Meet my New Fish!

[Kalei]

Hey PT Friends! Just about a week ago I bought a new fish. And I love him so much. He is a Jack Demsey Cichlid (I think I spelled it right). And he sure is beautiful, I love all the blue specks all over him. Right now he is a medium size, but he may get very large, up to 8" :eek: And man does he ever like to eat, I have to make sure I feed him lots.

Anyways here are some pics of him:

My favorite pic of him:
http://i16.tinypic.com/4vsp37n.jpg

http://i12.tinypic.com/676t07n.jpg

http://i19.tinypic.com/4qftthe.jpg

I hope you enjoyed:)

[Blue Dragonfly]

wow! what a beautiful fish! My favourite pic is the top one too. it shows of its markings. do u know if it is really a boy or are u just guessing? what is his name?

[Flatcoatluver]

Gorgeus! Jack Demseys make wonderful pets, so full of personality!

[chocolatepuppy]

Oh what a beauty! I love Cichlids! :D

[Kalei]

I'm not really sure if he's a boy, I just figure he is because in fish the boys always have the bright brilliant color and fins and females are usually more dull with less color. Who knows lol, but I named him HeadMaster! :p I like the name:)

[sweetpatata6]

awesome! congrads he's a beauty! The first pic is just like so aamazing i dont even know. lol. you always take such great pics of fishies, and i'm jelous :)

I love his name too!

[Kalei]

lol don't be jealous, sometimes people just have a hard time taking pics of fish. My friend has a way better camera than me and sometimes she even has a hard time getting fish pictures.

My fish just always love being near the front of the tank when I'm around, that could be why its easy to take pics of them, they always look like they are saying "Mommy look at me, I'm skinny(not really) Feed me more!!"

[KittyGurl]

He is beautiful!! I love his marking and the first picture of him. Congrats on the new addition.

[Zippy]

My fish just always love being near the front of the tank when I'm around, that could be why its easy to take pics of them, they always look like they are saying "Mommy look at me, I'm skinny(not really) Feed me more!!"

Mine too :rolleyes: I had to cut down on my bettas food they were getting a little big.Congrats on you new addition.I love cichlids.He is a beauty. :D

[Kalei]

Mine too :rolleyes: I had to cut down on my bettas food they were getting a little big.Congrats on you new addition.I love cichlids.He is a beauty. :D

Thanks very much!:D

[king2005]

Male & female JD look pretty much the same but with 1 difference. Fin shape..

That is a female JD :)

Females have rounded fins & the males come to a point that stretch to the tips of their tails (it the back fin & the butt fin I'm talking about).

I had a JD for about 5-6yrs.


I think I saw other fish in the tank.. You do understand he will kill them right? Hes an agressive fish & will require a min of a 50gal tank. A lot of fish stores never stay those parts & they can grow larger then 8" ;)

Here is a small wiki on the JD Clicky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dempsey_%28fish%29)



EDIT:

How much are you feeding her??
If you over feed the fish will create too much amonia & that could cause the fish to get HITH (Hole In The Head). Its common in large Cichlids. When you see all those large Cichlids with ugly pitted faces, thats caused by HITH. & it'll kill the fish over time. So as a young JD a small feeding/day.. When fully grown 1 decent feeding every 3 days. It helps to prevent HITH & so the fish wont get fat & unhealthy either

[IRescue452]

Did you name it? Did I miss the name? I'm confused.

[king2005]

Did you name it? Did I miss the name? I'm confused.


She named the fish HeadMaster

[Kalei]

Thanks for the advice King2005, I know quite alot about fish since I"ve owned many different kinds all my life, but I really appreciate you looking out for me and my fish. Thanks for letting me know its a she, I didn't know that, and now I do, yay!

She is in a 55 gallon tank and yes there are some other fish in there with her. But ones an angelfish, and the angelfish is bigger than her and they don't bother each other. There are some smaller fish in there as well and I do expect them to probably get eaten eventually, but I may take some of them out and put them in my father's tropical tank so they can live:)

[Kalei]

Hehe I just noticed the fish you saw in the last picture, that one isn't real, its on the background of my tank.:D

[king2005]

Hehe I just noticed the fish you saw in the last picture, that one isn't real, its on the background of my tank.:D

Ok good, cause it looked small hehehe

Good to hear shes in a good enviroment.

Just one more thing... She more then likely will all of a sudden start attacking the Angelfish. My JD lived with an Oscar 4 times his size for many years.. Then one day they litterly turned enemies! Jack would start bitting Oscar & in return Oscar would try to bite Jack.. It was a war between those 2 :( I had to put a huge rock really close to the glass so Jack could get away from Oscar. It was very sad as Oscar bit Jack one day. Jack was soooo scared to leave his rock. & I think Oscar felt bad was she stopped trying to eat Jack.

[IRescue452]

Haha that's a good rendering of a rummynose tetra. I think this is the same background with the twin bar platies that fooled me one day.

I have to agree with King2005 on this one. The JD is probably calm right now because it is recovering from the stress of moving. Give it a few days and it will be back to its aggressive self. American cichlids really don't do well in mixed species tanks.

[petslover]

He is really pretty. Congrats!

[Kalei]

Thanks you guys:) So would a JD get along with another JD? Cause I don't want to just have one in the tank and that's it, if I could have two would be nicer. If I see him start attacking the angelfish then I will have to remove the angelfish to another tank.

[king2005]

Unless you have a much much larger tank, then yes you can get 2.. but a 50gal is only good for 1 JD & no friends. Not even pleckos, or catfish, or snails...

Large cichlids are the kind of fish you keep alone. Many do not do well with their own kind in a tank, as they are just too close to each other. They need a lot of terrirtory to be able to live in the same tank.

