# Getting an Electric Blue Jack Dempsey



## akp23 (Feb 22, 2010)

I already have one about 4-6" and the one I'm getting is like 2" at the most and I have an Oscar thats about the same size as my dempsey. Will they kill the EB jack Dempsey or leave it alone?


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## ~G~ (Feb 4, 2010)

The oscar should kill the JD since JD's stay at the bottom and oscars stay at the top.
I'd just make alot of hiding places.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Why would you even think about mixing JDs and Oscars? When you have Oscars that's about the only type of fish you can have other than bottom feeders and algae eaters.


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

Wow everyone here is wrong but the guy who made the thread. The JD will not be ok if its 2" though unless you have lots of hiding places, but even that work all the time. Oscars are not top dwelling fish and can be mixed with tons of different fish if you have the right conditions.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Blue Cray said:


> Wow everyone here is wrong but the guy who made the thread. The JD will not be ok if its 2" though unless you have lots of hiding places, but even that work all the time. Oscars are not top dwelling fish and can be mixed with tons of different fish if you have the right conditions.


I was going off what several people had told me. It shows that I have never kept Cichlids.


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## akp23 (Feb 22, 2010)

This is my tank. That's the Oscar in the tank but the Jack Dempsey I already have is hiding behind the driftwood. The Oscar and the Dempsey get along perfectly.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

In a big enough tank, most S. american cichlids will 'work things out'. Who gets how much floor space and who isn't allowed to eat. The main problem with both oscars and JDs is how big a tank they need. They oscars get big, the JDs can be both territorial and really effective (fatal) at enforcing its territorial boundaries. Some of the EBJDs are supposed to be less mean. All S.Americans get meaner and want more territory as they get bigger. I'm always afraid to put a 2" cichlid in with a 6" cichlid of the same kind. Even if they are opposite sex, if the big one decides its an intrusion, the little one is dead before you can catch it. With the oscar, I'd be more afraid of the little Dempsey becoming lunch, esp. if the oscar has been fed feeder fish in the past. Its kind of amazing how much a fish can stretch its mouth. Have you considered an "egg-crate" divider? Its ugly as sin, but can save lives. How big is the tank? And how big a tank are you planning on getting when the oscar is 14" and the dempseys are 10"?


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## akp23 (Feb 22, 2010)

So far it's all good. No problems at all even putting him after feeding feeders to them. It just resides in the cave in the dark but does come out sometimes. The most they do is look at it and stare then swim away.


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