# Jack Dempsey Profile



## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

this is more a story then a profile page. i took this off my personal website.
a lengthy discussion on my knowledge of jacks over the years and years of keeping them. i have all the information and sections highlighted and at the end some FAQ's that some of you might have. enjoy...

*The Jack Dempsey. 
*So named after the great boxer for its rough and tumble attitude. However, the JD is quite different then just a linear aggressive fish. This fish is mysterious and often falls in the rhelm of shy, aggressive, passive, down right hostile to community. In short, the JD is a fish that isnt always so easily characterized by its name.
Many owners of JD's often become frustrated at their shy attitude and seemingly slow growth rate. I have seen juvenilles electric blue JD's sell for $60 and have heard stories of people falling in love with the fish at first site only to become frustrated with their purchase after they see their JD doing nothing what so ever. Its true, the dempsey can be a challenge for the impatient hobbyist. But for those of us who know the fish inside and out, and who have experienced many different specimens of the species, we know that the rewards are there.
To start out, if your a new owner of a JD, this page is worth your while to browse over. I will express my own personal experiences with this fish and the differences in the many JD's I have had. I will express tips and tricks to promoting a natural behavior, to elimate aggression between fish and to turn your shy JD into an outgoing and active one.










When I first purchased my origonal JD I wasnt sure what to expect. Ive done my fair share of research on the web and read a lot of books and articles on the fish. Naturally I came across more reads that expressed the JD as a hostile fish, one to keep alone or with larger cichlids. I expected the typical JD would be down right mad when I made the purchase. After dropping a meere $3.99 on my first juvenille dempsey, I took him back home to his 30 gallon tank. To my surprise, he was quite the opposite of anything hostile or aggressive. In fact, I rarely saw him! He hid most hours of the day, would only swoop up to eat floating food and emidiately go back into his cave I had made for him.
Fortunately for me I loved the fish so much that none of this bothered me. And then months passed by. He grew in size but barely. Compared to my oscars half his age he was still a very small size, and still he was a very inactive fish. Well I decided to experiment with my dempsey and tried a few things over the next several months and years of owning these lovely fish.
It appeared to me that these fish are very suitable for many different tank set ups and tank mates with the right care. I decided to play trial and error with a few more I had purchased and see just what made the Jack Dempsey tick.
Its obvious why so many of these fish make their way back into pet shops after experiencing the hype surrounding them and then actually experiencing the fish itself. So obviously, the lesson is not to believe everything you read, but learn what you can from it and form your own opinion. Read down and I will discuss from tank set up to diet, what your JD needs to thrive. I will also dedicate a problem solving section to help with any issues regarding your dempsey.









* HOUSING/SIZE
*
Typically, your JD will reach a size of 8-10 inches. Normally you will find the largest JD's will be around this size, but reports of them nearing a foot in length are true. This is an exception however and I would expect yours to reach a typical size.
As stated above, they are slow growers. Normally we find JD's in pet shops selling at around the size of 2-3 inches in length. This is a pretty typical starting size for many with their fish. The trouble is, many people look at the dempsey like the oscars cousin and expect it to blow up in size over night like an oscar might. They see its a cichlid and assume it will have all the typical traits of one. While it is definately a cichlid at heart, it is definately no quick grower!
Typically a JD will grow about an inch every 2-3 month at a steady rate until it max's out in size. Doing the math we can assume a full grown adult it at least 2+ years of age.
On the same subject, an oscar from fry to a foot can happen in around one year! Quite a difference indeed.
The trick with raising a Jack Dempsey is simple. Diet and stress. Keep the diet up and keep the stress down. The first thing I speak of with any fish is variety! The more wide of a diet the more nutrients and minerals the fish will intake and the less he will be subjected to a staple diet of one or a few things. The trick is the same with almost any cichlid. If at first he doesn't eat, try again.

* Diet
* The nice part about JD's is their diet will not be very specific. From juvenille sizes to adult sizes they will relish the same foods.
I recommend feeding your fry/juvenille JD's a mixture of flake foods, small pellets, brine shrimp (alive or frozen), blood worms and beef heart.
When the JD's grow into a subadult size of around 4-5 inches I recomend the same diet only now you can add the treats like silver sides and krill. Feeding your JD will be simple with the last sentence above. You can try anything at least once, and chances are your JD will eventually pick up on it and start to eat.
Of course I must state that live foods should be left alone. If you do so choose to feed them live foods aside from brine shrimp, I would always recommend a quarentine tank to ensure your not introducing sick or parasitic fish into your JD's diet. This is a must and until you loose a fish from a bad feeder its hard to appreciate why so many hobbyists nay say against live feeders.

