Shy jack dempsey

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swifty

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
282
Location
California
I bought a really nice jack dempsey the other day. As expected, he explored his new home for about a hour yesterday morning, and since then he's taken a liking to a piece of driftwood. He's been hiding behind it for going on 36 hours.

My firemouth did the same thing, as did a convict I used to have when I first got them. As do a lot of cichlids it seems. They opened up when I added dithers, specifically black skirt tetras.

Firemouths and convicts don't get as big/personable as jacks though, so I was thinking does the jack just need some time to adjust, or will it need the dithers?

I have 11 black skirt tetras in a 29g with my male firemouth. Would it be ok to move some with the jack? If so, how many? I know the 6-8 minimum schooling rule, but I want there to be as little tetra as possible. Would 2 or 3 be ok? The jack is in a 20g long growout, with a 55 waiting.
 
I have had my pair for over a month and they still hide under their rocks 90% of the time. I did a lot of reading on dither fish and decided to go with giant danios. I started with 8 and now have 4. When the lights go out at night I would hear a splash then wake up to one less danio. I think the black skirts will eventually end up as dinner but should be fine while your JD is growing.
 
Moved 3 from my 29g a few hours ago, so I'll see how it goes in the next few days or so. Dempsey still in hiding.
 
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