View Full Version : Jaguars
PumaWard
11-11-2003, 10:45 AM
My brother and I cleared out most of our old fish in our 75 gallon and decided to go with C.A. cichlids. Right now, we have two female convicts (one will be traded in for a male), and we have about a 4 inch juvenile Jaguar cichlid. I believe that it is a male, but I am not 100% sure.
Anyway, I have done much research (before and after purchase) on the jaguar, and no 2 websites say the same thing as far as their maximum size for the fish and minimum tank size so I was hoping some of you might be able to enlighten me. I plan on only having him and 2 convicts, will he be happy in my tank when an adult?
Thanks :)
I think a 75 would be good for him. I would more concerned about the convicts once he gets bigger though.
He will get more aggressive and he will get more territorial. Personally, I wouldn't put any other fish with a Jaguar.
I had two green terrros with ours and had to remove them, he was keeping them in a corner and looked like he was trying to bury them alive. Any time they moved, he got right on them and put them back in the corner. Then he would pick up some rocks and drop them on the terrors.
Mean fishie!
Reiner
11-11-2003, 3:53 PM
If it is a male and the conditions in your tank are good ( food, water quality,...) it might grow to 18 inches which is the with of your tank. I wouldn't keep a Jag in anything smaller then a tank that is 6 feet long and 2 feet wide but that's just me. But you have a few years until it will reach that size if it even gets that big and who knows maybe by then you have a 200 gallon tank.
Nippy
11-11-2003, 10:08 PM
When I got my 1st Jaguar, I was told it would reach 18-24 inches. I scoffed at this because that was "in the wild length." Now that I am more experienced, I realize there is a fine line between "average aquarium length" and "in the wild length." Average aquarium length is okay, but being prepared to have a potential monster is better. With the proper care and housing, they will easily reach their "wild" length and in some cases exceed it (M. zebra usually exceeds its wild length in the home aquarium because of higher food accessibility).
My 2 year old Jaguar is now a 14 inch bathing beauty and it doesn't look like she's stopping there. :)
Dragon_Lord_Tia
11-12-2003, 3:07 AM
ive got 4 jags awsome fish waiting to get a male out of them so ive got about 6 months of fast growing to watch lol
demon_surfer
11-12-2003, 7:24 AM
a 75 is really a little cramped for a full grown jaguar. and because of that will promote extra agressive behaviour. As when it hits maturity you probalby wont find much of your convicts. Though up until then it is more than likely to be pretty timid.
look up some of Mojo's pictures on this website and find some pictures of his Jumbo, that will give you an idea of how massive these fish can get.
PS i LOVE jaguars. *drool*
PumaWard
11-12-2003, 3:31 PM
Thanks for the info guys :). It's good to know that I have a good amount of time to get a larger tank for him. So far, he seems quite content, he begs and pushes the two female cons around.
I realize that this will most likely change he (maybe she), but is it normal for him not to bother the pearl gourami? I'm trying to find them a new home, but how long will this last?
Also, can I feed him like cooked steak? I can't get beef heart real easy around here.
Reiner
11-12-2003, 3:37 PM
I wouldn't feed it steak. In the wild they don't really eat cows either. Feed it some quality pellet food, frozen blood worms, krill, shrimp, regular earth worms chopped into pieces, small crickets also peas, zuchinni and other vegetables won't hurt either if he/she likes it once in a while.
demon_surfer
11-13-2003, 1:53 PM
the jaguar is predatory so try and ensure you get pellets with high protein content. also try out blood worms and beef heart etc.
The gourami will probably be good unless the jaguar decides it might be a tasty treat.
the jag will only really get territorial with other cichlids (your con's)
though there is a chance it will beat the c*ap out of your gourami lol
Tightdog1
11-14-2003, 12:38 AM
anybody ever seen mojos jags.
http://www.aquamojo.com/managuense.html
he got some kool jags. golden morphs too.
PumaWard
11-14-2003, 7:12 AM
Again, thanks for all your help! :)
Well, the jag doesn't seem to like bloodworms, it spit one right back out, go figure, lol.
Now that it's settled in, I think its a female also. I'm going to post a few pics, you guys tell me. I'm going to apologize in advance for the low quality as its a low quality camera I'm using.
Here's 2 pics as of this morning
http://www.villagephotos.com/image.asp?id_=6284318&sessionkey=RAESW
http://www.villagephotos.com/image.asp?id_=6284306&sessionkey=RAESW
One from last night
http://www.villagephotos.com/image.asp?id_=6284317&sessionkey=RAESW
One from yesterday morning
http://www.villagephotos.com/image.asp?id_=6284305&sessionkey=RAESW
Thanks for your help! :)
Dragon_Lord_Tia
11-14-2003, 10:41 PM
dont work for me
PumaWard
11-15-2003, 6:33 AM
Here's one.
PumaWard
11-15-2003, 6:35 AM
Here's another.
Thanks :)
predatorcichlid
11-15-2003, 11:38 AM
The largest jaguar on record is just over 16 inches in total length. The average size for a jagaur in capitivy is 12 to 14 inches. In there native habitat it is uncommon to see them over 12 inches. I have kept and bred jags for more than 16 years. I have also attended more than 100 shows and conventions and have never seen or hear of a jaguar even close to 18 inches. 24 inches is out of the question period. 18 to 24 inch jag are a rumor along with the 3 foot umbee and a 2 foot festae. A 12 inch male jagaur would be considered full adult size by most judges and awarded max point value for size (unless competing against another larger male in the same class).
