56 g Jack Dempsey tankmates

[hipp89]

I always wanted a Jack Dempsey
what else will go with it in 56 g tank
Pleco?
Red Devil?

[hipp89]

I would like at least 3 fish and 1 pleco if possible

[hipp89]

looking to change set up soon
I have 3 golden killie fish
4 albino cories
4 blood fin tetras
2 cherry barbs
2 gold barbs
1--- 5'' pleco

[hipp89]

what fish combo for Jack Dempsey ?
what kind of rock / plant set up is good with your suggested fish combo ?

[Tophat665]

All my reading suggests that a Jack is going to be the only fish in a 55, either because it will eventually grow to need the whole tank or because it will kill anything in there with it that doesn't kill it first.

Were I doing it, starting with a 2" jack, I'd put in a trio of swordtails, and expect him to eventually kill them, but not before growing fat on their fry.

[Tophat665]

Incidentally, with twice the tank, you would have some more options, but not in a 55.

[hipp89]

please somebody help me find tankmates for Jack Dempsey
I originally wanted cichlid tank but got talked out of it

[Tophat665]

That's the point, in a 55 there are no tankmates for a Jack. They will claim the whole tank themselves. You need twice that much tank before putting other fish in with a Jack.

Like I said, you could put in some livebearers, but you shouldn't expect them to live very long.

[ChiaJesus]

I agree with Tophat. JD's get pretty big and a 55 is "just large enough." Maybe a single bristlenose pleco, or a couple of silver dollars.

[lucy42083]

As the other posters have said, a 55G is really only big enough for a Jack by itself. Not enough territory left for any other fish to survive in there - perhaps a single bottom dweller like a bristlenose pleco would work. As someone else suggested, if you get the Jack really small and want to keep some small fish in there with him for a little while, that could work for a couple months until he eats them all, but don't do that if you're going to get attached to the little fish.

[krytan]

I agree, a 55g with a JD in it would have to be a single fish only tank.

[nano cichlids]

ahh more jack Dempsey questions i couldn't be happier.... first for a 55 you can house two juvenile Jacks. now i keep tow full grown jack in a 55 and Ive run into a lot of problems until i recently decied to move the large F0 pair to a 75 gallon. as far as tanks mates your size tank is just to small for anything but a single jack and a pleco

[Tophat665]

Why Jacks, anyway? There's a panoply of Cichlids that will work as the anchor of a 55 gallon community. How about Firemouths, Flag Acaras, Festivums, Port Acaras, Keyholes, Convicts (not much of acommunity fish, that, but you could have a bunch of them, and you would if you got a male and a female in there.), Rainbow cichlids (Herotilapia mulitspinosa), Blue Acara, Angelfish, Apistos of various sorts, and that's just South and Central America. Then there are Kribs from Africa that take the same sort of water as American Cichlids, and then the whole Rift Lake thing.

[nano cichlids]

well i was just giving my opinion based on what he wanted i can suggest a ton of cichlids that will thrive in a 55 gallon Acara, are one of my favorites

[Tophat665]

No worries. I had alreay registered my opinion earlier, so my comment was to the OP, not you, there, Nanofish.

Yo, Hipp89, what do you figure? A solo Jack or maybe repoint your tank with some other sort of Cichlid that will work in a community as your centerpiece?

[DISCIPLE]

i agree with the above posters. i have a jack in with 20 cichlids but they are in 120g and it makes a world of difference. that 55 means what goes in with him will be ate or killed. why not do a cichlid tank w a red jewel?

[nano cichlids]

No worries. I had alreay registered my opinion earlier, so my comment was to the OP, not you, there, Nanofish.

Yo, Hipp89, what do you figure? A solo Jack or maybe repoint your tank with some other sort of Cichlid that will work in a community as your centerpiece?

thank you for clearing that up.
now if your truly want a jack Dempsey you can only have 1 in a 55. but you could always try something else and who know you might like what you see