Ideas for a jack dempsey tank mate???

[ilive466]

what would be some good tank mates for a Jack Dempsey and a convict for a 125 gallon tank

 

[Idealconcepts]

ilive466 - What type of filtration do you have running on your 125 and what other fish are in the tank currently? Are you looking for more Cichlids or oddball fish?

 

[ksfishguy]

Alot of options in a tank that size. I wonder if a midas would work, very cool fish...

 

[Idealconcepts]

ksfishguy - with a Midas, more likely the Jack D. would end being harrased to death.

ilive466 - you could do mixture of 3-4 non-aggressive cichlids, such as firemouths, Sevs, convicts, or one green terror and one oscar. 4-5 Silver dollars or 6-8 giant danios. You could go with oddballs like birchers or south american gars, etc. Just depends on how many fish you want in the tank and if you want the the Jack D to be the center piece.

 

[Big Ben]

i agree with idealconcepts, those could all work. I'll add in that a jurupari could go with him too. Youll need decent filtering though, they eat and spit out gravel alot. A texas cichlid would be nice but it could be risky, they very closely resemble JDs. Do you have the jack dempsey already?

 

[ilive466]

It is a 125 with xp3 filter. I will be adding another xp3 here in about a month. The tank currently has Africans in it but they keep dying off and no one knows whats up... if it keeps up and I cant get it under control I might just recycle the tank and then put my 8-9" jack dempsey and the 4-5" convict. They are currently in a 29 gallon. I know That the tank Is two small for them but That is what they have been in for 4 years now... If I can get the dying under control I wont but I want to keep my options open.


thanks
seth

 

[Idealconcepts]

ilive466 - you should determine the reason the African's are dying before doing anything to make sure you have things under control. What are your water parameters Amonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, KH and GH, water temp, and how often do you do water changes, how much water do you change and do you use decholrinator? If you can answer these questions we can help you better. If you don't have the basic test kits for Amonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, might be a good idea to get them, should only cost you around $15-$20 for all three. Let us know the readings and your other water parameters.

 

[ilive466]

I have posted before with no luck. The ammonia is 0ppm Nitrite is 0ppm and the nitrate is between 10-20ppm. I do 25 % water changes every week and didn't use declore at first but do now but It didn't stop the deaths. . I use and xp3 filter. the Temp is 78-80 degrees. Someone here in town that maintains a 1400 gallon african tank suggested having more circulation so I added 2 625 gph powerheads to the tank.. the fish love getting in the current.

It is just wierd that one day I found 2 fish dead after 3 weeks with fish in there and no deaths. Ok so 2 dead fish no big deal cause I planned on having about 25 in there in the end. But after that day we have had 1-2 die per day since, totaling 20 fish dead. We have gone 72 hours since the last death so mabe we are getting it under control. I have them on a medicated food containing metronitozol or something like that.(to lazy to go look.) And also a new diet that the guy with the 1400 gallon guy uses.

thanks

seth

 

[Idealconcepts]

ilive466 - the paramenters you state seem to be ok. Do you know what your Ph and hardness is at? Also what diet where you feeding your fish? How large are your fish that you used the Metro on? I believe using Metro on young fish can cause problems, but if you fish aren't young this might not be the cause? Do you add any epsom or aquarium salt to your tank? Anything that might have fallen into your tank? Do you have anything in your tank that isn't directly made for aquariums?

 

[ilive466]

The PH is 8.0 and the water is hard. The fish are 2-2.5 inches. I didn't start medicating them until about the 15-16th fish died. I haven't added any salt or anything. I make sure nothing gets in the tank. it has class lids on it that seal up really good. I have lace rock in there but I Cleaned them the way everyone said.

I also have some of those rocks in my 29 and have had no problems

thanks

seth

 

[Idealconcepts]

ilive466 - what you mentioned seems fine, what diet off food were you feeding them before they began to die?

 

[Big Ben]

I have a feeling you'll continue lose alot of fish because since you said you didn't use dechloriantor before, your tank probably hasnt cycled properly. Reason I say this is because the chlorine would kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank and it would have to recycle over and over again. I'd monitor the ammonia and nitrite closely fro a while, your tank probably would go through at least a mini cycle.

Also I've heard of fish getting burns in their gills from chlorine taht dont heal so that might be why fish are continuing to die, but I'm not sure how that works with the effects of chlorine on fish, maybe someone else can toss in their knowledge on this one.

 

[ilive466]

The fish have quit dieing. It has been about 6-7 days without a death. I have checked my levels everyday sometimes twice a day and have had no ammonia or nitrite spikes at all. Not even a little bit. None have died since I was able to quarentine a fish with signs and simptoms. It has since died but none other.

thanks\


seth

 

[Idealconcepts]

ilive466 - that's good.

 

[hamburgler]

Where do you get the fish from? Any patterns in deaths? etc...

I would not add anything else anytime soon...give it a month. Like someone said, its possible your tank has not cycled since you were not adding dechlor.

 

[drummerj]

did you say you dont use any salt for your tank? I add kent sea salt to my tank, so the salinity level is 1.010 or so. Do you use any buffers for your africans? do you have bubblers in your tanks?