CichlidBoy
11-15-2003, 6:34 PM
i have one in a 45 and he is fine now but people are sayin that wont be bigg enough and that he will be to agressive with the other fish but i work at a pet store and my boss whom is a guru about fish says that the tank should be fine and i wouldnt see why u would have a problem;) ;) ;) :) :) ;) ;) :p :p
predatorcichlid
11-15-2003, 8:36 PM
A 45 gal tank is too small in both physical size and water volume. You can't keep a 14 inch predator like jaguar in a 12 inch wide tank. A 45 gal tank after you add decor, gravel, and fish might have 30 gal of actual water in it. The BARE min I would recommend keeping a male jaguar in is 75 gal. alone. A better choice would be 125 gal. A powerful line of sight predator can cross a 6 foot tank with a single push of there tail and dominate a 125 with ease. At 4 inches a 45 is ok as a grow out tank. When he reaches 6+ inches those other cichlids are going to be jaguar food.
45 gal is waaaay too small. The poor fish needs room to move!
I can't believe a 'fish guru' would even say that!
Sheesh! :rolleyes:
About that size-thing, I found this at fishbase.
"Max. length 63 cm TL (Ref. 5723)"
(Ref 5723)
"Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991 A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p."
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=4684
63cm = 24.8"
Don't know if it's true though...
Anyhow, I've got a pair of jags in a 100 gallon tank, I've had them for about 1.5 year, they were 2" when I bought them and the male is now 11" and the female 9". Since jags are supposed to get over 10 years old I would be very suprised if the male didn't exceed at least 14" if I managed to keep him alive for that long.
A couple of pics
http://erland.homeip.net/dirgallery/portal?do=loadimage&gallery=9&image=Ciklider:Jaguarciklid:managuense168.jpg
http://erland.homeip.net/dirgallery/portal?do=loadimage&gallery=9&image=Ciklider:Jaguarciklid:managuense174.jpg
Beautiful Pics, Man!
Those look great! Thanks for sharing them.;)
PumaWard
11-16-2003, 8:58 AM
FI76,
The pics you posted back in August of your jags with fry were what got me interested in these fish :). Your fish are so beautiful that I immediatly got jaguar envy.
As far as jaguar's size, I couldn't find length in the IFGA records, but the world record weight was 1 lb. 10 oz., now I don't know about jags, but a 3 lb brook trout is like 18 inches long. So, I really don't think jags get 20 inches long all that often. However, it is completely possible as not every jaguar in the world has been caught, that there maybe a 24inch jaguar swimming around somewhere and he only got to that size because he's too wiley of a fish to get caught.
I found this record posted on 3 different site and they all said the same thing, which would lead me to believe that it is true.
Here's one of the sites:
http://www.get2-costarica.com/ifga_world_records_set_in_costa_.htm
Thanks PumaWard, personally I love jags and it's always nice to hear that someone else is interested in them too. :)
As far as the size goes I think that there may be some huge jags in the wild but I agree that they aren't that common in the aquahobby, I've seen some really big ones on pics but they basically looked like crap and about to die... They were obviously very old.
demon_surfer
11-17-2003, 7:37 AM
for the guy that asked gender. it is a little early to tell but im going to guess at male.
if you want to get pics go to
www.aquamojo.com and look in his gallery he has pics of males and females and you can compare them to yours.
PumaWard
11-17-2003, 9:17 PM
Thanks demon,
That's what I'd figured... but it's hard to tell because not may of the pics look quite like my jag, oh well. (it's girl btw ;) )
optix
11-19-2003, 12:08 PM
Originally posted by Lila Boffins
45 gal is waaaay too small. The poor fish needs room to move!
I can't believe a 'fish guru' would even say that!
Sheesh! :rolleyes:
Obviously not a fish "guru" to say something like that. Maybe a guppy guru but definatly no cichlid guru
Dragon_Lord_Tia
11-19-2003, 11:31 PM
maybe he is a cichlid guru but because were so good he looks stupid lol
Believe me, I'm not happy my jag is sitting in a 65...I know he needs more room, but it's my husband's fish and he keeps shrugging off everything I say about the tank size.
It really annoys me!
Wippit Guud
11-21-2003, 9:37 AM
Come on... you can't compare all jags to Jumbo... obviously Mojo puts him in a microwave for 10 seconds every week, cause he's definitely some sort of radioactive freak...
Disclaimer: This is a joke, please do not microwave fish to promote growlth. (and yes, because of some people on forums, I'm obligated to actually post this disclaimer)
Originally posted by Wippit Guud
Come on... you can't compare all jags to Jumbo... obviously Mojo puts him in a microwave for 10 seconds every week, cause he's definitely some sort of radioactive freak...
LOL! Oh, that was funny!
Wippit Guud
11-21-2003, 10:31 AM
I have my days :)
Nippy
11-22-2003, 12:59 PM
So, if my Akasha starts pushing 15-16 inches, she would be absolutely exceptional! :D
Not that she isn't already. ;)
Dragon_Lord_Tia
11-22-2003, 7:04 PM
EVERYONE THE MICROWAVE THING DOESNT WORK lol