# Elec Blue Jack Dempsey



## FoxFire110 (Sep 18, 2010)

Hi
I'm new here and have a question.
I have 4 tanks:
a 55 corner tank with a assortment of cichlids and a bichir
a 16 gallon with a couple tiny convicts, pelco, geophagus, 
yes, I know the convicts will need to be moved shortly.
a 10 gallon with a couple sm tetras and dwarf shrimp
a 37 S/W with a tang, an angel, a goby, blemy, a couple of cleaner shrimp and a couple of starfish.

I have a thing for brightly colored fish so naturaly fell in love with the EBJD.
I purchased a tiny one. Treating it like all my other fish it seemed to thrive then one day it was dead.
I waited a few weeks and purchased the other one from my LFS a couple weeks or so all was good then dead. Assuming there was something wrong with the fish at the store (which would be unusual as it is a really good store)
I purchased a trio of them on line, when they arrived I placed all three of them in different tanks, They all died within a couple weeks. 
I do weekly water changs, check water levels twice a week or more, have a fuval 305 in the 55 gallon, fuval heater, use cichlid salt, etc
Is there something that I'm not doing for them that is special to that fish, I read everything I could find before I purchased the first one.
I want to get another one but don't want it to die. I know that fish do die for reason we don't understand, but, as this is the only fish dying in any of the tanks wondering if anyone has susgestions or ideas (other than I'm cursed )

Thanks


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

what tank mates are they going in with?


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## FoxFire110 (Sep 18, 2010)

Hi
If I get another one it'll go into the 16 gallon tank for a while then into the big tank (depending on its size) . It has to be at least 3 inches any smaller my bichir or jag will eat it for sure. 

If you meant what were the tank mates before when they all died?

The first two went in with the bichir and assorted cichlids, they were all about 1/2 inch big at that time.

The tio of them:
the bigest one about an inch and a half went into the big tank,(was not the smallest or biggest in tank) the second smallest 1 inch went into the 16 gallon, at that time there was only a pleco and a fancy guppy, The smallest about 3/4 inch went into the 10 gallon which only had a pleco and a few ghost shrimp.

They didn't get eaten or anything, no sign of damage or illness. They still were bright blue, well fed just dead.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

did u drip them over? its likely that your water chemistry could have been very very different from that of the pet store and the sudden jump just wore them down til they died. id assume they dont use cichlid salt at the pet store like you do so its possible they have soft acidic water. i would recommend asking them what there water runs at and if its different try dripping the fish over slowly to acclimate them to your water. what assorted cichlids are they other SA cichlids? its also possible that even tho they didn't appear chewed up they may have still been getting harrased and chased by the other fish which alone could have done them in.


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## FoxFire110 (Sep 18, 2010)

The bichir was in the tank with a jag, a clown pleco, a bristle-nosed pleco, 2 convicts, a green terror,a tiny fire-mouth, red-jewel, t-jewel and a couple little africans (have since gone to a friends african tank). When I put them in before they were all at the same size. The plecos might have been a bit bigger than they were but not much.

The first two I did the adding my tank water into the bag draining half refilling etc.

The second batch, (the mail order trio) I did a drip method. Wasn't sure how, but found and followed the directions on Dr fosters and smiths website.

I hadn't thought about the cichlid salt as a possible problem or something like that

hummmm... it would make sense that they were stressed anyway then adding another stressor on them.

Dang, now I feel really bad, I tried to check everything but that never even once occured to me. I know most people use salt in their tanks but a lot probably don't buy the much more expensive cichlid salt.

If it's something like the different salt will using a drip method fix the problem? if not, how would I do it? 

Thanks for the idea of where to look for the possible problem.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

how long u should take to drip them over would really all depend on how different your ph hardness and salt content would be. but seeing as u did drip them over i dont think that can really be ruled as the cause of death. i dont know hardly anything about electric blues or really any cichlids for that matter besides dwarfs so i dont want to be giving any false information so i would recommened waiting to hear from one of the more experienced people like emc7 or theoldsalt. i do know its a good thing u got those africans out of there though. most people do use salt in their tanks but fish companys and pet stores dont most of the time just to save money. here we only do it for our livebearers. and the company we get our fish from they dont even keep brackish fish in brackish they are born and raised in fresh so we have to drip them over ourselves because its easier and more cost affective for them and seeing as the fish "can" survive in fresh even if its not in the fish's best interest.


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## FoxFire110 (Sep 18, 2010)

Hi,
Thank you for your help. I will wait to see if anyone else has other ideas, but you've given me something to think about in regards to the no salt / salt thinking. I use well water in all my tanks so my water would have it's own natural parameters. I do still treat my water with conditioner but there still could be some unique property which I need to consider and perhaps increase the time needed to bring new fish into my aquariums. Even if this is not the reason for the EBJD issues it is something I needed to keep in mind anyway.

So thanks again for taking the time to give me some ideas.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

EBJDs are known fragile. I know a few breeders and even "doing everything right", there is an age where a percentage drop dead. They are working on developing hardier lines, but I know at least one person who refuses to buy small ones. Larger ones are much more expensive partly because they are slow growing and partly because of die off rates. But he'd rather buy big ones than watch little ones die. 

I agree they are a gorgeous fish. 

If you want these, you should try to find a breeder with good lines. And i think you want to baby them like you would expensive discus (except use hard water) and don't keep them with other cichlids as they don't compete well. Maybe a species tank and buy them larger.

It might be a good fish to wait for. With each new generation, the fish are getting better survival rates.


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