# I think petsmart screwed me



## flaxcrack (May 23, 2006)

Ello all. I have bad news I think, but I'm not for sure. You tell me what you think. I have a 12 Gallon tank with all of the works. The tank is decorated with black lava rocks to fill the bottom and about 4 12in plants and 2 6in plants, all fake of course. This setup is home to my 1.5in and .5in Jack Dempsey.

The bad news is I had an algae break out, a very bad break out. So I went to Petsmart to consult the fish gods and they said: Hey! You need two Algae Eaters (Not Pleco's). One is gold and the other is a grey and white. They both look more like an Eel than a fish. Regardless, they also sold me some feeder fish, which was neat to watch the larger Jack eat.

The Algae Eaters are munching away all of the algae, which is really neat, but the big Jack likes to chase them. They look like they can hold their own, but I don't want a blood bath. What should I do?


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2006)

hahaha! The fish gods at PetSmart?

...that's a funny one.

-jack dempsey's get huge and are very aggressive, so a 12 gallon is way too incredibly small for them for life.
-how long has your tank been running? is it cycled?
-what do you mean by "it has all the works"?
-What are your tank parameters? (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph, etc)


----------



## flaxcrack (May 23, 2006)

Great! Some one gets my humor.

The tank is about 1 year old. I had just a Pleco in it for a year. He died, poor thing...Don't know what happenend, it just went belly up.

All of the works means that here is some decor and fake plants. Everything it needs to provide thick cover for all four fish.

The tanks parameters are just fine, the reason for the algae outbreak was because of the artifical light and the natural light both hitting the water for about eight hours a day for three weeks straight.

So the question is...Do think they can be friends?


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2006)

well i wouldnt trust the jack dempseys for too long....


----------



## flaxcrack (May 23, 2006)

The little girl said they should be fine....I feed the Jack's 4 feeder fish, it was their first time eating live food since I have had them, today and now they look pregnant, I just hope that doesn't encourage them to try and eat the other fish. Although, the CAE seem about twice the size of the Jacks.

Is there ANYTHING I can do?


----------



## flaxcrack (May 23, 2006)

WOW! This is weird! My Jack's look like this guys fish: http://www.fishforums.com/forum/cichlids/9187-any-experience-these-guys.html, but he is saying that it is a Red Top Aristochromis. Neat!!!!


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2006)

> He died, poor thing...Don't know what happenend


Probably because he was stunted. If it was a common pleco, a 12g was way too small for him.

Just like the 12g is way too small for your Jacks, if that is what they are. It is too small for even one.

And CAE's can get up to 12 inches...so the 12g will be too small for it/them also. They also get more aggressive and carnivorous with age, so watch them so they don't go after the Jacks' slime coats.



> Is there ANYTHING I can do


Get a bigger tank.
If they are in fact Jacks, then a 55g-75g will be a better long term home for them. And a more appropriate home for when they get bigger.


----------



## rywill (Nov 22, 2005)

best way to find out if u have JD's is to post a pic and let us tell u. 
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e395/rywill/100_0530.jpg
this is my male dempsey, if urs is a JD it will have the same body shape, the pic of mine u were referring to has a longer more slender body.


----------

