Experience W/ Electric Blue Dempsey?

[2polypterus]

Has anyone owned one of these fish and care to share their experience? I have pretty much decided that is what I want to get for my nintey US gal tank. I am planning on getting one through Tangled Up in Cichlids, since the ones I see in pet stores are usually beat up and ratty looking. They are currently 3 to 3.5 inches. I want to make it the only cichlid in the ninety, which already holds 6 tinfoil barbs, 3 clown loaches and a pleco (unsure of species but full grown at 5 inches.) They only thing that worries me is that the dempsey might go after the smallest loach, who is just over two inches. I have heard that the blues are mild mannered compared to regular dempseys though, so I don't know what to think. Also what do your blue dempseys like to eat? I have also heard they can be picky.

 

[-=Joel=-]

If it can fit in his mouth he will eat it Lol.

Jeff Rapps is a good bloke and his fish are of very high standard. No worries about getting bad fish from him Lol.

Joel

 

[ox5477]

and to add to what joel said, even if it can't fit in his mouth, he will prob nip at it cause it's in his way. or atleast that's what my Jack did to every other fish before I got him his own tank.

 

[Sp00ky]

and to add to what joel said, even if it can't fit in his mouth, he will prob nip at it cause it's in his way. or atleast that's what my Jack did to every other fish before I got him his own tank.

Interesting article in the new edition of PFK on Jack Dempseys. Apparently they dont deserve the tag of being quite as nasty as some people make out. Yes if its small enough to fit in its mouth then it will eat it. However, it is highly unlikley that it will start any dispute with any bigger fish. Even the mating ritual is very uneventful, and that is why you will see hardly any damage on the female after or during mating.

2 will be fine in a 36" + tank so long as they have their own space and caves as they can get territoral, but so long as they have somewhere to get away from each other they will do fine. I love my male JD and cant wait to get him a lady, its just finding one !!

 

[scrappy]

I have a pair of normal JD's, the male gets very aggressive towards the female, chasing her round the tank almost constantly when the females ripe for spawning, however the male JD, although bigger than my GT and Salvini who live in the same tank does not pick fights with them.

There is a king of the tank though and its not a fish you would expect (its not even a cichlid). Its a Blue Loach (Botia Modesta), however even my YoYo Loach would chase the big cichlids round the tank and they would all run from him too... I had to move my YoYo into my Severum Tank cos he was harrassing the corys and cichlids too much.

Luckily he dont bother the 4 Sevs hes lives with now...

 

[vancouver]

I wouldn't keep 2 ebjds in a 33g tank(3 feet long)... that would be pretty cramped..

When you think of it, most fish will eat whatever they can fit in their mouth.. even guppies..

Aggression is the thing you need to worry about.. like most cichlids, some can be nice while others can be terrors... generally they are supposed to be more calm then regular jds.

 

[2polypterus]

I am only planning on having one cichlid in my 90 gal tank. It is getting built into the wall of my bedroom when I move in a few months so I really want a "happy" tank where no one is being chased or terrorized. Right now it is very cool to watch as the loaches and barbs all school together all day! I am pretty familiar with reg. Dempseys but I have no experience keep the blues. I have heard rumors about them but I would rather hear from people who have actually owned one themselves. I have heard they are calmer than reg. JD and also that they can be harder to feed.