As you can see, its pretty simple. Variety is huge! Not only will it promote your slow growing Jack to grow a little faster and certainly be healthier, but you'll notice a dramatic effect on his coloration and behavior. Remember, a healthy fish is not only able to ward off disease and parasite better, but it will also act and look more natural then ever before! So it makes no sense to cut corners with diet. Cut corners with decorations, cut corners with that glass lid for the tank, cut corners with the tank stand...but the diet, never cut corners on!

* Tank Size
* I'll cut to the chase right away here. The Jack Dempsey is not a fast grower. You can house one comfortably in a smaller tank for some time and take your time upgrading in a few months. However, what we're here to discuss is what he needs, not what you can get away with. For a single JD specimen I recommend no less than a 30 gallon tank.
I have housed many of mine in 30's for life and they are wonderfully healthy fish. But I am taking into account that they are the lone fish in the tank and have no territorial disputes, no space to be shared and have a diet all to themselves.
This is where its tricky and I will discuss it more on the behavior section of this board. Jack Dempseys need to be felt out!!! If your JD is pale in color, stress or ultra aggressive, sometimes the simplest trick is to relocate to a slightly bigger tank or eliminate tank mates. On that same note, I would not even think about a tank mate unless you have at least a 55-75 gallon tank. But I will cover that in more detail on the Behavior section.

So...
A 30 gallon tank for one Dempsey will do.
For a pair of JD's its hard to say. If they get along just fine, a 55 may be just fine. If they are semi-aggressive towards each other you might want to consider a 90+ gallon tank. And of course if they are down right hostile towards each other, sepperate them. The one fish a JD seems to habitually hate more than any other its another JD. I will explain this more later on.
They are fairly easy to keep as they are generally less active then some other cichlids, but as stated above "feel them out". If your fish does indeed seem to need a bit more than what a 30 gallon can offer, definately upgrade. But my rule is no less.

this is a bare tank. you can see how obviously a semi-shy fish might not be well suited for it. as oppose to the following picture which shows just how not only a JD tank should look, but how much more lovely your aquarium will be if done correctly...

*Dealing with aggression
*

Mean tempered JD's will generally either demand much more room or a tank to itself. The best way to deal with a mean jack dempsey is to try a few things before resorting to any dramatic steps. For those of you out there who have a JD bullying other tank mates, obviously ensure that the tank itself is of suitable size for all the inhabitants. Remember from the JACK DEMPSEY page that I recommend NO LESS then a 30 gallon tank for a single dempsey specimen. So with tank mates in mind I would assume your dealing with a 55+ gallon tank assuming the other inhabitants are smaller or like sized fish.
To tame a JD's behavior you can simply try to add decor to the tank such as clay pots, planted sections (which rarely work for long with cichlids) or any other heavily decorated areas. What this does is quite fascinating. It allows the fish to set up micro-territories in the tank instead of combating for the entire tank itself. A fish will focus its territory on a cave or clay pot rather than its half of the tank.

For aggressive JD's this will work wonders for the other fish. This is a really nice method of eliminating over the top fighting without eliminating the fish.

If all else fails however and your JD is content on driving the other tank mates to injuries or death, you must seperate it! You'll have to swallow your pride and except that the fish needs either a much larger tank or a tank to itself all together. In any case, use your head and be attentive with an aggressive fish of any species thats sharing its home.

* Dealing with shyness 
*

Yes its true, JD's have a reputation for being mean, hostile fish. But as we all know, reputations are a broad and sometimes vague description. In my personal experience, agreeive JD's make up about half of the entire jack dempsey population. What does this mean? Well in my opinion, about half of all JD's you find will be passive, timid fish that want nothing to do with the spotlight and everything to do with a heavily planted or covered area of the tank. For many first time buyers this can be quite a challenge when wondering what all the articles recently read were about. The fish itself is completely opposite of what many claim.

