Topic: jack demspey in a 20 gallon

[Ali1]

hey guys, i got 2 jack dempseys as a gift from somebody, and the biggest size aquarium i have is a 20 gallon with one pleco... so put the the two jd inside the 20 gallon... they are young about 3-4inch....any comment?

[allvol]

yea you need a bigger tank!

[tracey]

You definitely need a bigger tank and you'll need it very soon.  For two Dempseys you'll need something aboud 60 to 75 gallons, and thats only if they get along.  If they don't....... well then you're gonna need something bigger or you'll have to return one of the fish to the lfs.  These fish have a tendancy to be very territorial and aggressive towards other cichlid tankmates, especially their own species.  Thats not always the case, I have to admit, but its more common than two Dempseys that will get along.  I wouldn't wait longer than a couple of weeks to get a bigger tank.  Even if they do get a long for a while, they will be polluting a tank that small very quickly and you could end up with serious health problems.  As it is, you'll be needing to to water changes every few days to keep the water clean enough to not kill them

[mrbigfish]

you need a bigger tank quick

[Ali1]

I thought the rule was one inch of fish per gallon... thats how i thought of it when i got them and i thought it would be ok.. i been looking at profile and it says they grow to be about 6-9 inches.... if  i have two 9in. fish, thats 18 in of fishes and i have a 20 gallonn..,. so i would have an extra 2 gallons... is this not rite ?

[tracey]

I'm afraid that the rule of 1" of fish per gallon really only applies to species that grow to a max of 3".  Anything that gets bigger than that, you have to start thinking of the adult size of the fish, in particular, the length that it will be. 

Dempsey's will actually get to around 10 to 12" long once full grown, and although it can take them several years to get to that length, that is the size you must consider when you're picking a tank for them.  The first thing you have to think of is will the fish be able to turn around comfortably in the tank.  I don't know what the depth of your 20 gallon tank is, but for a Dempsey you'd need something around 14 to 16" deep for them to be comfortable in.  Another consideration with large, messy cichlids like Dempsey is the amount of waste that they produce.  They eat a lot and then they poop a lot, so you need the extra water volume to prevent your chemical levels from becoming toxic.  Otherwise you'd need to be doing daily water changes to prevent your fish from dying of ammonia/nitrite poisoning.  The last consideration is the fish's natural environment.  A Dempsey in the wild would control a territory of several square meters, and if you think about how big even a 40 gallon tank is, you can see that even the recommended minimum tank size is far smaller than what they'd have in the wild. 

[yousef77]

To tell you the truth ali1, i have a 20 gallon high with 2 jack dempseys that are full grown now and had them since they were 3in. i used to have corydoras, but they got killed by them... i have to do 3-4 day water changes to keep toxic levels out of the way, but other than that everything is good.. my 90 gallon aquarium is overcrowded with 2 oscars, 6 afrifcan cichlids, 2 plecos and one hybrid parrot fish... but eyh keep the dempseys healthy by doing recent water changes

[Dan]

You have 2 fullgrown JD's in a 20 galon? How big are each of them, just curious.

  1 JD should never be put into a 20 gallon full grown, let alone 2.

[owengibson]

We would all like to put our fish in ponds, but two small jack dempseys should be fine in a 20 gallon tank, for a while. Your going to need a bigger tank if you want happy ( if there is such things LOL) JDs. I had two about 3-4 inches ( they were a pair and the male was the bigger one). They were in a 10 gallon and the female killed the male after spawning..... angry woman LOL I wish I had a bigger tank for her I shouldn't have done it.....
HTH
OG

[airjaff]

fish like that need there own space, and a 9inch fish in 20gallons that is not a good idea, will die before they get to that size. or they may even try a break your tank hahaha

[Dan]

My point exactly on the money.

[Gerry]

To tell you the truth ali1, i have a 20 gallon high with 2 jack dempseys that are full grown now and had them since they were 3in. i used to have corydoras, but they got killed by them... i have to do 3-4 day water changes to keep toxic levels out of the way, but other than that everything is good.. my 90 gallon aquarium is overcrowded with 2 oscars, 6 afrifcan cichlids, 2 plecos and one hybrid parrot fish... but eyh keep the dempseys healthy by doing recent water changes

ok, fish can have water to breath, food to eat and with water changes and a filter a toilet system, but would you like to live in a 6 foot square room with someone else 24/ 7/ 256 days a year for the rest of your life.

give the fish some quality of life, not just an existence,   get a bigger tank 

[toyota]

theres 256 days in a year now 

[toyota]

give the fish some quality of life, not just an existence, get a bigger tank

thats very true and get one as soon as possible 

[fyrflye]

theres 256 days in a year now 

No wonder time flies by.......................