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Jack Dempsey

Family: Cichlidae

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Cichlasoma (Cichlasoma) octofasciatum Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   The Jack Dempsey is one of the most interesting and beautiful of the American cichlids!

   A mature Jack Dempsey displays magnificent color, covered with light blue spangley spots all over its body (the female has fewer spots). The male also has bright red edges on its dorsal and anal fins. This is a beautiful fish, but It takes over a year for it to develop full coloration. Today there are some captive bred color varieties with one of the most notable being the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey.

   When first introduced to the aquarium hobby, this fish was considered quite ferocious. It was named after "Jack Dempsey" the 1919 Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. Although it is rather aggressive it is not nearly as combative or aggressive as some of the cichlids later introduced, such as the Red Devil.

   The JacK Dempsey is a very attractive show type fish, and will do well if provided with adequate space and compatible tankmates. It likes a tank bottom of fine sand, plenty of hiding places among rocks and wood, and a cover of floating plants. They do burrow and will eat the plants. They are one of the easiest cichlids to get to spawn, though when kept in pairs they can become territorial, intolerant, and biters. The Jack Dempsey is easiest to keep either singly or in large groups.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:
   The Jack Dempsey was described by Regan in 1903. They are found in North and Central America; Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Yucatan, and Honduras. They inhabit bogs and other slow moving, swampy warm waters, living among weedy areas with sandy or muddy bottoms. They feed on worms, crustaceans, insects and fish.

Status:
   This species is not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:
   The body of the Jack Dempsey is stocky and compact. Adults are striking colored having a dark purple-gray background contrasted with brilliant iridescent blue, green, and gold flecks. Males develop long pointed dorsal and anal fins and may also have a round black spot in the center of the body and at the base of the tail. Juveniles are less brilliant, having light gray or tan background with faint turquoise flecks. If stressed or moody these fish can exhibit great color change in the aquarium, and also with age. Stressed fish will be lighter and their spots will be less striking.

Size - Weight:
   These fish get up to 8 inches (20 cm).

Care and feeding:
   Since they are omnivorous, the Jack Dempsey will generally eat all kinds of live, fresh, and flake or pelleted foods. They get quite large so they should be fed a high quality pelleted food and large chunk foods such as meat or fish.
   A minimum 50 gallon aquarium is suggested for a a single fish, though a larger tank would be needed if keeping more. They need good water movement along with strong and efficient filtration. Provide a bottom of fine sand and plenty of hiding places among rocks and wood. Plants are appreciated but should be hardy, such as Sagittaria. Place the plants around the inside perimeter leaving an open area in the center for swimming. The plants should be potted to protect the roots.
   The Jack Dempsey is a rewarding specimen for the aquarist as it is moderately easy to keep as long as the aquarium is maintained. They are subject to infections as well as other diseases that ail all freshwater fish. To help prevent the notorious 'Hole-in-the-Head' disease (HLLE - Head and Lateral Line Disease) that large cichlids are prone to, do water changes of 20 to 25% a week, depending on bio load

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
  Although the Jack Dempsey can tolerate a fairly wide range of conditions, it has been suggested that warmer temperatures lead to more aggression in this fish. Many aquarists will keep the maximum aquarium temperature below 78° F (26° C) to help reduce antagonism.
   Hardness: 8-12° dGH
   Ph: 6.5-7.0
   Temperature: 72 - 86° F (22 - 30° C)

Social Behaviors:
   The Jack Dempsey is not considered a good community fish as they get territorial, especially against its own kind and similar species. They also can get more territorial as they get older and so may need to be kept individually in a species tank. If keeping more than one, it is easier and safer for them to keep them in large groups rather than in pairs.

Sexual Differences:
   The male has a longer and more pointed dorsal fin than the female. The male may also have a round black spot in the center of the body and at the base of the tail. The female has fewer spots than the male.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Jack Dempsey's are egg layers. The female will lay 500-800 eggs on carefully cleaned rocks. They form a nuclear family. The fry are kept in pits and are guarded by both the male and female in the manner of "monogamous cichlid" breeders. See the description of how to breed these fish in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Buy Jack Dempsey From LiveAquaria.com

Availability:
   The Jack Dempsey is readily available available both online and in fish stores and are inexpensive, starting at about $4.00 USD.

