flashing or parasites?

P.S. he, my dempsey, has been doing what looks like coughing. And when my other fish come around, my dempsey perks back up to chase him, and then go back to laying on the gravel.

Lying on the gravel is most definitely NOT normal. I'm no expert, but I'd venture to say your JD has some parasite, as flashing is normal for cichlids to do, to some degree, but lying on the gravel isn't.

Ok let's start with the basics first. What are your water readings? Ph,ammonia,nitrites,and nitrates. We must know these first before we make assumptions.

Ammonia is 0, no2 (nitrite) is 0, and no3 (nitrate) is roughly 5. Ph is 7, but I added some stress coat and turned my light off. He is acting a little more outgoing but still lays around a lot.
Can fish get depressed or just be drama queens? Lol

Have you added anything new to the tank or around the tank? Lights,plants,rocks,fish,and foods?

I fed raw shrimp to him last week, but other than that, there have been no changes to the tank or surrounding areas. There are also no new additions of fish or anything, this is why I am so confused
Thanks

He is going nuts now, he is doing that flashing I was talking about in my other thread, and just went psycho on my other fish(gt) chasing her around and took a few big chunks out of her. She is going to need to go to a hospital tank. And he, my jd, is laying down again.
Yes, I am watching my fish and posting at the same time lol.
So back to maybe he wants to breed, and is depressed that he is crazy????

Well if the male fish wants to spawn and the female isn't ready, then yes he will kill the female if given the chance. I've seen that happen before and maybe your JD is depressed.

How big is your tank and what else do you have in it? I would keep an eye on him now your you removed the GT, I would see if he is still flashing. If he was trying to breed, my guess is he'll stop flashing.

Also some ich can survive in 82 degree water. I just had an ich outbreak and had the water to 87 for 3 weeks. As soon as I lower the temp back to a normal 80, I had an outbreak again and no introduction of new fish, so the ich survived in the tank.

I have one male jd, he is probably 5 inches with his tail. I have one gt, I believe to be female, and it is about 3 inches max, then I have 5 giant danios, and a rapheal spotted catfish who I never see.
They aren't looking good, my gt is starting to do the same thing. I guess I'll try a water change after school today.

Here is an update: my jd actually decided to eat today now and is a little more active but is still being lazy. He isn't flahing anymore, but my gt got torn up while I was at school. So I am assuming that my jd attacked hi or her...
Still don't know what is going on, do they act crazy when maturing?

I would separate the fish if you can setup another tank, or get a divider. Your Gt isn't going to last very long in that tank.

Yes once a cichlid matures, they tend to get more aggressive so its not uncommon that fish who grow out together suddenly turn on each other.

I'm noticing, but would the aggression also make my dempsey feel remorse? Like do fish have emotions?

I think so, every time I make changes in my tanks or move my JD they tend to sulk and act jumpy for a while.