nater

Hello all,

I posted this in the fish breeding forum but haven't had any responses so I thought I would post it here too.



Presently I have a female Jack Dempsey and was thinking about getting her a male friend. I have had her for several months and she is about 5 inches long. I know I don't a male that is a lot smaller than she is, but my LFS only has small Jacks, an inch or two long.

I went to Petsmart and their Jacks were bigger, maybe 2-3 inches. However, they had the tank separated as two of the Dempseys recently had fry. The male, on the separated side, was about 3.5" big. Because he was the biggest I asked the "fishguy" there if separating them would be bad for the babies or to the fish. He basically told me it wouldn't be a problem for any of them and that it would get along fine with my female. It really felt like he was just trying to sell the fish to get it out of the store. There were a lot of Dempseys in the tank. I almost went ahead and bought him but something inside of me kept telling me to double check the information he gave me.

So, I wanted to see if any of you could tell me if what he told me is true? If breaking them up would be bad for them, the fry, or both? Also if I did get him would he have issues with my female? One more thing, if it is bad to break them up should I get a smaller one from my LFS and grow him bigger, I have a 20gal tank that I could use to do it, then introduce him to the female?

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!

each fish personality is different so to know for sure if she will tolerate another one in her tank, depends on her....you can try taking her out and re decorating the tank and put him in first ...let him swim around for 30 mins or so then re introduce her...getting a male as close to her size is best...

as far as the LFS and their jacks, I find it very hard that a 3.5 dempsey bred ....they are usually about 6-8 inches before breeding takes place...but it would be a new one for me if they bred at that young of age...

dempsey parents raise their fry but if they are free swimmers, the fry can live on their own... good luck

nater

Thanks for the response Shawnie.

I thought it was unusual for the the two JD's to spawn that young also but they did. They probably had 100-150 fry on their separated side. The female was almost all black and the male looked like he didn't even have adult colors yet. The female was a little smaller than he was maybe 3" or so.They were both very agressive to any of the other Jacks that came close to the divider, even running in to it. I am going to go there today and if I can I'll get a pic with my cell. I have read about young jacks going through the motions of mating but these two got lucky I guess.

Also the fry were free swimming they just stayed close to the parents and the decoration they had in their side.

btate617

I agree with Shawnie, jack's don't reach sexual maturity until around 7-8 inches.
Putting another in your tank will be up to the female you now have. She may or may not allow another fish in the tank. Change the tank around and give it a shot, but be prepared to do something with the new fish if your fish starts beating on it.

If you want to breed them my advise would be to get 5-6 young fish. Grow them out and let them pair off on their own, that would be your best bet.

Brian

nater

I went back today and the pair of them had been sold. I did pick up a different male who is about 4 inches. I cleaned out the tank and rearranged things, like was suggested, and let him swim around for a little while without the female in the tank. I put her back in and she just hid for a little while till the male swam by her. She chased him around, not nipping him, till he was at the top of the tank under the lip of my filter. She then hid in her little cave and watched him. She is periodically swimming up to him slowly and checking him out but, when he sees her, he swims away with her chasing him. Does this sound normal? Do you think I should take him back or maybe let him get a little bigger then reintroduce him to the female?

Shawnie

I was answering on your original post and was just wondering, are these two in a 29 gal tank? I should have asked earlier because if they are, that tank is too small for them im sorry I didnt ask before ....and its hard to say if they are going to get along or not..but that is normal behavior for any new fish to a tank ...the only other thing to add is that I could never sex them until they were a good 6-7 inches either so hopefully you are better at it or they are a m/f pair...keep a close eye and definitely start looking for a 55 gal or larger ...

nater

We are planning on upgrading in a few months to a 75 gal or larger tank to give them a lot more room. Her behavior is the same so far. She isn't hurting him just checking him out and chasing him still. He isn't so much at the top of the tank anymore either so hopefully he is calming down a little bit.

Shawnie

good on the tank and her being better it will take time and as long as she isnt hurting him, id leave them be for now ..can you get pics of them? id love to see them...my jd's just spawned for the first time ...ive had them a few years ...

nater

Will do, I'll get some pics posted later. I put a mirror at one end of the tank and both of them are just sitting there staring at their reflections. It at least making her not chase him as much.

Shawnie

LOL ..funny us fishlovers do as we need to do for our babes...good luck and cant wait for pics keep an eye on craigslist.org for your area..theres been a ton of full setups for cheap prices lately....

nater

Update. The chasing has continued and I don't think he will really like life under the lip of the filter. I have moved him to the 20 gallon tank and he seems a lot happier. He is swimming around and was trying to lip lock with his reflection in the mirror.I am going to leave him in there for awhile so he can get bigger.

Also I was completely wrong about the size of my fish. My female is more like 6 - 6.5 inches and the male is about 4 almost 4.5 inches. I think it is the size difference and he is just scared of her because she is so big. Hopefully when he catches up to her in size they will like each other better and we will have that bigger tank.

I have tried taking a few pictures but haven't had much luck having them turn out. They either have a big flash reflection or are blurry. I'll keep trying and get up soon.

btate617

You will have no luck with these fish in a 29gal tank. Good on you for moving one of them, or you for sure would have ended up with just one fish. A great fish but they need lots of room.

Brian