Oscar and Jack Dempsey

[Destiny101918]

Hi.
I am new to the board. I have a tank with an oscar in it. About a week ago my other oscar died because of disease. I decided to get other fish and got a Jack Dempsey. Put him in yesterday and the oscar has got him cornered in the tank and the second he comes out the oscar chases him all over till he hides behind the filter again. I heard that Jack Dempsey's are one of the most agressive fish. But my oscar is attacking him. The Jack dempsey is about an inch bigger than the oscar. What do I do? Any ideas?

Thanx,
Destiny

 

[Avalon]

JD's aren't nearly as aggressive as some speculate. They are typically loners, that is, until they find a mate! When this happens, the JD can be very defensive of his territory. Of course, there is always the question of personality. Some can be mean, but most are not. Until the JD can establish a place in your tank to call his/her own, JD's can easily be bullied. This will usually change when the fish settles in.

You might consider rearranging the decor in your tank so that they both have to establish territories again, putting them on level ground. You could also add some more decor that obstructs the views of both fish's territory. I don't think the filter will make good territory.

 

[Cichlidian]

The oscar has studied the geography of the tank and the JD hasn't. In many cases Oscars are not territorial instead they tend to tk over the whole tank.
What i'd do is, remove both and re arrange the tank decor then drop both making an illusion that both are in a new tank. I'd also set up territories at the farthest ends of the tank.
Even then if the prob persist i'd say adding a target fish would do the job.

 

[Purple]

Agreed - the Oscars thinks it's his tank - and the Jack respects that territory and so won't argue.......yet

This can change with time (about a month) when the roles will be reversed. Unless that's at least a 5 ft tank you could see a lot of scales flying about soon.

 

[TaffyFish]

Yes, I would do as Avalon and Cichlidian suggest. While the O and JD are out in separate buckets you need to create separate territories for them, ideally at either end of the tank. Whether this proves to be successful or not depends on the size of the tank and the individual characters of your fish. Like Purple says, this may change over time so you've not got any guarantee of medium- or long-term success. Best of luck

What disease did the last O die from, is the tank now clear of it?

 

[Stratusfaction]

That's just odd. I have nothing to say to really help but I HAD an Oscar and a JD the JD was a little smaller than the Oscar and the JD had reign over the tank. But I got rid of that Oscar and traded him in and got a Red Devil. (The fish I talk about aren't nescessarily in the same tank) just so the rest of you know.

-David

 

[kikuchiyo]

Ah, fish psychology. The Oscar was there first, its his territory, the JD is a newbie.

 

[Destiny101918]

Thanx for the info. I will remove both and replace after re-arranging things. Not sure what my other oscar had. My b/f said he was sick. But I am beginning to think the the oscar i have now killed it. Because I was home all day yesterday and there are many scales and fins floating in the water. Seems that he is just not okay with other fish. He even chases the sucker fish all over the tank. but he is small and can hide easier.

 

[Cichlidian]

If he's very agressive dump in a lot of broken flower pots in. Tht's wht i do in case of any agression in my tanks. I was able to put an oscar and a texas just by increasing the no.of territories.

 

[DannyJ88]

Ya you definetly have to make him his own territory. I have a JD with 2 oscars and they get along fine. Theres also a pirahna who wil be moved soon, but the JD has a cave, the pirahna has a cave and the 2 oscars just swim around the entire tank. The JD sometimes swims with the oscars and theres never any confrontation between them. Only at feeding time when the big oscar takes control and wont let anything else eat until hes started