choosing a mate for Jag

[JRT83]

In my 125 I got a 7-8" male jag, 5" male Midas, 4" female salvini, 3.5" male festae, and a 5" featherfin catfish. I've had the jag since he was about an inch long and the bigger he gets, the more I notice the Midas and festae trying to fight him for top rank in the tank and see he's getting a little more stressed because of it. I'm thinking of trying to find a female jag 4" or larger to throw in there to see if I can get a pair but what would be the best way to do that? The obvious choice would be to sell the other fish and let them have the tank to themselves and see what happens, or would there be a better possibility of them pairing up with all the fish in there still and then remove everyone once I get my pair? My other, and least favorite option, would be to set my empty 55 back up and go buy a group of small jags and hope I can get a few females out of that. Hopefully some of u that have bred larger New world cichlids can help me out, this would be my 1st time trying this. Thanks

 

[HUKIT]

Your tank is not even large enough for your current fish, so why add more fuel for the inevitable fire?

 

[DragonFish71]

My male jag killed 3 females before he settled on the 4th one for his mate.

And once they pick mates and start spawning, nothing else in the tank will be safe.

3rd, I agree with HUKIT. Sell off everything else, then think about the female.

 

[JRT83]

Your tank is not even large enough for your current fish, so why add more fuel for the inevitable fire?

Called my LFS on Saturday morning and they had a 5" jag that they vented for me and happened to be female. They would only hold fish with a down payment, which they understandably wouldn't take over the phone, so I bagged up all my fish (except for my jag) and got over there as quickly as possible, only to find out that they had sold it shortly after I called. If I had it in me, i'd get rid of the jag and start over. But I've gotten too attached to the little guy and can't bring myself to sell him so he's in the 125 by himself now, a little earlier than I wanted, but probably for the better. He definitely looks like he enjoys it more already

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Good choice with the tank. Another jag will come along if you really want to do that.

 

[JRT83]

Good choice with the tank. Another jag will come along if you really want to do that.

I've been wondering, why do most websites list the temp range for jags from 77-92 F? Most other cichlids, including ones I've kept, seem to like upper 70s to low 80s (I've always tried to stay in the 78-80 range myself). Would the jag benefit or be hurt if I were to slowly raise the temp to the 83-85 F range and keep it there? Figure if I'm just gonna have him in there by himself, might as well try to get everything the way he likes it

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Hukit would know better than me but I'd say keep it at 80 and all will be fine. Fish tend to do better at lower temps because there is more oxygen in the water.

 

[HUKIT]

I've been wondering, why do most websites list the temp range for jags from 77-92 F? Most other cichlids, including ones I've kept, seem to like upper 70s to low 80s (I've always tried to stay in the 78-80 range myself). Would the jag benefit or be hurt if I were to slowly raise the temp to the 83-85 F range and keep it there? Figure if I'm just gonna have him in there by himself, might as well try to get everything the way he likes it

Most people including myself generally keep the temps around 76-77f as this slows their metabolism down which in turn lowers their aggression towards tank mates. When breeding my pair I would always slowly raise the temp to around 82-83f as this increases metabolism allowing a higher uptake of foods increasing their desire to spawn. The higher temps also help prevent the newly fertilized eggs from fungus.

 

[JRT83]

Most people including myself generally keep the temps around 76-77f as this slows their metabolism down which in turn lowers their aggression towards tank mates. When breeding my pair I would always slowly raise the temp to around 82-83f as this increases metabolism allowing a higher uptake of foods increasing their desire to spawn. The higher temps also help prevent the newly fertilized eggs from fungus.

How about just for a single jag? What would be the best temp to keep the tank at in the long run... in the 77-80 range? (Where I've always kept it). Was wondering what the benefits, if any, would be of maybe upping the temp for him to 82-85.

 

[HUKIT]

For a single fish with no tankmates I'd keep it at 78-80f. There are no benefits one way or another for a single fish in my opinion.