I had 3 baby Red Devils (What Mango was) & they all tried to kill each other... Only 1 lived & that was Mango..

When the JD turns on the angel fish, it'll be too late to do anything... He'll tear chunks out of it.. JD have sharp teeth.. Jack was only about 6" & he bit me once & I bled. It was an accident as I had taught him to jump out of the water & take food from my hand.. however he learned that if he bit me he'd still get the food as I would drop it cause he bit me hard!! lol They are VERY smart fish.

I love them :D

[IRescue452]

Boy youa re brave. I won't stick my fingers within inches of my sunfish's tank surface. I've seen him eat the snails I have, and they say nothing can eat trumpet snails cause they are so rock hard. A finger would fit in his mouth so easily.

[king2005]

Boy youa re brave. I won't stick my fingers within inches of my sunfish's tank surface. I've seen him eat the snails I have, and they say nothing can eat trumpet snails cause they are so rock hard. A finger would fit in his mouth so easily.


Jack was my little baby boy, I love that little guy so much, I didn't care how much blood I lost to him, it was fun getting him to jump to get his food :D Now with Mango I wasn't stupid, no way on EARTH was I putting my hand anywhere NEAR his water... I used a 6+" commet as bait for Jack when he died & came back to life with brain & eye damage... After Jack got his corridation mostly back, I took out the commet & gave it to Mango to eat. Well Mango had never seen that big of a mean before, so he kissed it not knowing what to do with it.. the commet turned around & charged Mango... Mango fled, turned around & charged... He bit 1/2 its head off!!!! Mango broke his 55gal tank, smashed glass rocks, took chunks out of marbels & when he bit the tank you could hear his teeth scratching the glass... Mango was a VERY agressive fish!!!

[Kalei]

Jack was my little baby boy, I love that little guy so much, I didn't care how much blood I lost to him, it was fun getting him to jump to get his food :D Now with Mango I wasn't stupid, no way on EARTH was I putting my hand anywhere NEAR his water... I used a 6+" commet as bait for Jack when he died & came back to life with brain & eye damage... After Jack got his corridation mostly back, I took out the commet & gave it to Mango to eat. Well Mango had never seen that big of a mean before, so he kissed it not knowing what to do with it.. the commet turned around & charged Mango... Mango fled, turned around & charged... He bit 1/2 its head off!!!! Mango broke his 55gal tank, smashed glass rocks, took chunks out of marbels & when he bit the tank you could hear his teeth scratching the glass... Mango was a VERY agressive fish!!!

Wow, now you really got me wondering, what type of fish was Mango?

[king2005]

Wow, now you really got me wondering, what type of fish was Mango?


Mango was a red Devil.. thats him in my sig... I miss him sooo sooo sooo much :(

[Kalei]

Wow I've never heard of that type of fish before, sounds awesome. Well I've been thinking alot about what you and other people said. And I did not think I would have to have just one fish in one huge tank, I figured it would at least get along with my angelfish.

But if she's going to grow up and turn on him too, then I would rather keep all my other fish than have to give them away or them all get eaten. I knew cichlids were aggressive, but I always thought they could at least get along with some bigger fish.

Well knowing all this, I am thinking of finding a better home for her. I know a guy who has a large tank with some cichlids in it, he would possibly like her. But I'll have to see. Whatever I do I will make sure she gets the best home:)

So is there any breed of cichlid that can get along with an angelfish and won't eat fish as bad?

[king2005]

Wow I've never heard of that type of fish before, sounds awesome. Well I've been thinking alot about what you and other people said. And I did not think I would have to have just one fish in one huge tank, I figured it would at least get along with my angelfish.

But if she's going to grow up and turn on him too, then I would rather keep all my other fish than have to give them away or them all get eaten. I knew cichlids were aggressive, but I always thought they could at least get along with some bigger fish.

Well knowing all this, I am thinking of finding a better home for her. I know a guy who has a large tank with some cichlids in it, he would possibly like her. But I'll have to see. Whatever I do I will make sure she gets the best home:)

So is there any breed of cichlid that can get along with an angelfish and won't eat fish as bad?


Wish I could help more with that question, but I only know about Oscars, Red Devils & JD's, as thats all I have ever owned :(

I know there are some smaller Cichlids that can get a long with each other, so going to a Bog Als might be a good idea to go to, as they rate the fish & tend to be a little better on knowing which fish can go in what tank.

[Genny]

He sure is pretty. I use to have cichlids too but then I had one blue one who killed all the others! So after he died I got gold fish! They don't ever chase/bite each other....but cichlids are really pretty fish. They all look different. Are you going to get more?

[IRescue452]

Most African cichlids get along with others of their own kind and with other species who originate from the same lake. American cichlids like JD's are loners for the most part.

[Chilli]

Beautiful fish. Like others, I have met a few very nasty JDs before.

Definately steer away from SA cichlids & new worlds if you're looking for community fish. They can be aggressive little(well, not always little) guys that like wreaking havoc on some tanks. :]

I've always heard of Angelfish doing better with fish such as Silver Dollars, Tetras, Gourami, etc.. I haven't really heard of many people mixing other cichlids with them.
I currently own a large variety of cichlids. Mainly Africans, but I do have some South Americans & New worlds. Out of everyone, my Africans are the most tolerant of eachother. Labidochromis caeruleus(... I forget what they are called in stores. Yellow labs? Electric labs? Electric yellows? something like that) are the calmest in my african tanks, and probably the only cichlid I'd want to try with an angelfish.

Good luck. Cichlids are, by far, the most interesting fish to own in the hobby. In my opinion, that is. :D