New Blue Jacks

[Cypherman]

Ordered a trio of blue jack dempseys from Aquascapeonline.com this evening and I am quite excited :D Should arrive tomorrow morning, cant wait to see em since i get offa work early. Any pearls of wisdom you guys can offer me? I hear they're real wussy and aquascape was telling me how he keeps them with discus and angels, but do you guys think they would be outclassed by the trio of normal dempseys (slightly smaller) I have now? I'm hoping to breed them once they get some size and I have an extremely large tank relative to their size (75 gallons). I'll try to get pics asap.

[peifc]

That was the same information I got on the web. I would love to get one from Jeff Rapps. I would love to find out a bit more information on Blue Dempsey too.

[latazyo]

you have 6 jack dempseys in a 75g tank??????????????

[Cypherman]

I will have six two inch jack dempseys in a 75 gallon tank, yes :rolleyes:

[latazyo]

well....mine went from 2 inches to about 4 inches in a month, so have fun

nice roll eyes too, did you actually do that yourself?

[optix]

Oh so you're saying those jacks wont grow past 2" I see, I guess you're ok then.......for a couple months :D. Jacks aren't that aggressive, but thats one hell of a bio load you are going to be dealing with. And I know they aren't that aggressive but they are aggressive enough to kick somebodys *** with 6 10" fish running around in that small of a space.

[DarthV]

Well since JDs grow slowly and the blues even more so, he should be alright for a while. People stock african mbuna tanks with 18-24 fish in that size tank..and they get up to 6" long... so as long as he has some serious filtration and cleaning regiment, all shoul dbe good. (well for a year or so)

[Cypherman]

Originally posted by optix
Oh so you're saying those jacks wont grow past 2" I see, I guess you're ok then.......for a couple months :D. Jacks aren't that aggressive, but thats one hell of a bio load you are going to be dealing with. And I know they aren't that aggressive but they are aggressive enough to kick somebodys *** with 6 10" fish running around in that small of a space.

I am well aware of the fact that they grow past two inches, thank you. Hasnt anyone ever heard of a GROW-OUT TANK before? What I'm doing is buying six so I can get one or two pairs and then I'm removing the rest.

"nice roll eyes too, did you actually do that yourself?"

As a matter of fact I did.....twice now. :rolleyes: I admit I should have made that clearer from the start that I was not keeping all six, but I figured that was self-evident. I am no newbie to cichlids either ;)

[scott]

What is this gang up on cypherman? I think people on this forum need to give people a break sometimes. I mean give them a chance to explain themselves, no need for the insults. Now if they have had a chance and are still reckless thats another story. This guy is just excited he got some new fish. BTW I have six two inch festae in a 150, anyone want to comment? They get to be 14-16 inches+. Think I am keeping them all?

I have heard of a grow out tank.

Anyway, cypherman, there is some good info on the blue jacks at aquamojo.com. Apparently to breed them they have to be bred with a standard dempsey. They are also frequented with gill flukes and the consensus is the fish should be quarantined and treated for flukes, regardless of showing symptoms or not, before being added to the main tank. HTH Good luck with your new fish.

On a side note my JD went from 2-4 inches in a month and then took another 8 months to hit six, all of the time hanging out in a cave.

[peifc]

So...Scott...are you saying the Blue Dempsey will be ok with the Standard Dempsey? I heard that the BD isn't as aggressive as the standard JD. I would love to get one.

[AikidoGuy]

Originally posted by peifc
That was the same information I got on the web. I would love to get one from Jeff Rapps. I would love to find out a bit more information on Blue Dempsey too.

Most of the sources that are selling the blue dempsey get them from Jeff. Im pretty positive hes the sole importer and breeder of them. Ive seen his stock and he has som e large blue dempseys that look amazing.

Yes they are the same Jack dempey as the common but the blues for some reaon or another are not as aggressive and should not be kept with the same type of tankmates as the common ones are. I was just at a seminar and presentation about central and South American cichlids and the question of the Blue Dempsey of course came up. it was confirmed that DNA testing has been done and proven that the blue dempsey and the common are the exact same species and both can be spawed by the same parents.

[peifc]

Originally posted by AikidoGuy


Most of the sources that are selling the blue dempsey get them from Jeff. Im pretty positive hes the sole importer and breeder of them .

Shoot...I think I'm addicted to Cichlids. I guess Jeff Rapps is right...sure is tangling up in Cichlids :p

I think I need to save up money like crazy to get more tanks to have more cool fish from Rapps.

[latazyo]

the tone in your post surely doesn't indicate that you are not a newbie, and you made no suggestion that this was only a grow out tank...forgive me for trying to help you avoid a similar situation that I ran into... :beer:

PS: good choice with the fish though...one of my fave FW fish

[Cypherman]

Yes, you are correct latazyo, and I also apologize for being so sarcastic and rude :D

I talked with Aquascapeco before buying them and he did confirm that they were much more mild (he told me he keeps them with discus and angels). He said they werent any less delicate in his opinion however. By the way I highly recommend aquascapeonline.com. I made the order just last evening and got my fish by way of AirborneExpress just this morning. They're very active but cautious and good sized too. Kinda pearly white with thick black squiggles with blue highlights to the back, head, and fins. They even ate some New Life Spectrum immediately. Pics soon; I just want to stare at them for awhile :p