January 18, 2010
ELECTRIC BLUE JACK DEMPSEY CICHLID
Common name: Blue Dempsey, Electric Blue Dempsey
Scientific name: Archocentrus octofaciatus, var. blue
Origin: Veracruz, Mexico to Honduras (aquarium accidental discovery by Hector Luzardo)
Adult Length: 8 to 10 inches
Minimum Tank Size: 40 gallon
Sexing: Difficult without vent examination
Breeding: Go to: Breeding Electric Blue Jack Dempseys
Diet Requirements: Not a picky eater…typical carnivore faire will do just fine. Cichlid pellets, earth worms, etc.. Go to: Feeding Jack Dempseys - Quality, Not Quantity
Profile Created for Tropical Resources by: Tommy Lay
Photo Credit: Tommy Lay
General Information: Easily labeled as one of the most beautiful freshwater fish in the hobby, not much scientific data is available for the Blue Dempsey also commonly called the Electric Blue Dempsey. As a result, internet “hearsay” including falsehoods have spread and become prevalent beliefs. One of these falsehoods is the belief that this fish is a hybrid which is not true. Electric Blue Dempseys are a natural occurring variant of the Jack Dempsey, a popular aquarium fish from Central America. The fact is that the variant was not recognized and developed until recent years after being accidently discovered in an aquarium by Hector Luzardo. It is thought that the species was missed previously due to early breeders of Jack Dempseys considered the smaller “blueish” fry to be runts and were generally culled from their spawns. What is known now is that the blue variant fish grows somewhat smaller than the regular Dempsey and while still a territorial cichlid, they are less agressive than the other.
kbuntu
January 20, 2010 at 4:53 am
I’ve always liked Blue Dempsey’s. Problem is finding quality specimen. Most of them are bred in asia and look very very dull.
EBJDs – Electric Blue Jack Dempseys! | Greg(theCrazyFishGuy)'s Aquarium Research
October 5, 2010 at 9:23 am
[...] http://jackdempseycichlid.com/general/electric-blue-jack-dempsey-cichlid/ This entry was posted in Genetics. Bookmark the permalink. ← Tank Volume Calculations: A Quick Lesson in Geometry [...]
cliff
February 28, 2011 at 2:13 pm
I have recently got one it is very young dont know if it is male or female can youhelp possibley
jackarthur46
February 28, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Hello Sk4whatever… It is difficult to tell male from female at a very young age. Check out the photos on my website and watch for color changes in your fish. In my photos, the female is almost always the smaller with richer colors around the head. Send me a photo and I’ll see if I can tell and let you know. Have fun.
Jack Lamountain / The World Of Jack Dempsey Cichlids
burakula
March 25, 2011 at 9:08 pm
hi everyone..i m a new EBJD breeder from turkey..i ve looked for 1 year for an orginal EBJD childs an found 14 baby at last..they all 2-3 months age and 3-4 cm long..but really i need some helps..first :how do i breed this babies..now i use dainichi colour fx baby and veggie fx baby 4 days in a week..other days i gine them danex larviva-tetra discus and sirulina tabs..and all day i breed them with live daphnia which i growt..is it ok for now?thank for everybody..have a nice fish…
Levi
April 22, 2011 at 9:55 am
Hi, i was wondering if there is some special trick to keeping these cute little guys alive i have gone through 5 different EBJD when they had been about the size of a dime they grew about 2-21/2 inches then stopped eating so i went down to the LFS and thought i would try again this time i bought a pair of them same thing happened got to about 2 inces then both stopped eating i had been feeding them bloodworms brine shrimp and lettuce and they ate just fine at first i decided to try yet again bought another pair and sure enough both died at about 2 inches so i had given up (they are still a bit pricey for how much they keep dying) and i want to try again (once the wife will let me) but need to know what i need to do to keep these little buggers alive any suggestions would be much appreciated
john
May 16, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Hi levi, I just got a pare of eb jack dempseys and they are fine with all of my other fish. All of the fish i have are aggresive and my baby ebs are the ones that seem like their getting the most respect. Ive been feeding them chiclid flakes. They tear them up and the other fish do too. I just got three new fish at this place called the hidden reef and let me tell you, it was a fish store the sisze of kmart. If i were you i would try to feed them the chiclid flakes or chiclid pellets.
Tony
May 22, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Hi Levi. I Got my first EBJD about 11 months ago at about an inch. I was feeding him the flakes and chiclid pellets and it seemed that he was not growing at all until about 6 months ago i bought home some left over earthworms and i gave 1 and he destroyed it. Since then i give him at least 1 to 3 a day and he has grown to about 6 inches. i also do a water change once every two weeks. Good Luck.
tanner
July 9, 2011 at 3:23 am
I just bought 2 EBJD for my aquarium and first of all i must say they look amazing ! they are still very young but i can already see a nice blue starting to come through near their head ! i noticed that it seemed like they were fighting a little, nothing really agressive, when i first got them and they have stopped recently so i just wanted to know if that was just due to their agressive nature ? and im also curious if they will eat ghost shrimp because i know a place where i can get a ton for cheap !
Jrad
July 20, 2011 at 10:07 am
I have a male and a female about 8 months old I feed them frozen foods only, blood worms when they were young and now krill and silver sides, with a bit of frozen nutrimax. It sounds expensive but with just two fish and a fresh water moray it’s actually pretty cheap and my fish are beautiful and very healthy. P.S pleas don’t tell me there is no such thing as a fresh water moray because mine is 5 years old and lives in treated tap water
George Vega
August 21, 2011 at 8:00 pm
These are awesome little critters!
What I learned through my experience is that at times, males tend to be very territorial. I had 3 at the same time. One was about an inch big, the other two were about 2 inches in size. These two would generally hang together most of the time; one would always follow the other around— the smaller one tends to swim elsewhere along. After a while, I noticed that the Alfa, the leader that would get followed would pick-off the follower till eventually it died of what I believe to be stress. The leader (alfa) EBJD fish would show exuberant bright blue colors were as the follower would be a pail whitish with minimal blue. It would change color from blue to white colors when the other would in a sense “shu” him away. That fish eventually died— now I have the Alfa fish which is almost 4” Alfa the smallest of them which is about 2” They are both doing great in a community tank. Hope this helps–
tod tofil
August 26, 2011 at 7:10 pm
fintastic aquariums manchester ct 970 main street has electric blue dempseys
Bstein
October 22, 2011 at 9:58 pm
How do you sex electric blue jack dempseys
Tamara
November 9, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I have just purchased a very small EBJD. I am told that he/she? comes from two very high quality specimens so I am very excited about this new acquisition. However, this little guy is very small. Almost all black and white with a hint of turquoise blue on the head. I think he is much younger than the 8 week old depicted above. I have him in my main aquarium in a breeder net box. I have two questions. 1.) What should I be feeding him? (he is being fed crushed cichlid pellets now.) 2.) How long should I keep him in the breeder net? I have Parkinson Rainbows, Irian Rainbows, two 2″ silver dollars, 2 blue and 2 gold Gouramis, a 14″ reed fish, a very slow and clumsy cray fish, various tetras, a butterfly fish, and a medium sized angel fish. (I have a large tank.)
Say goodbye...
January 31, 2012 at 5:59 am
Say goodbye to all those other fish basically once it matures and grows. Itll eithor eat the smaller much less aggressive fish like the tetras, and or just kill the others dues to territorality. The EBJD is very aggressive as opposed to like an African Cichlid which are just, aggresive. They love rocks and stumps to make a home and claim a territory around.