Bought A Jack Dempsey! (He's Living With Mbuna's!)

[ExR]

Today I bought a baby Jack Dempsey. I'm hoping to put him in with my adult Oscar in future, maybe in 6-7 months time if he's big enough by then. I've read that it can be doable despite not having a 100% success rate.

Atm he's in a smaller tank with 4 young Mbuna's. Given that they're all young, I assume that they will be alright in there together for awhile? Though, what is likely to happen when they all grow? Will it be imperative that I split them up? Who will grow quicker etc etc? (Just so I know what to expect) I do realise that it's not a long term solution, I'm just curious. It will help me decide when to take the next step.

I do have a spare/unused tank that can be used if absolutely necessary. Though, I don't think that's the case atm.

Cheers

ExR

 

[kribensis12]

WelL, I wouldn't worry about the Jack Dempsey holding his own. They are named after a boxer after all. He may even grow the quickest as well.

 

[star4]

Hi and welcome
How big is your JD at the moment? I would be tempted to try and add your jd sooner rather than later as getting adult fish to get along is pretty tough going. If your oscar is placid he/she may accept smaller fish better than an adult of course making sure the jd is not mouth size for the oscar.


Forgot to add, I have an adult JD, when they decide they dont like a certain fish they are very aggressive and dont let up. I had mine in one tank for about 4 minutes before I ended up moving him to another tank. it took him 30 seconds to decide he was going for one of the other tankmates.

 

[ExR]

Hi and welcome
How big is your JD at the moment? I would be tempted to try and add your jd sooner rather than later as getting adult fish to get along is pretty tough going. If your oscar is placid he/she may accept smaller fish better than an adult of course making sure the jd is not mouth size for the oscar.

Ty for the welcome.

My Tiger Oscar is about 10 inches and the Jack Dempsey isn't even an inch long yet. I think my Jack Dempsey would just make a rather expensive meal atm! My Oscar is a grumpy sod, when he gets angry, he likes to take it out on big, heavy rocks (4 times his size!) and also likes to pester my Pleco from time to time. Too bad you can't get anti-depressants for fish!

I take it the Mbuna's are no match for a JD? I was worried that they may pick on him, but perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[star4]

ooooh eeer no way then adding the jd yet I have never kept Mbuna so I cannot comment on their aggression levels, but even a small JD will hold his own if challanged. Personally if you have another tank you can put the JD in I would, extra water changes and a good diet and he will soon grow

I would love to see some pics of your oscar, I have 3, Tigger 9"(who is sadly only lodging here for a while) who is an absolute dream of a fish, so placid and sweet natured, Rusty 6" tiger oscar, who can have his moments, but generally placid and ok with other fish and fingers. Then I have the devil Chops 7" tiger, given to me by a shop because of his broken jaw and other damage, he has to be the most naughiest fish ever!

 

[Always Learning]

Depends on the Mbuna, but a JD would get torn to shred by some of them. An Auratus for example is a beast.. they have been known to take on much larger and aggressive species with ease, due to the speed and agility they can avoid a lot of incoming attacks whilst dishing out a lot of damage in return. So it's hard to give you a definitive answer, though generally, I would say that whilst they are all small you should run into fewer problems.

 

[amyw2008]

I think if they all grow up together then they should be ok
I have 2 JD's and 30-40 small Malawis in the same tank and they get on fine

 

[Squidward]

You might get away with it.
But their diets are totally different. Mbuna are vegetarians. Whereas the JD wants something meatier?