January 23, 2010
Should My Jack Dempsey Fish Tank Have Live Plants?
Q… Should I put plants in the aquarium with my Jack Dempsey cichlids?
A… Not as a rule, no! Jack Dempseys enjoy feasting on plants or at the very least, ripping them out of the gravel. Artificial plants are the only way to go with these energetic cichlids, however you’ll find that they will change your planting scheme contstantly.
If you have a nursery tank full of growing babies, then plants can be very beneficial. They will harbor micro organisms and bacteria that the fry will consume. Small juveniles may not destroy your plants but JDs much larger than 2 1/2 inches can, and probably will make a mess.
Check out this method of making your own DIY artificial plants for your aquarium from green plastic trash bags. It’s not for your show tank but it makes very good shelter for your jeveniles in the nursery.
… Jack Lamountain
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Michael
January 30, 2010 at 12:03 am
How u doing.
I have tried, and tried to keep live plants with my jack, and its been nothing but trouble. One minute the plants look great , where i put them, the next minute all floating on top. Good look if you try!
Aaron Pape
May 25, 2010 at 10:55 pm
hello my name is aaron
i just moved and i change my jack dempsey water and clean is tank like i do every six months and i have notice that he has hidden in his log and dosent eat as much as he used to so i was a little concern and took some of his water in and check it out the ph levels they are fine so i ask them about my fish they said that he might be a little stress out so put in so stress relive in his tank but he still hides in the log so if you can email me back and let me know what i should do that whould be great thanks alot aaron pape
Jasmin
October 25, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I have live plants (wisteria) in w/my Jack and he leaves it alone cept to keep his kill at the base., or nibble occassionally. Its the live plant he prefers over the artificial. He does all his digging in his cave.
Matt
August 8, 2011 at 6:16 pm
I keep my JD (male, ~8″) in a 90g tank with plenty of plants. The only ones that usually come up are tall stem plants with less than adequate roots. I think its more from fish getting stat led near the plants and pull them up as they dart away than it is from digging. My Jack digs out his territory but thats about it as far as digging. If a plants not bothering him then he doesn’t bother the plant & I end up not having t replant anything very often. It did take some getting used to…realizing where I could and couldn’t plant things, what sort of areas he would dig up in a fresh aquascape etc etc. but once I got to know my fish, I haven’t had any major problems keeping my plants.
Other fish include 4 polypterids & a rope fish, african brown knife, black ghost knife, pictus catfish. They’re all living happily ever after so far
Mike
November 19, 2011 at 10:36 pm
I have 4 baby Jacks all living together in my 55 and am waiting to get a pair then I will only keep 2 in there. I just got plants today and well the plants are hard enough to plant and keep planted so if they start digging them up then I dont know what I will do with them. If they dont work its not that big of deal I only bought 2 bundles and if it dont work then I will swithch to using fake plants. I went to Lowes and got a 8″ clay pot that was cracked pefectly on both sides so I got it home and just pulled it apart and it made 2 caves I took the 2 bundles and mixed them on opposite ends of the aquarium trying to make both ends look the same and well it stopped the aggression instantly they split up into 2 groups so I may have 2 sets of boy and girl but I wont know for a while I have read about sexing them and I cant do it because just when I think I have 2 and 2 I look again and think I have 3 females and one male so I dont know what I have! If someone could help make this easier it would be a blessing thanks for reading