Any schooling fish work good with JD?

Yoemen

Yoemen

In Boogeyman's closet
Nov 2, 2005
765
0
16
Galveston
After scouring the internet and this site, I am gonna watch my tank a little longer, but will then either get a krib or a maybe a severum to keep my JD a little company if he continues to be shy. I have heard adding another midwater fish will help make him more social.

I was thinking some barbs, possibly panda barbs, but am afraid they would end up as lunch for the JD.

I have had some danios suggested, but might go with some larger gouramies.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

55 gallon tank by the by.
 
ur jack will shred any of the fish u suggested up. u could try adding other SA/CA fish in the tank but something like danios and gouramis wouldnt stand a chance in ur tank with the jack.
 
actually giant danios work very well as dithers. theyre very fast. also silver dollars work for me. i have 4 in a 55 with a 7 in flowerhorn
 
Seems the usual dithers are either Tiger Barbs (although some people don't have much luck with them) or as suggested giant danio's, but make sure your tank has a good cover! Some other people use Buenos Aires tetra's with success.

Perhaps a giant gourami, but I fear it would get too big for your tank.
 
hmm

that is why I was thinking of possibly panda barbs. They get a little large and are more elongated then other barbs. Plus, they aren't as agressive to each other.

The other thought was the Sev or the Krib. The sev I think might get a little too big though, and the krib I am afraid might be too small.
 
Hmm, well the pictures of panda barbs I've found they look a little too 'torpedo' shaped, and consequently may be too easy for your JD to snack on at night-time. Especially if he/she's alreday eaten live fish before.

I'd be more inclined to get a deeper bodied schooling fish that gets around the 3" mark.

I wouldn't bother adding either of your other cichlids either, as your JD just needs the security of a school of fish swimming around above him. I have a similar problem with a female FM, and I've just added a school of columbian tetra's this morning before work.


Just another thought, but how old is he/she? Also, have you been away before this as some wet pets do pine?
 
hmm

age wise, I really don't have a clue. He is 5-6 inches in length, pretty streamlined still, maybe 3 inches tall. It is the same fish that is my avatar.

I believe most of his shyness comes from the fact that he was in a tank with larger JDs when I bought him and therefore wasn't the alpha fish in the tank.

I did realize last night after getting back from being gone a couple days with work that when I turned the lights off and laid on the couch where I was basically level with him a few feet away, he was much more active as the cats came out to scour the bottom.

He appears to prefer wisteria to algae wafers by the way.

I probably need to get another picture of him btw, his colors are much more pronounced now.
 
Some JD's apparently just pine away in their 'adolescent' years - I think yours is beyond that so you should be OK on that front.

Now that you mention you've been away for a couple of days, he could have been missing the action in front of his tank. What was his behaviour like before you left?

Good thing he prefers greenery - some people give cichlids feeder fish which can lead to digestive problems.

Just wondering what else you have in your tank? You mention cats...but it sounds like their aren't any mid/top dwelling fish. I still think dither fish are a good idea, although gourami's in my experince don't work too well, but something in the mid-water should work.

Here's a useful thread: Dithers for JD

It's where I'm getting a lot of my cichlid information from
 
I'll co-sign this. Giant Danios are VERY fast fish and they NEVER stop swimming. Just looking at them makes me want to sit down after awhile.
 
I have only had him about a week, that is why I am waiting rather then jumping into it.

I also have 2 featherfin synos and a striped and spotted raph. The featherfins live on opposite sides of the aquarium, the JD has taken up residence in the largest cave on the side with the smaller featherfin and the 2 raphs hang out with everyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom