# Electric Blue Jack Dempsey



## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

I agree that's weird. I only know a little about cichlid behavior so this could be way off but is it possible they're breeding or have new fry they're touchy about? 

Is there anything that's changed like your work schedule or something- maybe they're used to you coming and going at different times?

do you have roommates or children that could be frightening them somehow? a cat or dog perhaps?

how's the temp? is the heater too high or low?

sorry if you already considered these things just trying to help you think of all the random little things that are easy to overlook.

hope you figure it out!

cheers-K


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## Brownthumb07 (Dec 8, 2009)

My work schedule is the same as always. I haven't moved anything around in the tank. The female is still not mature enough for breeding. EBJD are rather timid so its advised to wait until the male/female EB has reached a good size before introducing their non color morf JDs. I keep the heater at 78 degrees which is within the recomended spectrum. I walked into the bedroom after posting this and the emerald green corys were flying all over the tank also. I'd like to get a handle on this because the EB is so beautiful and I'd rather have him out swimming rather than hiding every time I'm around.


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## Brownthumb07 (Dec 8, 2009)

Also no roomates or kids. I live alone.


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## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

bummer man somethings definitely amiss. i wish i had some better ideas for you.

hopefully someone will come along with the answer.

cheers-K


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## shoteh (Nov 13, 2007)

EBJD are a lot less hardy and active then regular JD's. I have experienced both and they are totally different fish (too bad because they EBJD's are beautiful) Anyway when I was raising JD's he said that when one gets less active it could be because of an internal parasite. Maybe you can check into that?


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

Have you rescaped the tank recently? I rescaped my 29g a few weeks ago and now I never see my fish. The only way I can watch them is to sit in a chair and sit completely still for 2 or 3 minutes until they come out. Then as soon as I move---poof--- they are gone in the caves and plants again.


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

sounds like u need a dither fish. its hard to say why its doing that. not enough hiding places? one of the main reasons i dont want a ebjd is just from there immune deficiency from exessive inbreeding. best thing i would say is try a dither fish to make it feel more secure, common for them to be skittish. how much salt are u puting in if any? and plants to help with cover for him


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## Brownthumb07 (Dec 8, 2009)

He digs so plants dont really help that much. I have a few swords in with him. I'm looking into some floating plants. The lights that came with the tank are horrible. I don't add much salt to the tank. Maybe once a month I put some in. Maybe I should start doing it with every water change. I have black skirted tetras in there also. I forgot to mention them. 15 of them. They and the plecos are the only fish still acting normal.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

this is weird. i would feed them some antibiotic pellets for parasites. when a fish is not feeling well they hide more. also i think it is a good idea to get some floating plants for light control. and one more thing walk slow when you are going to this room. vibrations can freak them out.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

It sounds to me like a water quality issue. I have noticed my africans get funny when somethin is up with the water.


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

try some hornwort or anacharis for floating low light.


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## blackandyellow (Jul 1, 2009)

HypnoticAquatic said:


> sounds like u need a dither fish. its hard to say why its doing that. not enough hiding places? one of the main reasons i dont want a ebjd is just from there immune deficiency from exessive inbreeding. best thing i would say is try a dither fish to make it feel more secure, common for them to be skittish. how much salt are u puting in if any? and plants to help with cover for him


Agree. Dither fish always tend to help. The problem is going to be finding a dither fish that the JDs won´t chomp.

I have the same problem with my silver dollars. They used to be great, but ever since the carpenter worked on the wood stand with the fish in it they freak out, bumping on the glass and sending everyone on a crazy stampede.

I have a pair of zebra danios and a group of 15 red eye tetras which unfortunately also freak out with the SDs. Even my once totally tamed pleco now stays hiding all the time. The SDs are huge now so if one freaks the rest follows up immediately


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## Brownthumb07 (Dec 8, 2009)

I dosed the tank with JPC and 3 days later all fish are back to normal. Still didn't see any signs of parasite/bacterial infection, but it worked.


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## shoteh (Nov 13, 2007)

That's the thing with some parasites, you won't see them if they are internal. Good to hear they are back to normal.


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