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is this a jack demp fry? the girls in the store weren't sure
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sandsea_88/detail?.dir=adbe&.dnm=5a12.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sandsea_88/detail?.dir=adbe&.dnm=df55.jpg&.src=ph

im pretty sure it is. you also can't keep JDs with platies.

hahahaha. he's new, so i'm keeping him separated from the other fish, but i didnt want him to be lonely, so him and the platys are together for now
i know those were terrible pix, so thx for looking!

Ya thats a for sure a Jack Dempsey fry, even when there that small they will chase and nip at those platies fins, so keep an eye on that combo, when are you moving him to a new tank?

I'm so glad to hear from two of you that he's a Jack D.! that's what i wanted. well i want to get him used to eating from the top of the water, not just the bottom, so I'm keeping him in this little tank with the platys for a week or so. plus you never know if he's healthy as he came from petsmart. he gets along fine with the platys, in fact he's usually quite dark and colorful since they've been together. he looked quite pale in the store. he got a little pale when i moved the tank up on the kitchen counter to take the pix. BUT when he's with his platy girlfriend he's quite colorful and he shows his fins off nicely. he's quite a little man i guess! or he's a pretty girl! hahahah. he doesn't seem to like any of the food i've tried EXCEPT the dried out bloodworms. he spits out the rest. at least i think he's still spitting it out. when i come home at the end of the day the food is gone but platys could have ate it all. so anyway i want to keep my eyeball on him for a week or 3.

how fast will he grow?

They're known to be slow growers but not as slow as a green terror though. blood worms are too high in protein for cichlids so feed it sparingly. once it gets hungry it will eat anything.

I don't think there slow growers at all, mine seemed to grow like weeds. I had a 55gallon and I bought 5 , they grew really fast, and they love floating cichlid pellets, get the mini ones for the juvenile, if you want to see some nice colors come out in them, get some algae wafers and break them into little bits that will fit in its mouth, they love pecking at them.

well it's almost 2 months since i 1st posted this. he's still a little picky in what he eats but he's doubled his size. he eats 3 times a day and he'll eat regular flake food. he's not interested in any of the many pellets nor algae tabs that i have tried. i still have him with two platys (they are DWARF platys, so they are small) and he is bigger than they are but he gets along fine with them.
they are very old maybe 2.5 years now, so hopefully they'll live out their lives with him to keep him company.
he only has one eye, so i dont want him with any aggressive fish, but i dont like leaving him all alone either.

in answer to QUICKSILVER: he's staying in a 5 gallon for awhile. it's huge for him plus this way i can keep it on the kithcen counter and vacuum a few times a week very easily bcuz he's a messy eater. half his food comes spewing out of his mouth when he eats. i like keeping his water very clean bcuz he only has one eye.

he's staying in a 5 gallon for awhile. it's huge

Oh my!

That would explain why he isn't growing very fast. You are going to stunt his growth. He needs to be moved to a bgger tank as soon as possible. You could get away with a 20 gal for now but within a year, he'll need at least a 55 gal or bigger if he is going to have any mates.

Remeber to read through the post fully before commenting rudely. As this is clearly a learning process for the developing fish keepers. This fish is not growing slow at all, and yes, you should start looking for a larger tank soon, if you plan on keeping him throughout its life. I'm glad that you saved this fish, other wise that fish would have been killed if it weren't for you buying him.

But keep in mind that the fish you have right now can get to a size of 8inches, which means he will barely be able to turn around in a tank of 5gallons. While there outer exterior will be stunted the inner organs of the fish will keep growing, which will cause great discomfort and eventually death for the Jack Dempsey. If money is a factor look in your local papers for fish tanks alot of good sized tank 40gallons + (min sized tanks for Jack Dempseys) will be sold at low costs, just keep and eye out, plus with larger tanks the cleaning isn't as bad as most would think, the waste wont build up as noticabley fast as in the 5gallon, plus in a larger tank, you could make a great home for him, with plant pots which my jacks absolutely loved to hide and play in. PM me I can give you tips on making homes out of plant pots. Good luck with the fish, I know you'll do your best for your fish.

Yes I did get one of his responses mixed up with someone elses. I tried to go back and edit my reply but it wouldn't let me.

My post was not meant to be rude. It was meant as an exclamation point. A JD in a 5 gal is a problem that needs to be fixed ASAP.