what do you think of a jack dempsey?

Question

i just want one jack dempsey and i have a 20 gallon tank. what do you people think of these fish as a showpeice in the tank alone. male or female?

let me know your oppinion on these fish

Answer 1

I like them personally. They certainly aren't a good fish to place with other fish and not expect some rough and tumble fighting, but in a specimen tank like you are thinking, they can be a real nice looking fish. They are difficult to sex when young, but a cichlid nut will get it right 75% of the time out of a tank full of young fish. While in the wild or in a monster tank they can reach 10", anything over 7-8" is very unusual, even when given plenty of space. I think a single Jack would be fine for a 20 gallon tank.

MM

Answer 2

I had 3 Jack Dempseys in my 50 gallon tank once. The big one killed the smaller ones, and he would hide in the rocks all day, and only come out if the light was off.

Still, he was cool. I would put a bunch of guppies in the tank for him to eat, then turn the light off and watch him go to town. He got pretty big, about 6 inches long.

I suppose if I should have set the rocks up so he couldn't hide, but I thought if that's what he liked , I should just leave it that way.

Answer 3

Jack Dempseys can get more than 10 inches long, so they are not suitable for a 20 gallon tank. Also, they would eat most tankmates in a 20 gallon tank. Try a 40-50 gallon tank for only one JD. Try Ram or Apisto Cichlids. They are very easy to care for, don't get more than 4 inches, and are very colorful fish. Good luck!

Nosoop4u

Answer 4

it is virtually impossible to sex them when they are young. I have an African Cichlid tank and another tank with a couple of red devils. The Dempseys are ok but with a 20 gallon tank I would confine it to the one, you could possibly do two. The general rule is one gallon of water for every one inch of fish but other "experts" go so far as to recommend two gallons for every one inch of fish when the fish is a cichlid. Red Devils are pretty cool. Or a Jewel Cichlid. But the Dempsey would be ok. The convicts breed way TOO MUCH. You wind up with a tankful...good luck.

Answer 5

Putting a JD in a 20 gallon for the duration of it's life is just wrong. There are many other smaller cichlids that would do much better. Bolivian rams, curviceps, dwarf acaras, German blue/gold rams, and keyhole cichlids would do much better and be able to display their true personality. Your one JD in a 20 idea will turn out to be really boring too. It's the ability to display their true nature that makes these fish so interesting in the first place. The colors and patterns are just a bonus.

Answer 6

We have a female Dempsey- Ms.Dempsey. She is absolutely Beautiful. She is extremely hardy and has a great personality.

It may be difficult to grow out a Dempsey in a 20. Ours only got to about 4" in a 30, she doubled in size when we put her in a 55.

The females have iridescent markings on their gill covers, and velvet like dark stripes on their body. The males are covered in the iridescent markings.

Answer 7

well persionally they arent my prefrence and the ones you see in pictures look alot better (colorful and more bright) than the ones you find in stores. but a 20 gallon tank should be large enough for 1 fish no more than that... sept feeder fish =p i like oscars alot more but they are in the same familly but you have to know what your are getting into. they getlarge and they make a huge mess so i would still recoment a 60 gallon filter. if you dont beleve me just wate and see. they get pretty messy. i gravel vaccume about 3 times a week.

by the way you probably wont be able to sex them... people claim to be able to but you would need a blood sampel to be defenitive. and if you did get a sample peta will probbably dump a blood sample on you... i hate peta soooooo much

Answer 8

i personally love them especially the females. you can tell them apart cause the females have more blue on their cheeks and have rounder ventral and dorsal fins.
they do need like 40-50 gallons as a minimum. and i think with some driftwood, black sand, a modest lighting they make an awesome centerpeice fish.

Answer 9

good luck sexing them, but females as they are smaller. 20 gallon isnt alot of room and i personally wont putthem in anything smaller than a55 gallon, but i would go witha female if possible.