90g Stocking Options

[GhostDogg]

I really want a JD (or a pair) but I've seen GT's and they're growing on me.
What would be good tankmates for either?

I've googled both and find them to be very similar in appearance.
How do you tell the difference between the 2 when they're about 1.5"-2.5"(2-4 cm)?

I purchased 4 in hopes that 2 will pair up.(JD's I think)
It seems I have 3 females & 1 male.

Would/should I trade in the remaining females or would it be fine to keep them?
(instead of other tank mates)

No real aggression yet & they're currently in my QT tank.
I can return them if needed.(I'm good with my local LFS)

Is there a "sure fire" way to sex these cichlids?
I just hear to look @ the fins.
Long pointed=Male
Rounded=Female


Sorry I have no pix @ the moment.
From what I can see this is my description:
-Blue flec's like a JD
-But red/orange tipped fin like a GT
-Black spot near the mid section
-Has Stripes and turns quite dark when stressed
-3 bigger guys/gals have a broken bar/line that runs the length of the body
-Sort of line/crescent thats right behind the eyes.

I've seen JD with the red tips too but when I see a few pix of other members young GT's I get confused.

What type of tankmates can I hopefully keep with these guys

Would Blue Arcara's work?
I like their colors too.

Also what type of a cleanup crew would work for these guys?
I'm probably heading towards the plec route.
Is theres anything that would eat algae and leftovers that wouldn't get eaten?



Sorry for the "interrogation".

Tank= W48"xD24"xH18"

 

[shroob]

I'm not entirely sure on what you're asking, but if I understand you correctly you want to know if you can keep a breeding pair of JDs and a GT in the same tank?

If so, I wouldn't do it, the aggression of the JD pair would make your GT's life not very pleasant.

Best way to get a pair is to buy 6 and let a pair form naturally, the pair bond will be much stronger than getting 1M and 1F and hoping they pair up.

 

[ox5477]

I'm not entirely sure on what you're asking, but if I understand you correctly you want to know if you can keep a breeding pair of JDs and a GT in the same tank?

If so, I wouldn't do it, the aggression of the JD pair would make your GT's life not very pleasant.

Best way to get a pair is to buy 6 and let a pair form naturally, the pair bond will be much stronger than getting 1M and 1F and hoping they pair up.

Agree with the method of finding a pair.

It would be possible to keep a pair of each in a single tank but this would have to be a large tank that is devided with either driftwood of stone or plants to divide the tank so that the two pairs feel more secure.


Your pretty much spot on with telling the differences between the two species as well as defining the two sexes in each species:

JD: More spotty with a purple to tan background. Full Red along fin edges
GT: More of a stripe pattern along the jaw line with a moreorange color the fin edges

JD: male has long pointed fins and the gill plates are almost completely lacking of color spots. Can also form a Nuchal (not sure on spelling) hump on forhead. Females tend to be more squat and with a dense pattern of color spots on the gill plates
GT: similar differences in the sexes with respects to the fins and body sizes. As for color goes, I'm not 100% so will just not state any differences

Also, whent hey are under 3 inches, the sexes pretty much look the same for many medium to large size cichlid species. It seems around 3" that they hit what you could call puberty and the differences in the sexes start to become more apparent

 

[GhostDogg]

I'm pretty sure I have only 1 male.
I did this on purpose since I don't want to see any deaths.

So keeping 3 female to 1 male is out of the question?

If they turn out to be GT's would this be any different?

I know my description is crap but does it help ID what these little guys might be?
I have to get my Digi cam back.

 

[ox5477]

Pics make ID's much easier

 

[GhostDogg]

Pics make ID's much easier

I know...
I don't have it @ the moment.
When I get it back I'll mos def post some pix.
IMHO they sort of look like German Rams same colors but have slightly different face/mouth.

Would a bunch of female convicts be suitable tankmates?
If so how many would be ok.

 

[shroob]

I would think that if you had a pair of JD's and 2 'extras' then the extras would be bulled alot, and it would be better to return them.

 

[GhostDogg]

I found this thread that had pix of some young JD's
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/20...e-Jack-Dempsey/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/20...e-Jack-Dempsey/</a>


Aside from the blue flecs my fish don't really look like these 2.
Body shape yes color no.
They're not as dark. Maybe mine are just poorly colored.

I wish mine were as dark, I find them quite interesting this way.

When stressed they do darken quite a bit but not to the extent of the 1st 2 pix of that thread.

They actually look more like these.(Fish on right)

This thread is pretty helpful but has really made me think twice to what fish I have.
http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/20...-jack-Dempseys/

Should I assume my 4 are GT's or maybe even Blue Acaras?

 

[GhostDogg]

Pix from this site make me think I do have young JD's.
[URL="http/www.aquamojo.com/dempsey.html"]http/www.aquamojo.com/dempsey.html[/URL]

They look a lot like these guys/gals.

 

[GhostDogg]

ttt.

 

[Suicidal_AZN]

i just bought 3 tiny JDs.
1 male and 2 females all 1in.
the way i tell them apart is by looking at the gill covers.
the bottom of the males gills are not bluegreen and the females are.
i'll show pics of what i mean.


male JD

female JD

see how the bottom of the females gills are colored and the males are not.
i figured big JD and tiny ones are sexed the same.
oh one of my female JD died by jumping outta a covered tank.

 

[ox5477]

The first pics you posted is two female JD's. The one on the right cvould possibly turn out to be a male as the gill plates have litgher dotting. The second pic is not so easy. The one on the left looks sort of like a GT/ blue acara mix. The one on the right is missing the tell tale chin stripes and has more of a dotted pattern. Though it does the characteristic orange edges of the fins. I'm not sure on the second pic, but def 100% that the first pic is two JD's

On second thought, for your second pic, the one on the right looks like a GT that is a little emotional (color spots are drowning out the chin stripes) and the left looks like a Blue acara. But there a couple subspecies of GT that I'm not familiar with and it may be one of those

 

[GhostDogg]

I managed to snap a few pix with my old cam.
A few of the pix pick up the blue flecs but not really.
The pix show a lil under the chin but not the flecs on the body.
Pretty much where you see the bright gold flecs thats where the blue would be.
Please excuse the water marks, this is my QT tank.












Here you get an idea of how small they really are.
Yes I'm Canadian & thats a nickel = 5 cents/$0.05.



And these are two of the bigger guys/gals.
The other two hide more often and look much slimmer.

It's so hard to get these lil guys/gals to stay still.

When i get my better digi cam back this weekend I'll post some more.


They're starting to show a little more spunk since I raised the temp. up in the QT tank.
No real fights just some chasing.

 

[GhostDogg]

TTT

 

[GhostDogg]

ttt