Author: David Brough, CFS

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Latest Comments
I just got a JD today and he is already my favorite fish. I have an oscar that tries to boss him around (might I add that he is 3x his size), but the JD is boss. Whenever I walk into the room he shoots back into his little cave. I also HAD guppies for the oscar to eat, but guess who ate them! If anyone knows tricks on how I can get him to like me, pls add in your next comment! Hope you definitely get one! Jon Hurley 2009-03-29
They killed my gold severum. Now I have another jd a bit bigger then my texas. They lip locked twice but now my texas chases it and it won't fight back. I heard it will fight back after awhile. The original jd is doing great, he likes ham and turkey =D riley 2009-02-21
Hey, I got a gold severum in with my jd and texas now. I fed them a few live feeders and my texas ate all 3 of the feeders in 2 hours, lol. riley 2009-02-15
Hi, Ii got a new gold severum. Now it is the same size as my texas, but it is a wimp. It's afraid of the texas and strangely the 1 inch dempsey, lol. My dempsey won't allow any fish to take over his treasure chest hiding spot. He shoved my gold severum outta the way, then bit it. So far my texas has tried liplocking with both. I think it is entertaining to see. I think the gold severum is a waste of 14$, but my parents say it brightens up the tank with its yellow. My texas is starting to get these turquoise shiny speckles and my dempsey is getting these glittery dots on his sides. I find them rather pretty fish, they are a fish to be proud of. All hail jack dempseys, =D riley 2009-02-11
Hi, I have a 1 inch dempsey with a 2 inch texas cichlid in a 20 gallon. I plan on getting at least a 50 gallon when they are a bit bigger and a few more hiding places. I love my fish, I've heard dempseys can be rather playful. riley 2009-02-10
Some of the coolest comments:
I really love Amphilophus (Cichlasoma) octofasciatum commonly know as the Jack Dempsey. My aquatic hobbyist activities usually focus on Angelfish breeding which can become tedious at times. Many years ago a friend gave me a few Jacks he had raised from fry in his tanks as a diversion from the frustrations of breeding Angelfish. Wow, these fish are as rewarding and easy to breed fish as Guppies. They have fantastic coloration that changes with their mood. They are large enough to enjoy visually from a across the room or directly in front of the tank. I wish Angelfish had as much coloration. They do tend to lazily hide in the background or other hiding places such as caves but put on a heck of a show at feeding time. It is important to provide caves if you want to breed them but they are not nearly as fussy about water quality as Angelfish. They do their own tank arranging. They tend to create depressions in the substrate all the way to the bottom of the tank and for this reason I suggest avoiding under gravel filtration. The only down side to keeping Jacks is they are not very live plant friendly and only get along well with a limited number of tank mates. Johnny Jojnson 2007-02-25
I purchased a two inch a pair of Jacks from the local pet shop. At first they got along well until one began growing significantly larger than the other. I was pretty sure they were a pair when I bought them. The larger one began his mating dance, shuddering and shaking around her, but she was playing hard to get. Finally he began chasing her to the point that one day she was just laying beaten and battered, fins missing on the top of the tank behind the heater. I took her out and nursed her back to health in a small two and a half gallon hospital tank for about a month. I then placed her tank directly in front of his thirty gallon. They saw each other and began following each other back and forth. I let this go on for two weeks. One day I put a piece of paper between the tanks blocking his view of her. He got very upset and was obvoiusly looking for her. After two days I put her in his tank and he began mating behavior again. By the third day he began chasing her around the tank, so I took her out and placed her in the small tank within his view again for a week. Then I reintroduced them. Five days later she laid several hundred eggs on top of and inside of a flower pot and the two of them now swim side by side when she's not fanning and guarding the eggs. I'm not sure when they will hatch, but it has been a real fun adventure to say the least. I have had FW, SW and reef tanks for forty years, but this is the first time I intentially manipulated breeding. Can't wait for the sequel. docpat 2006-06-26

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