Scientific Name: Rocio octofasciata
Origin: Central America, Honduras, Guatemala
Life-span 5 years
Temperature: 77° to 82°F (22 to 30°C)
Food: Flake food, bloodworms, tubifex, brine shrimp, guppies, frozen foods. They are a carnivore so they prefer animal-based food
Care: Jack Dempsey cichlids are more aggressive than most fish. They can grow to 10-12 inches long but generally only get around 9 or 10 inches in aquariums. I would recommend not putting live plants in the aquarium because Jack Dempseys will rearrange the aquarium however they want! I've commonly had mine pile all of the gravel up to the front of the tank! They enjoy places to hide and swim in and out of.
Darker gravel will bring out their colors. If you use light colored gravel the Jack Dempsey will be very light colored and dull. A minimum of 20 gallons is needed for a Jack Dempsey. They don't play well with other fish so be careful about mixing species.
Sexing: Females tend to have more blue on their faces and their spots occur all over their face, while males colored spots generally stop about halfway down their head. Some say you can tell by the shape of the fins but I have found many exceptions to this rule.
I have two juvenile Jack Dempseys, photos to come soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment