Minimum Tank Size For Jack Dempsey?

[NotReallyCatfishGuy]

I've heard that JDs grow to 12" as males and 8" as females. I'm wondering if I can keep a female in a 55 (Alone with as much filtration as I need), and if not, what the minimum tank size would be. This is just a thought, not a real plan.

Also, in your opinion, what's the prettiest type of JD other than EBs?

 

[Backfromthedead]

Ime, a JD will be fine in a 55, but a 75 is leaps and bounds better, especially if you maybe wanted a pair. I have only seen a couple JDs that were a full 12", and those were wild caught specimens.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

"Minimum tank size" is mostly an opinion. Some people will tell you a 55gal is plenty for a female JD, some will say its not.

Personally (and this is just my opinion) I like to give most fish a tank that is 4x the length of the grown fish in width and at least 8x the grown fish's length long. So a 6" fish in my tank needs a minimum footprint of 2'x4' - with obvious exceptions, example: a 6" silver dollar needs a much longer tank than 4' and I wouldn't keep dollars in a short tank like that long term.

But we're talking cichlids here and they don't tend to be as darty or skittish as dollars can be. An 8" cichlid in my house would have a tank that's roughly 32" wide and 64" long - or as close as I could get to those dimensions. I don't keep large fish if you can't tell already

Wilth all that said, people keep them in 55gal tanks and don't seem to have too many issues so I would assume it can be done, just not something I would do myself.


And the prettiest JD's in my opinion are standard run of the mill JD's. The red undertones and iridescent shine is beautiful, and I much prefer them over the EBJD. Although the EBJD's are pretty, I think the regular old JD's are nicer looking.

 

[Gourami Swami]

55 is fine for a female JD in my opinion. Fine for a male as well until he gets 10" plus which would take a while. I personally like the natural coloration better than the color morphs.