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WHO AM I?

13K views 47 replies 9 participants last post by  FAMILYOFFISHLOVERS 
#1 ·
i am new here and new to cichlids. i bought this guy or girl in indiana, they said it is an electric blue jack dempsy. and i got him for $20.00. he is about 5-6 inches long. and has gorgeous blue/black and green coloring. his name is 1 eyed jack and they also said he was a good breeding fish. they were unsure of sex. i hope i got the picture downloaded right. be i shall give it a try.
thank you,
renee

http://myworld.ebay.com/rj1jigsaw

i cant figure out how to download the picture so i left a url. his picture is in the top lefthand corner.
thanks again,
renee
 
#8 ·
thank you so much. my husband had a recent heart attack and he had to find a relaxing hobby. he chose fish - cichlids. he comes home with these new fish he picked because he liked the way they look. i ask him what kind is it he always says i dont know. then i gotta hunt around for it. i dont like having things i know nothing about , since i am the one that has to feed them, clean out the tank, tank set up and the whole 9 yards. i know how to take care tanks and fish in generl cause i had fish for many many years just never cichlids. so i most likely will be back with lots more of who am i? so i can adjust tanks accordingly.

i also now know how to download pictures properly thanks to gbleeker - you are awsome thank you.

so here he/she is.

his name is one eyed jack!

 
#9 ·
That is an EBJD, but he looks to be in horrible shape (or really old) and his mouth looks either deformed or injured. My advice would be to pass on this fish. If you already have it, then good luck.

With fins that are that damaged he(or she) has either been the victim of lots of beating, or a victime of really crummy water. Both can severely affect health and longevity.
 
#10 ·
yeah i bought him for $20.00. his name is one eyed jack for a reason:

as the owner stated to me, he was abused by other tank mates got in a very bad fight and lost one of his eyes.

i had asked if he was a ebjd because he did look a little funky to me, but i guess it was just more than his eye that was damaged.

i felt so sorry for the big guy, i bought him because they were going to dispose of him, i couldnt let that happen.
 
#11 ·
He's just 5-6 inches? Looks bigger than that.

It is an EBJD, and he does look rough. But with frequent water changes (pristine water) and a little TLC, he should be fine. Be very careful what you feed him and don't overfeed.

You should be warned, though...These guys have a myriad of health problems, and after being subjected to questionable care earlier in his life, you might have your hands full with him.

I hope he does well, and I hope to see some more pics once you get him back in shape.

What are you housing him with? They are a bit milder tempered than the regular JD's, but one of these can easily claim an entire 75G tank as their own.

Kim
 
#12 ·
it is a zoomed picture. but he is very short and very fat.
currently he is not eating that well just very little bit and does not move around much.
but he is currently in a 20g tank. by himself.

so he doesnt get freaked out by other fish.

but i do hope to get him into a bigger tank.
and i will post new pics of him as he gets better and bigger.!!
 
#13 ·
If this guy isn't eating well, I would start trying to feed him some medicated (antiparasitic) food right away...I just can stress enough how easy it is to lose these guys overnight. They are one of the most "delicate" fish I've ever kept.

Was the 20G properly cycled before you added him?

He is going to need a much larger tank if he starts feeling better, and the small tank may be adding to his stress at this point.

Kim
 
#14 ·
where can i get this food at?
would say petsmart carry it?
and what is the best kind i could get? brand.

yes i do plan on getting him a bigger tank hopefully in the next 2 weeks. but the biggest tank that would fit in that spot is about a 30g. maybe a 40g. i would have to measure. to know for sure.

the tank he is in now had fish in it before i just rearrange so he could be in there by himself.

so this tank was set up for quite some time.

about 8 months.
 
#16 ·
You should be able to get the antiparasitic food anywhere that sells Jungle products. (WalMart here has it, as do most of the LFS.)

It's hard to determine what would be the best treatment method for the ich in his condition. The heat and salt could be just as stressful as using meds.

I think I would go with something like Quick Cure, and do daily water changes on the tank before administering the med. Formalin and malachite green seem to clear it up quicker than salt and heat, IME, and I'm not sure this guy can take the stress of raising the temp. There is an article on ich below my signature that will explain alot to you.

If you go with Quick Cure, ignore the package directions, treat with 1 drop per gallon daily and continue to do so for 3-4 days after seeing the last spot fall off.

Good luck!

(I would definitely go the food route to treat the fish for internal parasites if you have to use ich meds...I don't think he could handle the stress of treating the tank with two meds at once.)

Kim
 
#19 ·
If it's bumps rather than salt like spots, it may be from poor water quality in the past. The pics are hard to see, but if it's ich, he should be flashing against objects in the tank in an effort to "scratch" himself.

Kim
 
#21 ·
o.k. i watched him for a while and no, he did not flash just sort of staying in 1 spot , then after about 10 min. he moves to another spot and so on. just slowly swimming around from spot to spot and then seems like he is resting.

but i am going to the lfs to get some of that antiparasitic food. is there anything else i should get for him?

should i still do the ich meds just in case or ? :-?

and as far as the frequent water changes how often for this poor little guy.

also i remeasured and he is 6.25 inches.

thanks in advance!
 
#24 ·
No, if he's not flashing, don't use the ich meds. I've never seen a fish with ich not flash...

Keeping the water pristine may be all you need to do to help this guy out, but I would go ahead and pick up the medicated food, just as a preventative measure. They also have an antibacterial food (made by Jungle) that you might want to pick up and use AFTER a couple of weeks of feeding the antiparasitic food.

This guy looks like he's been through alot, and might need a lot of TLC to come back around. If he's been kept in really bad water conditions, treating him with the antibacterial food might be a smart move, and will be much easier on him physically than treating the water column.

Good luck!

Kim
 
#26 ·
If you can keep get this guy healthy and happy and keep him that way, you will have truly accomplished something.

IMO, they are one of the most beautiful freshwater fish you can keep, but also probably the most difficult to keep in good health.

Good luck!

Kim
 
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