Comments on: Why is my Jack Dempsey so pale and colorless?

By: Brenda

Brenda — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 05:04:22 +0000

i bought 2 jd 2 months ago. the guy who sold them to me told me they were 2 yrs old. i love these fishes, they are fun to watch and nice to take care of. I been reading, and buying various things because i want them to look pretty and colorful like i know they can look. I feed them different foods from frozen. live and dry. the water temp is at 77 (in the middle) because i noticed when i had it at 80 one of them got somewhat aggressive. they get along tho. the tank is 60 gallon but they are always together. anyway. my question is what tank background would make them feel more at ease (color wise).. and does noise make them stressful like the tv, music, voices etc?

By: Joeallev972

Joeallev972 — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:07:54 +0000

I have a fairly young JD and he’s been laying on bottom of the tank hardly moving his fins with his mouth open. I got him to take a pellet but his jaws don’t close to chew it up. He’s pretty much been this way for a day now. I did a water change and vacuumed gravel(40% water change) Nay help will be greatly appreciated. He’s in a 46 gallon tank with an Oscar and 2 yellow Mbunas all young fish at this point. Nitrites,Nitrates

By: mike

mike — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:38:25 +0000

by chance do u think there is another way for me to get there color back

By: jackarthur46

jackarthur46 — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:28:02 +0000

AJ, your Jack Dempsey needs a friend or at least another fish in the tank. Think about another cichlid about his same size.

By: Aj

Aj — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:17:10 +0000

Oops I meant dull in color

By: Aj

Aj — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:15:30 +0000

I’ve had my jd for almost a month now.. It’s the only fish in my 20 gal tank and it just stays towards the bottom and the only time it’s active is to move all the gravel to one side of the tank.. It’s always been full in color. Wats wrong or is it normal for them to be so inactive I just want to make sure it’s alright

By: mike

mike — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:34:02 +0000

dear jackarthur46
i have 2 jds and the have seemed to lose color and i have 4 feeder fish in my 55 gallon tank with then and they havent touched them. what do i do about that? when i got them they didnt have much color anyways i also wanted to no if there was a treatment that i could give them so they can get better

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:48:58 +0000

About 5 months ago I purchused a JD. Along with other chiclids. One a Bumble bee and not quite sure about the other one. I know that it is a African chiclid. Also have a Tiger barb. The Tiger barb was in the tank frist and is full grown. Everyday they are fed pellets and flakes. So far they are getting along. The Bumble bee has gotten huge. All of the other are growing at the same rate. Question: Do you think that they will keep getting along? So far no color change. Could it be that as long they are well fed that they will keep getting along? They were also the same size when I got them.
Thank you

By: Techtonyc

Techtonyc — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:09:09 +0000

Jack Dempseys need a water temp of 77-86 degrees Fahrenheit. So you definitely need a heater.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:42:00 +0000

hi there,
i have purchased 2 JD’s about 5 months ago so guessing they are around 6-8 months old but they seem to be really dark in colour almost black is this normal? the only real bit of colour is a red pin stripe across the top of the dorsal fin, they are in a very large tank with a mixture of other cichlids and tropical fish but i have not noticed any bullying atall (touch wood) , and they are only an inch and a half in size any tips or answers would be great, they are really healthy just starting to wonder what should be happening and want to be sure they are happy!,
cheers jake