danios as ditther fish to the tank today to possibly stop aggression or ease it at the least. Any info, suggestions or opinions would greatly be appreciated. Thanks

I will add a few photos of the size of both of them.

They are small so you could try redecorating/ rearranging the ornaments in the tank to break up the territories.

If you feed the fish heavily before adding a new fish to the tank, it can sometimes help too. But Jack Dempsey are agro fish that kill everything in the tank. The best way to get a breeding pair is to buy 8-10 young fish and add them to the tank at the same time. Then grow them up and let them pair off. When 2 have become and pair, remove the other fish or they will be killed.

It will be a bit tricky with them having issues to the extent of adding a divider. EBJDs have a reputation of being a bit calmer than regular JDs but if you have picked out the biggest male, you've actually picked out the most dominant male in the store tank too. I think what Colin mentioned is worth bearing in mind about starting with a group to select the ones to keep? It would spread the aggression out and stop one getting picked on.

The other thing I want to mention is that I think you will have issues with your ottos and cories with the JDs, Ottos are very snack sized and Panda Cories could be too. Just keep an eye on them with the JDs in your tank.

Wills

These were the original 3 I bought before the two died.. they were getting along fine at first. The small one died a few days later and the female was harassing the male and he got stressed out so I’m guessing that’s why he died. So now I’m trying to keep that from happening a second time.

Colin_T said:

They are small so you could try redecorating/ rearranging the ornaments in the tank to break up the territories.

If you feed the fish heavily before adding a new fish to the tank, it can sometimes help too. But Jack Dempsey are agro fish that kill everything in the tank. The best way to get a breeding pair is to buy 8-10 young fish and add them to the tank at the same time. Then grow them up and let them pair off. When 2 have become and pair, remove the other fish or they will be killed.

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I bought 4 out of the batch they had. This was a one time order and I think because I told them how they have a rep for dieting easily as juveniles doubt they will be getting more in so I doubt I will be able to get more without purchasing online which I don’t know how they will look”. They were going to keep 4 to grow out for display but this male I got was way bigger than the rest they put him with electric blue acaras which he wasn’t boss anymore. They ended up selling him to me yesterday. When I added him he didn’t have a territory the female was in the tank for 3 weeks and she didn’t even have one she just swam all over. @Colin_T it’s weird bc she follows him around sometimes wanting to be his friend and then he will kinda flare at her and chase her all the way across the tank. @Wills and colin I believe you’re and correct but it’s hard to say. When I had the original I had male female and tiny guy. The tiny guy died few days after the male was dominant then a week later the female was bossing him around chasing him and he couldn’t hide without her searching for him and pestering him so he died a few days later. I don’t know how but this male I purchased is way bigger than all the rest even being housed in a 20-30 gallon. My panda corys actually boss the big male around. It’s hilarious bc they are tiny babies lol Otto is tiny I will watch out for him. I put him on the female side she doesn’t mess with anyone. Do you guys suggest removing the divider in a few days and rearranging the aquarium? I will add more live plants and more hiding spots although it will be hard bc I have some already and want to leave some flat space for the fish in my tank. I trade in my oscars in my 110 so it’s open now. I’m going to tare it down and redo it today as well as my other 55. Do you think the 110 would be better for them? Worse come to worse I can keep them in their own separate 55 or I can return to the fish store. If I had to choose I would choose the male bc he has better coloring. I was also thinking of adding another hardy sa cichlid to maybe break the tension from the two ebjd? Maybe blues Arca or parrot fish or both? But I also don’t want another fish bullying my female jd. I guess I can experiment. I was possibly thinking of keep the divider if nothing works until the female is over 3 inches bc she will be more hardy. I was also thinking of feeding the female better food than the male to maybe burst her growth rate faster. I don’t know just throwing things out there.my ebjd male is growing like a normal jd it’s weird. Thanks for the fast reply to my post guys. I appreciate any help I can get. I will also keep you guys updated.