EBJD

[paranoid1123]

I have 2 Electric Blue Jack Dempsey's. They seem to grow VERY, VERY, VERY slow I've had them for about 3 months now and they'ed maybe grown 1/4''.(In comparison my oscars have grown at least 4".)
I was wondering if anyone has raised them? Is this the norm, or is something wrong?

Right now they are in a 30 gal tank by themselves, I give them 1 or 2 pellets (Hikari Sinking Cichlid Excel) just about every time I walk by but if they dont see it they wont go after it, and it gets lost in the gravel. They like to hide in a log I put in thier tank. Doing this means I feed them about 30 pellets/day. they can only put one pellet in thier mouths at a time, & I dont wnt to have too much extra food in there tanks.

Any advice in helping the little buggers grow.

[stevenallenbarnard]

in general dempseys grow slower than most new world cichlids. the blues even more so. just be patient, when they hit 8 inches or so you'll be glad you did. also try putting them in a 55g and upping your water changes.

[paranoid1123]

I cant wait for them to get that big, how long untill they do? as soon as they are big enough to go into a tank with 2 oscars, 2 GT, 2 texas cichlids I get to buy a new tank.
Im thinking somewere in the range of a 300 gal 7 footer. I do weekly water changes @ about 80% on all my tanks.

[mark razmandi]

oscars grow FASTTTTTTTT so thats not a suitable comparison, i had an oscar that grew to 10+ inches in a year

[paranoid1123]

well dose anyone know how long it will take for the EBJDs to get to 6-8''?

[mark razmandi]

no clue, a while...you can powerfeed to quicken it up a little

[mark razmandi]

my advice, put them in a barebottom tank and crush some pellets up for them and feed every few hours and mix up their diet with bloodworms, live food, crushed flake etc...thats how my fry grow fast

[paranoid1123]

well there not fry they are at about 2-2 1/2'' somewhere about there. i would like to move them into another tank but it's just not possible right now. looks like my other new worlds are going to get a new tank to themselve before the ebjd get to join them.

[mark razmandi]

oh my bad i thought you said they were a quarter inch big, bare bottom tank, live food and power feed

[stevenallenbarnard]

well dose anyone know how long it will take for the EBJDs to get to 6-8''?

you're looking at 18mos to 2 years easy.

power feeding will help them grow quicker but will also shorten their lives.

[paranoid1123]

I have two 4'' oscars,two 2'' GT, & two 2'' texas cichlids in a 55 for now. I'll keep them there untill the first of the year then I plan on geting at least a 200 gal. I was hopeing to put my ebjds in there with them but I guess I'll just put them in the 55 untill they get bigger.

[mark razmandi]

well im pretty sure the gt and oscars will be a problem together when they get bigger

[MikeWhoTruong]

Mine took 2 years to get that big, these fish have a very weak immune system so you need to be extremely proactive with them. They wont get the size of the regular Jack Dempseys, the biggest I have ever seen them is the size of a large Malawi peacock.

[paranoid1123]

well im pretty sure the gt and oscars will be a problem together when they get bigger

You think I'll still have problems in a 7 foot tank?

[paranoid1123]

Mine took 2 years to get that big, these fish have a very weak immune system so you need to be extremely proactive with them. They wont get the size of the regular Jack Dempseys, the biggest I have ever seen them is the size of a large Malawi peacock.

most of the ones I've seen online are all in the 2-3'' range. but i have seen a few on http://dempsey.6.forumer.com/index.php that were in the 8-10'' range.

also I have had them now for about 3 months now what should i look for as far as immune?