Quick question

[Johnny V]

Hey, where are jacks from? And I know they get big, but how big? And what shouldn't I feed them? (they eat everything...) Thanks

 

[bobwumba]

jack dempseys come from south america
they grow to be about a foot
i have one in my 55 that is huge and he eats cichlid pellets as a base diet and occasionally i give him some krill as a treat.

 

[Johnny V]

a foot eh? thats not sooo bad (its pretty bad and ill have to give him away ) i feed him flakes, toughies, insects that come inside (once I fed him a bee when I was angry at him for eating 3 ottos), brine shrimp, neons (by accident, and only once ) and shrimp pellets.

 

[bobwumba]

my jack rules the tank but usually he just sits in the corner until night time
i think mine is abnormally large and lazy
sounds like yours has a good appetite

 

[freddyk]

How old is your JD? 12" is huge, something I'd expect only to see with a very old guy.

Overfeeding will often result in oversized and lazy fish. These guys will eat far more then what's good for them since food is scarce in the wild and they're programmed to be gluttens - it's our job to keep it natural, and in turn, healthy. Don't overdo it, and by all means fast them the day after a really big meal.

Fresh foods you can feed them regularly include insects, krill, shrimp, prawns, insect larvae, and worms.

 

[freddyk]

oops

 

[Angel Lady]

That is pretty mean feeding him a bee. Jack demespy are fine with shrimp pellets or even krill. Mine do great with the shrimp pellets. Also I give mine some store bought shrimp once a week. They have the most prettiest colors so I must be doing something right.

 

[wwestar2000]

How old is your JD? 12" is huge, something I'd expect only to see with a very old guy.

Overfeeding will often result in oversized and lazy fish. These guys will eat far more then what's good for them since food is scarce in the wild and they're programmed to be gluttens - it's our job to keep it natural, and in turn, healthy. Don't overdo it, and by all means fast them the day after a really big meal.

Fresh foods you can feed them regularly include insects, krill, shrimp, prawns, insect larvae, and worms.

[snapback]843542[/snapback]​

I thought you sayed in another post that JD's grow much less than an oscar? He's saying his JD is 12 inchs a oscar grows roughly 11 inchs. Somethings wrong here?

 

[Elisabeth83]

Ok I'm gonna slightlhy high-jack your thread here ) I was thinking of getting a JD. They are stunning!! I actually just got home from a shop that was selling a 5-6 inch one for only about 7 US dollars I nearly got him but only had a 30 gallon free and wasn't sure how fast they grew?

If 12 inches is how big it gets when it's really old then it must take them a long while for them to grow that big considering their life span is around 10-15 years right? They are pretty vicious..what if anything can be housed with them??

 

[Synirr]

I thought you sayed in another post that JD's grow much less than an oscar? He's saying his JD is 12 inchs a oscar grows roughly 11 inchs. Somethings wrong here?

[snapback]843633[/snapback]​

Oscars get 12-15".
JDs get 8-12".

Fish have a growth cap, so when they reach a certain size their growth rate slows down dramatically... however, they do continue to grow slowly throughout their lives. This is why freddyk said he'd only expect a very old JD to be 12". An oscar's growth cap is at roughly 12", whereas a JD's is at around 8".