Topic: tankmates for afour or five inch jack in a 55 gallon tank

[cornbread_5]

I have a 55 gallon tank with one jack Dempsey no bigger then 5 inches and a common pleco . i was wondering does anybody have any suggestions of cichlids i can keep with the jack, i would like some dwarf cichlids as tankmates ? i know convicts do not get very big and can hold the own , so i am looking for aggressive dwarf cichlids along the line of the convict that can be kept with my jack and will not grown my 55 gallon tank , the only two cichlids i can think of are the convict and the jewel cichlids , any suggestion would help me a lot a bunch

[moneygetter1]

  JD's can be tricky. They are very territorial & generally do best w/ similar sized or larger aggressive cichlids. At maturity he/she will be about 9". Yes the convict, jewel or firemouth might hold their own but because of their small size (5/6") the pursuit will become relentless. The stress will be their downfall. I'm not saying it can't be done, they'll probably do fine initially. As they mature that 55g is gonna get smaller (territory wise, don't forget about the space the pleco is gonna occupy at 12" +) so be prepared to separate or upgrade. My 'JD' & 'O's have their issues from time to time but there's enough room for them to return to neutral corners. They grew up together but temperment changes w/ age & size. One of the keys to successfully housing large aggressive cichlids is S-P-A-C-E & even then sometimes they just won't coexist. Good luck,  "T"

[Maddy mad man]

How about  a JD of the opposite sex?

[Ezekial]

How about  a JD of the opposite sex?

that was going to be my suggestion.  Probably your best bet for a harmonious tank.  JD's are fairly easy to sex so it shouldn't be too tough to figure out what your's is or to find one of the opposite sex.  Good luck.

[cornbread_5]

how can i tell if i have a male or female jack

[Ezekial]

Can you post a picture? 

Males tend to be spangled pretty evenly across their bodies while females tend to be more muted but will have more intense spangles along the jaw and gill line. 

The larger one in my pic is a male, the other a female.  Not the greatest for comparison but should give you a rough idea. 

[cornbread_5]

i will put up a pic up tonight?

[cornbread_5]

can someone  tell how to post a pic of my jacks

[Ezekial]

When you post a message at the bottom left is "Additional Options".  Click on that enter the path for where your photo is.  Either that or click on browse and find it on your computer and put it in there.  It needs to be smaller than 150kb's i believe to post. 

If you have downloaded it to somewhere else on the internet you can just add that link to a post as well.

[cornbread_5]

here is a pic of my jack so can anyone tell me if it is a male or female

[moneygetter1]

  Lighting is kinda shaded on the actual fish. Hard to tell from this shot. "T"

[cornbread_5]

his this pic clear enough

[moneygetter1]

  OK, I'm not a photo expert & I'm not sure what type of camera you got but the problem is the foreground is clear but the fish appears shaded or is he/she really that dark?? I can make out a hint of green/blue specs about the head area but that's about it. The lateral line to the caudal area is unclear. If your camera has auto/focus put the fish itself in the little target area & see if that helps. Maybe some of the other members are photo buffs & can help you more.  "T"

[cornbread_5]

is this pic good enough

[robbie]

i wood wait for other replies but i wood say male.