Any african cichlids go well with a Jack Dempsey

Yoemen

Yoemen

In Boogeyman's closet
Nov 2, 2005
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Galveston
I am looking for a cichlid to keep my JD company in the 55. Well, actually it is between another cichlid and a rainbow shark. I would probably go with a convict or a severum, except all the ones I have found for sail would probably be mistaken for feeder fish by him. One of the LFS' near me has some beautiful african cichlids that will grow to his size or just a little smaller.

Electric Yellow Labido, bumblebee cichlid, or something called a Kenya cichlid which I haven't found much about and they had no sticker indicating size. Also had some cobalt blues, but again all appeared too small.

Any recommendations. I have pretty hard water.
 
you cant put any africans with a dempsey because they are alot faster and more skitish and then the dempsey will prolly just swollow them whole. other than that water conditions are completely differant
 
hmm

I would like to see a jack dempsey swallow a EYL or a bumblebee cichlid whole they get around 8 inches and most Jacks top out at 9.
 
African Cichlids require completely different water conditions to South and Central American Cichlids and it would be very cruel to put them together. Also one of your fish would not live very long due to this and you will be very dissapointed. Its best to keep American Cichlids with others from their own region or decent sized "community" fish such as larger barbs or characins.
Also to be honest you're pretty much stocked up with a JD in a 55g. The only thing I would suggest is some dither fish to make him feel more secure in his environment, perhaps some Giant Danios or large Barbs.
 
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JD's can be kept in a wide temp range and between a ph of 6.5 and 8.0 so really the hardness is the main factor otherwise you could try it. I would not recommend it but it is possible. I have seen dempseys in harder water before and africans in softer water before they are not really picky and very hearty fish as long as the water changes are maintained and the water parameters are steady.
 
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The kenyi and bumblebee will likely be more aggressive than your dempsey, they can get nasty. My dempseys were always chill anyway and all my africans are busy all day, so they may stress him out too. Chances are your dempsey will grow faster anyway and be able to eat the africans at some time. Not many african cichlids get to 8 inches like you said either, maybe the bumblebee but doubtful.

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IMO You should go with a keyhold cichlid or an blue acara, same temperment and water requirements.
 
DeRo316 said:
The kenyi and bumblebee will likely be more aggressive than your dempsey, they can get nasty. My dempseys were always chill anyway and all my africans are busy all day, so they may stress him out too. Chances are your dempsey will grow faster anyway and be able to eat the africans at some time. Not many african cichlids get to 8 inches like you said either, maybe the bumblebee but doubtful.

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IMO You should go with a keyhold cichlid or an blue acara, same temperment and water requirements.
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I have a bumblebee, 2 kenyi and a Texas cichlid with my JD and they're all doing fine in my 55g
 
Yoemen said:
I am looking for a cichlid to keep my JD company in the 55. Well, actually it is between another cichlid and a rainbow shark. I would probably go with a convict or a severum, except all the ones I have found for sail would probably be mistaken for feeder fish by him. One of the LFS' near me has some beautiful african cichlids that will grow to his size or just a little smaller.

Electric Yellow Labido, bumblebee cichlid, or something called a Kenya cichlid which I haven't found much about and they had no sticker indicating size. Also had some cobalt blues, but again all appeared too small.

Any recommendations. I have pretty hard water.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t put any mbuna with a JD, they have different dietary needs and a diet too high in protein can lead to Malawi bloat in mbuna. Also all rift cichlids will need hard water. jewel cichlids or paratilapia might work , basically any of the African river cchlids but a 55 isn’t big enough for a JD with another territorial cichlid. You’re going to have aggression issues in the long run. The JD is also going to max out your bio load in a 55. I would keep the JD solo i tank that size.
 
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