Bradc Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 anyone keep any of these ? just after care level involved with them and if you have had more succes in a more brackish, tank size, ive read 5 different ph levels for them so if you can shed some light on an actual range would also be good .. ive been youtube and google info but everything ive read and seen contradicts the last bit of info ive just read .. im building a tank in the near future that will be 4 foot long 2 foot wide and 3 foot high so about 600 litres will more then likley have an fx6 filter with a nice big power head if this cant handle a jack im just gonna stay with my all male African display tank .. thanks for the input in advance people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
none Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Hardness is more important than pH. pH should be 7.8 minimum although they do survive in lower pH they certainly prefer that level or higher. Water must be very hard. In soft water Jacks quickly perish. Salinity level is not important with juveniles although a small amount of salt is advisable. Large jacks are an estuarine / marine fish in the wild so salt is more important at that size however they thrive on even low salinities at that size. An adult Jack will outgrow your tank so count on buying a larger one. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Brad what are you building the tanks with ? this answers your questions in the comments I think https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6TFFxog-Rc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradc Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 just getting some quotes on glass tanks if thats what you mean with what am i building the tanks with? be the 1st one ive had made so any suggestions are definitely appreciated. yeah i was worried about it out growing the tank but i really can only got that size really. might have to stick to african cichlids. thanks for the info i read they like maximum of 7.4 ph and couldnt find anything on hardness, obviously being and estuary fish i knew as it grew i would have to up the salt content but i wasnt going brackish by any means. if i still go that way it sounds pretty close to cichlid parameters anyway. not that i have ever really tested gh/kh in my cichlid tanks never had an issue though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradc Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 just read all the comments in those videos link... ill just stick with cichlids hes tank is 9ft long and 4ft wide. id have to kock a wall out for a tank that big haha thanks for the info guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 He's a beast and Leanne's baby hey have had him for about 12 or 13 yrs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradc Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Absolute monster showed few of my mates i work with today and they are all considering buying big tanks and getting one now haha.. how old do they live to in the wild usually.. if they are like bream and snapper family and they can be 30 years old when big boppers even older Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 They grow to over 10kgs so based on the size of that fish at 10 years old Is day 30 years is very possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Hi Just thought I would add my experience with MJ's to this thread. I kept one a few years ago. I bought it as a small juvenile about 10cm. At the time I had a mixed Malawi tank with large Haplochromines (5x2x2) - Moori, VC10's, Nimbochromis etc The Jack went straight into this tank in full FW. He was a model citizen, blending in with his tank mates perfectly, to the untrained eye it was just another Cichlid in the tank. It was fed a variety of pellets and the occasional bit of chopped fish fillets. Things went really well until the MJ hit about 30cm. At this point it went on a bit of a rampage and killed about half a dozen tank mates in a single sitting over the course of me going to work one day, these fish have powerful bodies, strong jaws and sharp teeth, so they can inflict damage on other fish very quickly. At this point I moved all the remaining Malawi's out and kept the MJ on his own. The MJ lived in full FW the whole time I had the fish. At about 35cm I noticed what looked like small flecks of sand within the fishes eyeball (the eye lens remained clear), these turned out to be internal parasites within the eyeball of the fish, they were successfully treated 3-4 times, each time the parasites would clear up, and then return. I doubled the dosage (which was added to food) and they remained gone. The MJ was a great fish, very personable, good looking and an all round legend. The one down fall was no tank mates. As cool as a fish as he was, I am not a huge fan of dedicating a tank to a single fish, no matter how cool the fish I inevitably get bored. The fish reached ~45cm in my care in the 5x2x2 and it was at this point that I had to make the decision to dedicate and even larger tank or get rid of the fish. Unfortunately I never had to make this decision, as I went on holiday for 6 weeks, and the fish died in my Mum and friends care. I never knew what happened to this fish as it was seemingly very healthy and robust the day I left. All in all keeping an MJ was a rewarding experience with its challenges a long the way. They are great at acting like chameleons, one minute they will be a nice silver colour the next bright red - the red was an excited colour that would be turned on when the MJ would lay a beat down or get excited over feeding. Feeding time is great, I fed by guy some big gradies (SW) fish they were much too big to swallow whole, he quickly learnt to take them head first and smash them against rock or the glass to break them in half. But this is not a fish for everyone, I know a few people who have had varying degrees of success keeping them with tank mates. It is usually fine as a youngster, but when they hot 30-40cm most will turn. So unless someone has a very large tank (8x3 min), it is a fish that is best enjoyed at someone else's house. All in all, not a fish I would probably keep again, but a fish I am glad I had the chance to keep. Spot the jack?! Cheers, Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradc Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 Thanks alex for your experience ive decided to steer away and just do a hap and peacock tank like i first thought for reasons similar to your thinking mate rather 30 fish then 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Yeah mate totally agree. I've never been a fan of having a single fish in a tank, if i was to do it though an MJ would be at the top of the list. Beastly fish, with looks to match. Whack some photos up of your tank when its away and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradc Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share Posted June 28, 2016 Will do mate doing a few cashies this weekend so should start to fund it abit quicker lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.