Help with Jack Dempsey

joycerino

joycerino

That tank would look great in the..
Aug 16, 2006
66
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Sacramento, CA
2 days ago, I bought a Jack Dempsey breeding pair (Male: 7-8", female 5"). They live alone together in a large hexagon tank. My problem is this; they refuse to eat the floating Hikari pellets that I got for them. I'm not sure whether they just don't see it all the way at the top of the hex tank (its about 3 ft tall & the JDs seem to stay hidden all of the rocks in the lower half of the tank), or they just aren't interested in pellet food. Any advise on how to get these two interested in food? Thanks.
 
The person you bought them from probably didn't feed them the same food. My JD is kinda picky about what he eats and he hasn't even had time to develop real preferences yet. Could you contact the seller and find out what he/she fed them? Keeping the food the same would be the best option, but to be honest, I doubt if they will let themselves starve to death just because they aren't used to the Hikari Pellet. But it can't hurt to try something else. --also, keep in mind they are probably still stressed from the move and will more than likely feel better soon and start to eat--
 
I asked the kid at the LFS about their diet, he said they were fed strictly pellets, and the only cichlid pellets they carried were Hikari, so perhaps I wrongly assumed that its what they ate. Does yours come out of hiding or near the surface much? Since mine's been home he hasn't strayed more than a foot or two away from the rocks.
 
fish are easily stressed by a change in environment. your fish have been moved to a new tank, with different water chemistry, different rocks and etc. give them at least a week for them to become more secure ... it's not at all unusual for fish to stop eating after a significant move. also consider adding some dither fish which will help alot.
 
would dither fish interrupt their breeding? also, what type of fish make good dither fish for JDs (they don't seem all that fast).
 
My JD is kinda shy, he comes out to play and eat at night, but stays in a cave or somewhat hidden in the plants most of the day. It works out for me because at night is when I have the most time to sit down and watch them. My one regret is that I don't have another 50 gallons to work with, if I did, I would definitely add some dither fish like the Silver Dollars to give people things to look at when they come to my house. Most of the time, my fish are hidden when someone wants to look at them. If I had a small school of something, at least they could see some fish. Silver Dollars are fast enough to escape full grown cichlids and usually get enough size to make them interesting to look at.
 
dither fish will not stop any spawning process and in fact, may help to stimulate it. dither fish can include any fish which are schooling and quick. not small tetras as they 'may' be eaten. cherry barbs, rasbora or other similar.

open-water schooling species such as characoids and cyprinids are the traditional dither fish, but others (seen in the attached article) also work.

http://cichlidae.com/article.php?id=42#table 1
 
Well the problem with my tank isn't the size, its the shape. Since it's a 75 gal. hexagon, the JDs stay in their caves, and the tank looks empty all the time. I haven't seen either of the JDs come within a 2 feet of the surface. 've heard that stacking rock higher may give them the sense of security so they'll come closer to the surface. The problem is that they are new to the tank and I don't want to force anymore stress upon them at this point. So are there any decent dither fish that stay near the top, as to keep them mosty out of the way of the JDs?
 
i'm not sure if you saw my earlier reply, but Silver Dollars would be a good fit for you. The only downfall is that they get stressed out if not kept in schools of at least 4. something to consider at least.
 
dempseys are, as i'm sure you know, cichlids. cichlids do not "come to the top" ... they are bottom dwelling cichlids and your concern for their not coming to the surface to feed is misplaced. feed them sinking pellets.

your 75 hex is not empty. two mature JD's more than fill it and moreover, the fact that it's a hex and thus has less surface area then a standard 75 serves to decrease it's functional size.
 
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