# Tankmate for a Jack Dempsey



## Georgia Peach

I just recently moved my JD into my 55 gal tank. Currently, he is the only fish in there - it used to house mbuna but after 5 years they have slowly started to die off so I moved the three that are left to a 10 gal for now. Anyhow, I was curious as to what others would suggest to place with the JD. He/she (not sure about that yet either) is about 5-6 inches in size and about a two years old.


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## SmellzFishy83

I used to house a few Jacks that were 4-5"s long(8 yrs ago). I found it extremely difficult to find a tank mate for them. I tried totally rearranging the tank with new plants/rock/etc... and they still seemed too territorial for a mate. I ended up putting some sort of catfish in there which they did not bother. It may work for you if you put a LOT of hiding places in the tank and get a Cich that is close to the same size as your JD.


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## Georgia Peach

hmm, I have been told that Salvini's would work well - anyone every keep those??


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## frogman5

any of the tougher cichlids that can hold their own with the jack dempsey look in into the south american central american cichlids


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## Clerk

I have 4 salvini at the moment, very aggressive fish. I haven't had them for very long, but I wouldn't really recommend them for a tankmate unless there is only 1, and its smaller then the JD to start.


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## Georgia Peach

Clerk said:


> I have 4 salvini at the moment, very aggressive fish. I haven't had them for very long, but I wouldn't really recommend them for a tankmate unless there is only 1, and its smaller then the JD to start.


hmm. OK.. My JD is about 6 inches so whatever I get will be smaller - I cant afford to purchase a 6 inch cichlid!;-)


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## emc7

You can get large oscars cheap on craigslist, but I think they are actually too mild-mannered for the Dempsey, he'd prob. trash them. How about something fast that likes the top of the water like a school of big tetras or rainbowfish?.


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## Georgia Peach

emc7 said:


> You can get large oscars cheap on craigslist, but I think they are actually too mild-mannered for the Dempsey, he'd prob. trash them. How about something fast that likes the top of the water like a school of big tetras or rainbowfish?.


yeah, I agree with you about an Oscar being too mild-mannered. Never thought about something other than a cichlid.. I'll research those..


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## iverson1024

Giant Tetras may work, I had some with my green terrors, the gt's never bothered them, but they fought amongst themselves a lot. A top swimmer like a Gar may work. But your most likely going to want to get another American cichlid, a green terror of nearly equal size (less than 1/2 inch difference) should be able to hold its own, just make sure there a A LOT of places for hiding. I currently have 2 green terrors with 2 firemouths, all within an inch of each other in size, they chase each other around, and they definitely have a pecking order when it comes to feeding time and hiding spots, but they never (well they haven't yet anyway) straight out attack one another. Your best bet is definitely an American cichlid of nearly equal size, or a bottom/top swimmer of equal or greater size.


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## emc7

How about another JD, maybe not a blue one. They were giving them away a few meetings ago.


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## emc7

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/hsh/878141955.html


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## ThatFishKid

The first things that come to mind here would be a pleco or an oscar. (this is, regarding the JD. i don't know about tank size.)


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