gnomemagi

Hi,

Currently I have a 55 gallon tank - it houses a juvenile 3" Dempsey, a 2.5" Blue Acara, and a 2.5" Firemouth. Other inhabitants are two juvenile Clown Loaches (2.5" per) and two Angelfish (2.5" per). Standard 55 I believe - its four feet long.

Anywhoo, this is the current tank for these fish until the summer, when they get a 110 gallon. It is fairly planted at the moment - moneywort, dwarf clover, and a heavy forest of Amazon Swords. It also has some slate rock formations, probably 30 or so pounds of thin slate you would use for constructing walkways and such. Also has some driftwood. ammonia/nitrite at 0, nitrate at 5.

Problem is my Dempsey has claimed all the territory of the tank. My Firemouth and my Acara own very little, if at all. My Dempsey is odd - he loves playing with my Loaches and pays no mind to the Angels. However, if he sees the other two, off he goes on the chase.

The order of introduction was Acara - > Dempsey -> Firemouth. I've had all three for several weeks now. The Acara and Dempsey had a territory squabble liplock when they first met, Dempsey obviously won. Think the Firemouth never gave it a shot.

I've rearranged the tank, he just claims it all quickly again. The new arrangement is better because he loves the caves more often so he stays in there, giving them some peace.

I've tried some fast fish as well to keep his attention. When there are small fish in the tank, they hold his attention and he ignores the others. However, no small ones can stay out of his grasp for long. Tried neons, he ate a group of 3 in two days. Danios met the same fate. Any quicker fish out there to keep him occupied maybe?

I dunno, I'd love to keep him. He's beautiful for a young fish - even has some red lining on his fins that I hadn't seen on Dempsey before. I'm new to cichlids, so I dunno if this is cichlids being cichlids, the other two still eat an act normal, they just have to give him a wide berth.

Shawnie

its normal dempsey behavoir...although mine are totally submissive JD's , yours is more of the normal type ....once the bigger tank comes, he may calm down..with all the deco and plants, hes probably feeling like others are in his territory and he does not tolerate it....goodluck!

capekate

I agree with Shawnie, sounds like typical JD behavior. Your JD may settle down eventually with the acara and firemouth, but you may end up having issues with the Angelfish at some point down the road..
When I brought in new Green Texas Terror's into the tank with my two JDs I thought they were never going to get along. But it didnt take long at all for the chasing to end and they all actually get along fine now with the occasional JD chasing one of the GTs around but thats it.