Jd help!

[Lydia]

Hi! I haven't posted in a while since I have gotten my jack Dempsey. We have had him/her for a few months now. I have not noticed this behavior before but today I noticed it was shaking it's head and body while in the cave. He was not doing anything ( which concerned me initially) so I went up to the glass and he poked his head out and shook it pretty vigorously. Then came out a little farther and did another little shimmy. Is this normal jd behavior or is something wrong. Last week I noticed a few stringy poos but now they all look fine. Help please! I have really become attached to this fish and don't want anything to happen to it. Thanks. I'll post pics soon.

 

[kenbob]

The shaking is his warning that you are in his territory.

 

[Lydia]

Ok I was thinking that. As far as a paracite goes

 

[Lydia]

Should I treat water anyway cause of white stringy poo? I am still concerned cause of that and he has been in that cave for a few hours now and he is usually an adventurer as he only shares a 55 gal with a pleco and a blue crayfish.

 

[kenbob]

Is he eating? What are you feeding him? What are your water parameters?

 

[Lydia]

Water params are all good. That was the first thing I checked yesterday and I just did a pwc 2 days ago. I have seen no loss in appetite at all. I have some cichlid flakes which he likes best and some floating cichlid pellets. He eats the flakes right out of our fingers!

 

[kenbob]

If he is eating and his poo looks normal then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Lydia]

Poo has been looking normal for a while until today. This is what I just found in tank.

 

[Lydia]

Is this signs of a paracite or could it be from over feeding?

 

[kenbob]

I am not to sure but it does look like it is from over feeding. How is he doing other then the poop?

 

[Lydia]

He is doing fine. He likes to tuck and hide in his cave but that I am pretty sure is normal jd behavior. He knows when it's feeding time and does his feed me dance as soon as I open the drawer. How much should I be feeding him? He looks healthy and seems to be in good spirits.

 

[Lydia]

And what do you think? Male or female?

 

[domsmom]

That is such an AWESOME looking fish! Don't know much about them! Never heard of them until recently. I feel like I should own one being I'm a Dempsey! Lol very beautiful though..

 

[kenbob]

I believe it is a female. Males have an absence of speckles on the gill plates. I feed mine once a day. About eight medium sized pellets. My jack Dempsey is about five inches.

 

[Lydia]

Thank you!! His/her bright coloration is one of the reasons I thought it was a male. That and I read males have the red on the top ofthe dorsal fin and that the dorsal fins are pointer on a male. As she grows her fins are getting more pointed. Also the black mark on her side I read was a male trait. You can only see it in certain light. You can see it in this pic. As far as feeding goes when we got her all she would eat is flake food. So I give a pinch of that and a few medium pellets twice a day. I will probably only feed her once a day now and see if that helps the poo situation.

 

[Lydia]

Also it sounds like I feed her a lot but she eats everything off the surface til it's gone. Probably only takes a minute if not less. She is also about 5" long.

 

[kenbob]

Remember jds are messy eaters.

 

[Lydia]

Yes she is but the blue crayfish I have eats what she throws around. I usually throw in a couple flakes, wait til she eats them all then toss in some more. I am going to try to ween her off the flakes but she likes them more than pellets.