However, its really a matter of atmosphere. Many fish in the cichlid family are slaves to their environment. This means that a loner specimen will act much differently is placed into a tank of like sized fish. Of course most fish act somewhat different in any change of condition, but the jack dempsey is particularly dramatic when changing up tanks.

None the less, your jack dempsey might frustrate you with its mellow attitude and passive behavior. You may find you never see it and may have a hard time feeding him and over all enjoying him. Its a shame for many who fall out of love with the JD because of this. Its my opinion that even the shy ones can be awesome display fish if given some time and patience.

* Tips/Tricks
* As stated with the overly aggressive JD, the same holds true for the non aggressive JD. Add decoration. You'll find the more places a fish has to hide the more secure it will feel, and the more secure a fish feels the less it will actually hide. Many people try the exact opposite of this and leave the fish alone in a bare tank or a tank with almost no places to hide. This is no recommended due to the stress the fish will be subjected to. Imagine if for a moment you are scared to death of the world outside you and you are left in an all glass house with no decorations or places to rest out of sight. Obviously your health might suffer and certainly your behavior would. Then when given the chance to have decoration again you would probably never be seen again.

The trick is to reverse your thinking. Instead of taking away that "damn cave" the fish always hides in, try adding more to it. Add some bog wood and some floating plants. A few things here and there and really promote the natural feel of the tank so the fish can feel more at home. After a few days or weeks you'll notice a dramatic difference in your fishes behavior, actions, and appearance. The happier a fish the better all around for the owner and the animal. A stressed jack dempsey will be pale in color, poor in appetite and extremely passive and frantic in behavior.

Another trick is to add lesser fish into the tank. Dither fish as they're called. Adding something like a convict, a firemouth or even danios will promote the jack dempsey to interact with the tank mates and might turn him from shy to playful. Stick with smaller fish for the first try however, because if you add another JD or an oscar or red devil or another larger american cichlid, the JD may end up being victimized or killed. Slowly acclimate the fish to interacting with the other fish. And of course as always, be attentive. Some shy specimens I have had have turned from timid to typical bully in the first 24 hours of adding fish. As happy as I was in some ways I was also burdened with now giving the dither fish back.

As you can see theres many things you can do different. One thing you should do with any fish is spend enough time outside the tank so the fish becomes used to you. In other words, do what you should do with a fish! Watch him, feed him, care for him. Spend enough time so your fish associates you with food/care if you will. In no time your shy and timid fish you rarely see will be a beautiful full grown display fish for everyone to see!

*FREQUENTLY ASKED Q's
*
Q: Why does my Jack seem hide all the time?
A: Jacks can be shy. First thing you want to do is ensure the Jack is not getting bullied by a tank mate. Once you know its the Jack himself thats just shy you shouldnt worry. Jacks hide quite a lot, even the more outgoing ones.

Q: How do I get my Jacks to grow faster?
A: Diet! Not quantity, but quality! Diverse diets are leaps and bounds better then pellets diets or feeder fish diets. Silver sides, krill, brine shrimp, flakes and pellets should all find their way at one time or another into your Jacks diet. Diverse food = quicker growth and better colors AND better behavior! Next to a tank, diet is everything!

Q: One Jack is beating up the other one!
A: Separate! You can try adding decorations and other fish like barbs to get attention off the victimized JD, but unless you cant afford a major tank upgrade you need to swallow your pride and separate the fish before one gets seriously injured.
Careful though! Jacks play hard. Don't panic if it's just a once in awhile event. A bullied fish will be noticeably inactive, wounded or not himself.

Q: How big will my JD get?
A: 8-10 inches. Dont hold your breath, they grow slow.

Q: One Jack is growing and the other is not. What do I do?!
A: Nothing so long as both are eating. Jacks are diverse fish. Very diverse. Some grow faster, some slower. Unless it is dramatic no action needs be taken. Make sure both are eating relatively equal amounts and one is not bullied upon. I have personally had Jacks that grew very differently. The only things you can do is continue to care for them. Keep the diet diverse and the water clean.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

i just added a massive cave system for my JD

hes been hogging the one piece of shelter he had and i figured it was time to change some things. sorry no pics

but i bought some slate rocks and made a three cave system for him. he now can dart in and out all over the tank. ironically, hes less shy as always happens with timid fish. the more places to hide the less he actually hides. needless to say also the tank looks like a million bucks


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