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Hi,
Today i bought a fish that was labelled as a Jack Dempsey, but he looked quite different to all the other ones that were supposed to be jacks too. Also he was hiding behind the filter, too scared to come out. All the others were very fiesty and active. The one i bought is brownish with black stripes. All the photos on the net show adult jacks, so i don't know if this is juvenile colouration. The other jacks were a creamy type colour with coloured spots, and were the same size. If anyone can tell me if i have a jack or not, or direct me to some photos of young ones i would be greatfull. Oh and he is in a 170L tank with 6 blue tetras. Thanks!

Can you post a pic?

http://www.aquamojo.com/dempsey.html

Scroll down, there should be a few pics at the bottom of the page. HTH


Another link:

http://centralpets.com/pages/display_user_photos.php?who=zuLO59jMzOVlQNPZ16HZyu0%3D

Last edited by livebait at 29-Jan-2005 01:34

Well the other ones, the creamy ones with spots sound like Jack Dempseys, while your's doesn't. But i picture would greatly help.

You can use a site like [link=PhotoBucket.com]http://www.photobucket.com" style="COLOR: #000000[/link] to host pictures, then post them on this site or link to them.

Hope this helps.

-- Gomer

thank's for those links - yeah he doesn't look like the juvenile ones. He is not speckled like them, and he has more of a sloping head. His lips don't seem as full, and his colouring is quite different. I will post a pic hopefully tomorrow. His base colour is tan brown, he has a black strip from eye to tail, and dark brown vertical splotchey stripes. His head has splotches of brown on it. His eye is kinda dark coloured. The other lighter fish definately looked like jack dempseys.
I had a look through a cichlid book at the lfs when i bought him, but couldn't find anything that looked like him. Thanks for the help.

misty, could it be a [link=jaguar]http://nis.gsmfc.org/nis_factsheet.php?toc_id=175" style="COLOR: #FF8080[/link]? your fish kinda matches the description of a jag.

the colouration of female jaguars looks very similar. The only problem is that it is very timid. it hides when i come to the tank. It also likes to perch itself in the grassy plant at the back of the tank or on the heater. Maybe it's very young and will get more aggressive as it gets older - i don't know. Also it likes to sit in caves. What do you think? Does it sound like a jaguar personality?
Otherwise, the description of a badis badis sounded very similar but alot of the pictures didn't really look right.
Thanks guys!

ok here are 2 photos. they are bad quality but it was the best i could do at the time. He/she is relaxing on the heater. oh i've never used my yahoo photos thing before, so let me know if it doesn't work.
http://au.photos.yahoo.com/misty666660/

the pictures showed up fine for me. It's not a jag, but I do think it's a close relative of the jag. Looks like a juvenile P. loisellei or P. friedrichsthalli. It's difficult to say for sure but it sure has a Parachromis look. If it is one of these species, it will grow to a max. of around 12" and not be nearly as aggressive as a jag. These fish are still very territorial, but they will be very shy and reclusive as juveniles. They won't start showing territorial or aggressive behavior until they reach maturity which I'd expect to be around the time the fish gets to 4-6".

All Parachromis species are avid predators and in the wild a large part of their diet consists of smaller fish. They are great hunters which is why he/she is going after your tetras. I'd remove them very soon or they'll likely be gone.

i've separated the tetras and the parachromis.
So do they grow very fast? And would they be agressive towards fish of their own size or larger? I was planning on some jurapari but now i'm unsure. If he grows fast i will run out of room pretty quick i should think. Thanks for your info, i'm glad i know what he is.

Yep, from your photos, definitely not a JD.

Looks like either a Jag or Freddy. Great looking fish none-the-less.

if this helps - when he doesn't know i'm watching him he has a sort of green/blue colour, and the horizontal stripe is visible. When he is scared the tan brown vertical stripes show up and he looks quite brown. Thanks for your help everyone!

it could also be a P. motaguense. I really don't think it's a jag though...the mouth/snout is too short. also jags have a stronger looking, protruding lower jaw. the upper and lower jaws of your fish look even. so I'd say either P. loisellei, P. friedrichsthalli or P. motaguense. It could be rather hard to tell till it gets bigger. Just a note though, if it happens to be P. motaguense, these fish are very aggressive...possibly matching a red devil in sheer aggression. Many argue that P. motaguense, for their size, are the most aggressive species of the Parachromis genus.

Well, it's definately NOT a jd. To me it looks EXACTLY like a juvenile Salvini which I have kept in the past. I have a feeling that if you compared your fish to a pic of a juvenile salvini that you would agree.

i had a look at the salvini pics on the web. I'm not sure but i think my guy has a longer head than the salvini. It's hard to be sure though. It did state that they were ambush predators which is what he seems to be.

Could be a Mota or Salvini. I wouldnt rule out those possibilities until the fish puts on more size. Could be a salvini since you said he displays blue in color.



Last edited by livebait at 02-Feb-2005 19:45

id say he looks like a salvani to but hes deffinately not a jack thats for sure