blue jack

[caz]

anyone have these? are they worth the cash? or do they get dicolored when they get older. are jacks hard to care for with clean up, like an oscar?

[Tightdog1]

do a search on this subject as i do not want to write the same thing over and over again, there were a few threads on the blue dempseys a few weeks ago.

[Tightdog1]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=9312&highlight=blue+dempsey

there is one of them.

[ScottoMacD]

I got them for next to nothing. Otherwise I would have passed. They are weak fish. Physically and genetically. I got mine because I have an on-going fasination with trying to breed the unbreedable.

I tried and failed miserably last summer with some veil finned ones. They were just too weak and died. This year I got some regular finned ones directly from the original breeder in south america. I plan one trying to breed them with some regulars and make a stronger strain. It's a 3 year experiment assuming that I get them to breed that is. If not well I will try to keep mine as long as possible and see how big I can get them.

Anyway I don't know anyone who has had positive things to say about the fish, or anyone who has truly had one grow to adulthood and live a normal life span. Well let me rephrase that. I have heard stories but never had any of those stories proven to be true.

They really aren't worth the money IMO.

http://images2.fotki.com/v22/free/8653/4/40301/79213/Mvc037f-vi.jpg

http://images2.fotki.com/v23/free/8653/4/40301/79213/Mvc035f-vi.jpg

http://images2.fotki.com/v22/free/8653/4/40301/79213/Mvc021f-vi.jpg

[caz]

ok well i dont think a blue dempsey is for me yet. i have a lfs who is also a friend of mine who has had his for a few months. do their weaknesses show early or later in life? i have noticed that he is a very aggressive fish though. but he is also 33 bucks. but in the area that i live, no one will ever spend that much on him. although i have heard stories that they are even more beautiful when they are full grown.

[ScottoMacD]

caz: Smart move. Stay away.

They will act fine and then all of a sudden get sick. Then it hits fast and hard and before you know it they are dead.

The kicker is that some of the stronger meds you might want to use are too strong for this weaker fish. So you end up using weaker meds and drawing it out for longer.

$33???? No bloody way I would even look at the tank if that is what they were charging. I won't tell you what I paid. But it would make you sick it wasn't even close to that.

[caz]

hehe, it seems to be the going price around here. he is about 2 inches though, not sure how big yours were when you bought him. but the way i figure it, if most of the blue jacks die young, then ill wait till the end of the summer or so, if he is still kicken, then maybe ill think about it. :) right now im trying to deal with the "oops" my other lfs pulled on me. they sold me what they said were baby convicts, when infact they were green severums, not sure what im gonna do now. but im not buying anymore fish untill i figure out what im gonna do about this boo boo. :(

[Tightdog1]

hey $33 aint bad because at my LFS i saw one blue jack about 2" for $59.99!!! i wanted to buy it jsut cause it looked cool, but too much $$$$.

but yea they are weak fish and not worth the $$ maybe for $5 or something.

[caz]

one mroe question for ya. if the dempsey is still alive, and for sale, say in 2 or 3 months, is that a good sign in him being a stronger one? or should i just get the idea of a blue jack right outta my head?

[ScottoMacD]

IMHO given the history of the fish. I wouldn't.

I have spoken to the most successful fish keepers about them and even they have had problems. Not saying I am a better fish keeper but I have learned from their experiences, as well as my first attempt, so I figure that it gives me a heads up on what to expect this time. Like said though. I may fail miserably again or may never get them to breed. Or they may all die again. I am ready for that this time. I don't like the idea but I can accept it.

Hey though, if you feel that the price is right and you want to give it a try and feel confident about it Go right ahead. Who knows you may succeed where others fail and end up with a nice 7incher that lives for ten years.

I only bought mine because of the obession with trying to breed them and the fact that they were dirt cheap. Otherwise I wouldn't touch them.

Just my opinion.

[caz]

thanx :) so they dont get better as they get older? i wouldnt mind so much paying the money for a fish if it is less likely to die. :)

[Tightdog1]

the most i would ever pay for a blue dempsey at 2" would be around $10-15 just to experiment with and say ive kept 1.

IMO they are not worth the amount LFS's charge for them, i realize they are expensive to get but they are just too weak.

i would think they get stronger as they get older but no one i've ever talked to has big ones. ive never heard of them get bigger than 4" b4 they die. i mean they're said to get the same size as regular jack dempseys (8-10") but i have yet to hear/see one that big.

[dbcb314]

ive seen a blue dempsyey that was 15 dollars and was 6+ inches. he seems healthy to me, and when i came back, someone had already bought him

[doxponygirl]

Can you post a pic of your blue jack...I am curious to see what it looks like. As I raise jacks and oscarsand etc.....! Mine have alot of blue in them, but the are just plain ole Jacks...lol. But you do need to know that they will tear up a tank fast, as they like to move things around. They do get big just as the oscars and grow just as fast if given the right condtions and feedings. Here is a pic of one of mine, which I have posted several times.http://www.onemain.com/~dox/images/fish tank.JPG

[ScottoMacD]

Here you go doxponygirl

I reposted the pictures above for you.

[nboylie]

I don't know anyone who has had positive things to say about the fish

I have one thing, they are frickin beautiful fish!

[ChilDawg]

I'm not sure that I've heard anyone ever disagree with that part, nboylie! :D

[doxponygirl]

WoW!!! Scotto, those are beautiful fish!! Now if I could just have a couple of them!!!! Now I am on the lfs hunt for some in my tank!!!:cool:

[ChilDawg]

Dox, do read the rest of the thread if you haven't already...(Not meant to be insulting, but one should know the entire story on these fish if you haven't already.)

Also, know that, here in Illinois, we'll pay a pretty penny for a very non-hardy fish. If it is worth it to you, though, then go for it!!!

BTW, where in Illinois are you?

[doxponygirl]

In a town called Mt.Vernon

[UrMyBoyBLUE]

I've had my Blue for a year and a half closer to 2 years. He is the strongest fish in my tank. May be a bit of a wuss sometimes but when all my other fish had gotten mouth fungus(rainbow cichlid, blue convict, kribensis, tiger barb,etc...) he was fine and with all the medication i used to clear the fungus he wasn't even fazed. I have also had severe ph drops and fluctuations and he just swims around as if everything is fine(begging for food as an oscar would). So all the tails of them being WEAKER is just like any other fish. You get a good one or a bad one. All depends on conditions of shipping LFS tanks etc... I say get one. I love mine to death. He's the most beautiful fish i've seen

[N8DOGG]

I plan one trying to breed them with some regulars and make a stronger strain. It's a 3 year experiment assuming that I get them to breed that is.

Well thats how you have to breed them. If you breed blue to blue you won't get any fry that are healthy enough to live. You need to breed blue with a regular and then take that fry and breed it back to the blue and then you will ony get 25% blue.

If you want to order online tangledupincichlids has them the smaller ones were $15 but you do need a min of $50 and then there is shipping but if you wanted a lot then this would work.

[AikidoGuy]

I posted a pic on the Aquamojo.com message boards photo gallery of a huge blue jack dempsey that was at the NJAS fish show in September. Not only was their one but their were two over 6". The larger at 8" was BEAUTIFUL and very active.