Electric Blue Jack Dempsey, Only Eats When I'm Away And Not Looking

I just got an Electric Blue Jack Dempsey (about 2 in.) for about 2 weeks now in a 30 gallon tank.
He is very active and likes to swim up and down on the left side of the tank.
One thing I noticed ever since is, he never eats the cichlid sinking pellets (omega one) right away, when I drop them. He would not even taste or smell the food.

I also have an Electric Blue Acara, but the Acara eats them, straight off when I drop the food.
So I began wondering when does the Jack Dempsey eat. I noticed around 10 pm at night, when I observe from far away, he starts scavenging the ground for food. I just find it weird he only eats at a certain time, or when I am not looking.

Is this normal Jack Dempsey behavior?

Note: I only feed them twice a day, morning and around 6 when I get home from work.

 

The fact that your new Blue Jack is eating should give you some relief. As you probably know the blue variant is weaker than the standard JD and sometimes a bit more
finicky. A lot of CA Cichlids sift substrate for food. You ought to see my Texas Cichlid sift though gravel. When your EBJD settles in, my guess is that he will become a more assertive eater.

 

He does seem to be still adjusting to the new environment. Right, at least he is eating. I did read they are weaker than regulat JD’s. I just added some plants and rocks, he seemed to be more happy and calm.

It did not help when I had 7 Tiger Barbs initially. I transferred the Barbs to a bigger 55, and noticed a huge difference in behavior. Jack Dempsey requires that space. Hopefully he continues to settle in.

Thanks for the response.

 

I hand feed my EBJD little wingless flies, blackworms etc. he was spawned Dec2016, here he is April2017 when was a 2.5inch baby with a belly full of worms

IMG_20170407_1852256

• Kasshan
• Apr 20, 2017

Electric blue jack dempsey. Spawn date Dec 15,2016. Current size 3.5inch April 20, 2017

here is now, over 6inches

Right

• Kasshan
• Aug 24, 2018

 

Wow, beautiful EBJD. Hope I can get mine to grow up like that.
Does he eat floating food or sinking ones?

UPDATE: It's been 3 weeks now since I purchased him. Last night was the most I seen him feed, still likes scavenging the substrate for sinking food. He seems to have settled in the tank.

 

yes he eats pellets and flake now. however it was a process. I had a another EBJD before Sparkle, he had died because I did not give him enough special attention. after reading numerous anecdotal sources mentioning how fragile EBJDs are. I was lazy about it with my first EBJD, it died within the first month; my biggest mistake was keeping it in a community tank. In a community tank the EBJD will be scared if it is less than 1inch, also it will grow slow or starve because of competition. more likely to catch a common disease and be fatal.
This is why on my second attempt I was going to take it serious. I gave Sparkle his own 10 gallon heavily planted tank with lots of strategically placed hiding spots(minI clay pots from $1store) you always want to make sure you don't give him full privacy, you want to peer inside and that way he is looking at you too. he will learn to associate you with food and be friendly.

for the first 10months I had him I only gave him black worms, frozen worms, brine shrimp, and flies but I wanted to introduce him to his mate Jackie who was in 60 galloncommunity. I simply started mixing the worms with soaked pellets I broke up and I also added a few zebra danios to get him accustomed to other fish. after 2month later once he was 4.5 inch and more than a year old I was able to completely convert him to pellet and flake.

I also farmed mollies with my regular female JD, Jackie. I was able to farm mollies because the mollies won't drop babies if they feel threatened, so as a result they get super fat and look like they about to explode. once they reached that level, I would put the gravid mollie in a 10 gallon tank with plants and a light salt mixture of 1Tablespoon Epsom salt and 3Tablespoon table salt per 10g. the female should drop a load of up to 3 dozen babies, fatten the mollie fry for about a month and toss them back in with the JDs. the JDs will get endless enjoyment chasing them. the smart mollies will grow up and repeat the cycle. however if see any other male mollies, other than the sailfin stud, I cull them by hand feeding them to my JDs.

 

I just bought some frozen blood worms yesterday, worked like a charm and EBJD ate a lot.

 

Success! Post update pics of your progress soon.

 

Success! Post update pics of your progress soon.

55 Gallon Tank - Tank Boss

Here he is!