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Hello Man it's been AGES since I visited here....that's kind of embarassing...

I've had my "Jack" for about 1.5 years, now. He's a peaceful community member, although he IS "Tank Boss" He was about the size of yours when I got him, and now looks like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v699/AquaGeek/IM000869.jpg

I think he thought the Gourami was another Blue Dempsey for the first few days??:%)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Mamaschild/80g/04_06_29_Jack_Mr_Man_2.jpg

He's never hurt anyone, loves to handfeed and rushes to the side and wiggles for treats when I walk by. If you have more questions, I will try to answer, but it will only be personal experience.

Last edited by shari at 05-Jan-2006 12:47http://null

Last edited by shari at 05-Jan-2006 12:51

Last edited by shari at 05-Jan-2006 12:52

I think the difference is just the deepness of the blue, but your right, they are different Yours is a Powder Blue, mines a Black Blue.

I'm not sure, but yours might darken up?

And thanks so much for fixing the links I'll get it figured out eventually :%)

No problem Shari...your Jack is quite differnet from my little guy.

Alright, for some reason, I have a lot of trouble linking to images on here, so I hope no one minds doing the copy and paste thing

Thanks for the comments on Jack, Theresa He's my boy

Honestly, he was "Jack" when I got him. He belonged to another keeper a state away from me. When she had to move, and knew she would be downgrading, she offered him up and I took him. She mailed him to me and he's been here every since. I really didn't try to sex him at all, it was the fin growth that simply proved she was right to name him Jack

I'd say he was about .... well, let me go look at some pics and I might be able to tell you

Ok, the pic above with the Gourami is the day I received him, June 29, 2004. Here's one from November 4, 2004. You can see his fins are pointing, so he looks male to me at this point.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Mamaschild/80g/04_11_04Jack.jpg
One from Feb. 4, 2005, definately pointed fins
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Mamaschild/80g/05_02_04Jack.jpg

So I would say, before he got to a year old (assuming he was about 6 months or so when I got him) he was obviously a male. The current pic above shows how big he is now. The facial markings and red edge to the dorsal fin showed up about just a few months ago, so I assume that's a sign of maturity.

BOY would I love to find him a mate http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Mamaschild/80g/04_11_04Jack.jpg

Last edited by shari at 16-Jan-2006 10:14[/font][/font][/font][/font]

Last edited by shari at 16-Jan-2006 10:15

[font color="#000080"]EDIT: Fancied up them links for ya.[/font]

Last edited by sirbooks at 17-Jan-2006 11:58

Thanks for posting the links, great looking fish I'm getting more excited about receiving mine /:'

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Here's the little guy from over a week ago:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e167/d_kelley/P1030128.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e167/d_kelley/P1030120.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e167/d_kelley/P1030113.jpg

Last edited by dkelley at 15-Jan-2006 21:26

Shari...your pics & Jack are great How old/large was yours when you could sex him?

I appreciate this entire thread. I've wanted a blue Jack for a long time, had read about them being a bit less agressive than regular Jacks but it's nice to hear some personal experiences.

I ordered one today /:'

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

You can sign up at www.photobucket.com for free

I got mine on sale...normally $29 and the clerk screwed up the discount that was supposed to be 20% anyway, he looks great...I have pix just don't know where to put them and am too cheap to be a premium member

ahh.... ya they didn't have anything like that. I was looking for something that nice but they only carried this one.. hehe my mistake... but mine will turn out just as beautiful hehe

That is probably a regular Jack Dempsey. It's the "Electric Blue" Jack Dempsey that's expensive

Wow.. I paid less than 5$ for a "jack" about 1,5" to 2"... they had alot of them in the tank though..

Well, I can tell you Jack didn't stop at 4"......

However, if you only paid $20 for him, you got a FABULOUS deal. They run between $59.99 and $75 here.

I can't give advice, yet. This little guy (I don't actually know it's sex) seems to have doubled in size in a couple of weeks. He ate so much last night that I was afraid he was going to die. He looked pregnant and uncomfortable - turning sideways and scraping his side against driftwood. This morning, he's fine and looks ready to eat - I'll skip feeding for today and let him digest food from yesteday. I have a 29 gallon tank and the store where I got the JD told me that he would only get to about 4 inches. They also told me that the Blue varity is less agressive. I picked the most active fish in the tank in hopes that it was the healthiest. It took quite a few tries for them to net him. I'm starting to think that they are wrong about the full grown size and I am thinking that I will be looking at getting a bigger tank in the next year. All that over a $20 fish :#(

He's more comfortable and is already chasing other fish on occasion even though he's the smallest fish in the tank.

I'll post picture links soon.

I'm looking into maybe getting a jack dempsey.. any advice would be appreciated.. i have a 60gal high... 48Lx24Hx12w

Yeah, he's impressed me....tripled in size

hmmmm, I thought I had included his tank mates for you in the first post, but I guess I missed that? Anyway, they are and always have been, Angelfish, Festivum, Gouramis, Congo Tetras, Clown and YoYo Loaches, of course Mr. Pleco , and some others have come through during that time. He's never bothered any of them.

He get's a variety of foods. Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp, basic flake, algea wafers (he carries them around and chews ), shrimp pellets, plus whatever else I toss in there for the Loaches. He's never turned his nose up to anything....eats like a pig.

Thanks for the info. Wow, that's s lot of growth for 1.5 years. Any suggestions on food? At this point it looks like he eats anything that I throw at him.

Last edited by dkelley at 06-Jan-2006 09:24

This is one spectacular fish. I am new to Dempseys though and would appreciate any advice. My new Blue Dempsey is about an inch long and is doing well in the community, eats like a pig and seems healthy and very active.

I have a couple of fancy angels that are very old and large, a couple of blue Gouramis and some rainbow fish. If the Dempsey is going to nest in a cave, he has one goofy and harmlessly aggressive Botia that must be 4” that gets into any cave he can fit into. The Botia chases anything that moves at feeding time. The fish in my tank range in age from 2 to 5 years of age.

They are ALL beautiful, so I wouldn't be suprised