Jack Demsey fish

Question
Chris, my boss has a very large tank in our office. Lot's of room. Types of fish are agressive & simi-agressive. The Jack Demsey fish just had a bunch of fries. Should we take them out or just leave them alone? How to care for them if we take them out?  

Answer
Hi Cindy;

The parents will care for them for a few days, but the fry will have to be moved to their own tank if they are to survive. The other fish (and eventually the parents too) will eat them. I wouldn't put them in anything smaller than a 30 gallon tank. This will be your "Grow Out Tank".

Get a tank with lights and a filter called a "sponge filter". It runs by an air pump that makes bubbles to move water through the tube and sponge. Other filters are too powerful and it will suck up your fry. Fill the new tank with water from the big tank. Don't add gravel to it. The fry just get lost in it and gravel just gets horribly dirty in grow out tanks. You will have to make a 25% water change at least 3 times a week. This is partly because the tank is new and needs to go through the initial "cycling period" and partly because of the frequency of feeding needed for baby fish. Feed them about 4 times per day. Just tiny amounts of food are that is needed. If you see food leftover after 10 minutes you will have to siphon it out so it doesn't fowl the water.

Make sure you can find homes for the babies if you decide to keep them. Jack Dempseys are very aggressive (even while babies) and need big tanks to live in. Your local fish store might be interested in them, but probably not until they are "grown out" or at least an inch long. It is fun to watch them develop and grow. It is a big job but very rewarding!

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!