Electric Blue Jack Dempsey (Rocio octofasciata cf) Species Profile & Care Guide

The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey is a naturally-occurring colour morph of the Jack Dempsey Central American Cichlid. Some consider this Cichlid to be one of the most beautiful freshwater aquarium fish.

The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey reaches a relatively small size compared to the natural standard Jack Dempsey colour morph. The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey should be kept in an aquarium of at least 190 litres, although bigger would probably be better. If you intend on having live plants in the aquarium with Jack Dempseys, then choose plants that are naturally well rooted into rock or driftwood or thick-leaved plants as the Jack Dempsey will attempt to re-arrange their habitat.

If housed in an aquarium with good decor and plenty of space, they will be excellent community fish. This Cichlid will appreciate being kept in a large aquarium with similarly sized and tempered tankmates. These Cichlids are generally not quite as aggressive as many Cichlid species and can be shy at times. Therefore it would be best to either keep them individually or in a large group with only a few other tankmates.

They become far more aggressive when breeding, and they will most definitely hold their own against more aggressive tank mates. It is advised that you provide them with a cave or something similar that they can call home, and they will be very comfortable.

The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey Cichlid has a compact and stocky body. The adults possess a brilliant blue colouration and are one of the bluest freshwater fish in the hobby. These Cichlids have a dark brown background that is contrasted with bright iridescent and metallic blue dots and broken lines.

Natural Habitat of the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey

Electric Blue Jack Dempseys can be found in Southern Mexico, Yucatan, Central and North America, Guatemala and Honduras. Wild populations have also been found in Australia, the USA and Thailand.

They inhabit warm, slightly acidic slow-moving murky rivers, canals, lakes, bogs and swampy waters, living among weedy areas with sandy or muddy substrates with rocks and debris sat on top.

Other Cichlids of interest

Diet

The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey will generally eat all kinds of food, from dried food such as flake and pelleted foods to live and frozen foods such as bloodworms and brine shrimp as well as larger insects like grasshoppers, crickets and fruit flies.

It would be better to feed your adults 1 to 2 times a day, making sure you only add an amount that they can consume within two minutes or less. It would be best to feed juveniles more often than adults as this will help them develop.

Sexing the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey

It is pretty easy to distinguish male from female Electric Blue Jack Dempseys. Males develop more elongated and pointed anal and dorsal fins and display a round black spot in the centre of their bodies and on the base of their tails. In contrast, females have fewer dots than males and have shorter, more rounded fins and take on a more gravid appearance when ready to breed.

Breeding the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey

The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey Cichlid are one of the easiest Cichlids to spawn, but they can become intolerant, territorial and may become biters as pairs.

The Dempsey Cichlids are egg layers that will construct a crater-like nest. The female can lay anything from 500 to 800 eggs in a single spawning on carefully cleaned rocks.

After around three days, the eggs will hatch, and the parents will keep them in pits; then, both the male and female will guard them until they become free-swimming. Both parents crush up food and release it for the young to consume until they are big enough to find food themselves.

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