# Anyone owned Jack demsey before



## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I am thinking of buying a male 8 inch jack demsey cichlid. He is absolutely stunning. I have read they are extremely aggresive. Heres my setup for him:
55 gallon aquarium with 70 gallon filter system and a 10 gallon internal filter system. The tank has sand for substrate, fake plants, drift wood and a few caves. My question is can he live with two pictus catfish and a senigel bichir. The senigel is 5 inches long and the pictus are about 3 inches long. I dont want them to become lunch. I have been doing alot of research and am geting mixed messages on what they can go in with.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

The JD will eat the pimcats.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

ok I moved the pictus in the 90 gallon. So there will be just the senigel bichir and the Jack demsey. I am so glad I asked. I would have been in tears if anything happened to my catfish. I am going to keep a close eye on my senigel when I add the cichlid. I dont want it to think hese a worm and suck him up. He does have a cave he can hide in. I Just measured him and hese only 3 and a half inches long and maybe half an inch wide. The cichlid is suppost to be between 7-8 inches long.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

IME, That size of a Jack will make a quick meal out of that Sin.....and if not the poor little guy will die a sad, scared, beat up life until he finally dies. 

So....that being said,....I wouldn't do it.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

Could I temporarily house my senigel in a 46 gallon bowfront until he gets bigger and then put him in with the JD, if so how big does he need to be before I can put him in.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

IMPE, JDs destroy everything and everyone in their path. If you have nice plants, they will dig them up. If you have fish, they will eat them. If you have a nice tank setup, they will reduce it to a mess. JDs have to be kept in basically bare tanks, they dig and pick up ornaments and rocks.

They are very beautiful though


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> IMPE, JDs destroy everything and everyone in their path. If you have nice plants, they will dig them up. If you have fish, they will eat them. If you have a nice tank setup, they will reduce it to a mess. JDs have to be kept in basically bare tanks, they dig and pick up ornaments and rocks.
> 
> They are very beautiful though


Yep EXACTLY!!:wink:

Jacks are jerks to the core. And ESPECALLY with the size that this one is he is already going to be use to getting his way!!:wacko:


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

Ok, its a done deal I am geting him, I am going to remove the slate and some of the decore. I dont want him smashing the tank. Can the senigel live with african cichlids in a 90 gallon. There are a tone of caves. Its a mbune tank or will he get harassed.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

African Cichlids will harass any fish that isn't currently in the tank. Adding new fish is a hard process. Some fish work immediately while others don't. I think it has more to do with the individual fish than the actually species. Most of my African Chilids are adults, they don't bother any small fish I add to the tank. Another adult fish will be dead before morning. 

My JD has a really strong bite. She is always really moody at times without reason. Mines is currently about 13 inches. Really pretty. I'll get a picture but she has never let me take one before.


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

Think about it this way: Jack Dempsey's common names come from the boxer Jack Dempsey. They are bastard coated bastards with bastard filling. . . 

I personally would not add a Sen to a Mbuna tank, most of them are very territorial and they are quick and strong. Sens are fairly slow moving, not so intelligent and have poor eye sight. They will not learn to stay out of the territories and will likely not get much to eat as the African's will quickly dart to get the food while the Sen is still looking. I had mine in with some loaches and some scissor tail rasboras, I had to target feed him with a turkey baster to make sure that he got enough food because the others were so fast and food aggressive.



Evangeline said:


> Could I temporarily house my senigel in a 46 gallon bowfront until he gets bigger and then put him in with the JD, if so how big does he need to be before I can put him in.


IMO he will NEVER be big enough. It took my Sen four years to reach 8 inches, he was a male so would get bigger, his tank got 50% water changes every week and was lightly stocked (making him grow faster with all of the micro nutrients readded to the tank), he was treated for parasites from day two, he was on a rotation diet of Hikari Carnivore pellets, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen krill, live black worms, live tubifex worms, spirulina brine shrimp, and occasionally beef heart. In other words all conditions were perfect for increased growth and it still took him four years, he grew much faster than the one that ScarlettO picked up at the same time as me (from the same shipping bag), and we have been debating about why/how for years now. Still, it is slow compared to other fish. Also, the full size of a Sen is about 10-12inches, the only one I know of, from all the forums I am on, that actually hit 12" was 15 years old before it did. That being said, even a hypothetical 15inch sen could not stand up to a full grown JD, mainly for all of the reasons I mentioned above, they are not intelligent, don't see well and are not fast movers.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

Thankyou for the info. I put my senigel in my 46 gallon. He is quite happy. I will worry about a bigger tank for him when the time comes. I noticed he cant see very well I put the food right in front of him and he gobbles it up. I have to say he is one of my favorite fish I have owned. So the 55 gallon is going to be just for the Jack demsey. I am so excited I pick him up on Sunday. Do JD bite and if so how hard, when I am cleaning the tank or do I have to worry about that. I use to own a 7 inch blood parrot cichlid. She was always laying eggs and when I would vacume the tank she would charge my hand and bite a few times she drew blood. I remember when I sold her to a fish expert and he told me BPC cant bite well lets just say he found out the hard way.LOL
Here is a pic of the JD I am geting http://kingston.kijiji.ca/c-ViewAdLargeImage?AdId=359887683 Do you think its a male or female and do you think he is full grown. The guy says he bought it this size less then a year ago and is not sure of its age.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

Evangeline said:


> Thankyou for the info. I put my senigel in my 46 gallon. He is quite happy. I will worry about a bigger tank for him when the time comes. I noticed he cant see very well I put the food right in front of him and he gobbles it up. I have to say he is one of my favorite fish I have owned. So the 55 gallon is going to be just for the Jack demsey. I am so excited I pick him up on Sunday. Do JD bite and if so how hard, when I am cleaning the tank or do I have to worry about that. I use to own a 7 inch blood parrot cichlid. She was always laying eggs and when I would vacume the tank she would charge my hand and bite a few times she drew blood. I remember when I sold her to a fish expert and he told me BPC cant bite well lets just say he found out the hard way.LOL.
> Here is a pic of the JD I am geting Jack Dempsey Fish (SOLD PENDING)


Those JD's are really pretty fish. 

I was under the understanding that senigel had a great sense of smell so I doubt they would have any problems finding food. I personally have never owned any.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

My senigel smells the food as soon as it hits the water but his eye site is so poor that the other fish get the food before him unless I put the food right in front of him.


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

Exactly, they can really smell it but finding it afterward . . . that is a problem. Mine would run into the driftwood, the walls, everything. . .


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