Jack Dempsey tank mates

Good matches

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The safest picks for jack dempseys are crayfish. Each match shares jack dempseys' temperature and pH and leaves them alone.

Territorial and predatory. Tank mates need to be its size and tough.

Temperature

72–86°F

pH

6.5–7.5

Temperament

Aggressive

Minimum tank

55 gal

With care

12

Avoid

85

Good tank mates

• Crayfish72–77°F

Possible, with care

• Bichir Jack dempseys are aggressive. Bichirs hold their own only in a big tank with places to hide.
• Oscar Jack dempseys are aggressive. Oscars hold their own only in a big tank with places to hide.
• Mystery snail Large jack dempseys crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• Black ghost knife Jack dempseys are aggressive. Black ghost knives hold their own only in a big tank with places to hide.
• Kissing gourami Jack dempseys are aggressive. Kissing gouramis hold their own only in a big tank with places to hide.
• Chinese algae eater Jack dempseys are aggressive. Chinese algae eaters hold their own only in a big tank with places to hide.
• Koi Jack dempseys are aggressive, though koi are big enough to shrug most of it off.
• Severum Jack dempseys are aggressive. Severums hold their own only in a big tank with places to hide.
• Ramshorn snail Large jack dempseys crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• Nerite snail Large jack dempseys crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• Flowerhorn Both are aggressive. It can work in a large tank with broken sight lines, or end in a fight.
• Assassin snail Large jack dempseys crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.

Avoid

• Betta An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches bettas do.
• Axolotl Axolotls are coldwater animals (60–66°F); jack dempseys need 72–86°F. No temperature suits both.
• Pea puffer An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1 inches pea puffers do.
• Guppy An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches guppies do.
• Kuhli loach An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3.5 inches kuhli loaches do.
• Angelfish Jack dempseys are aggressive, and slow, long-finned angelfish cannot escape them.
• Goldfish Goldfish are coldwater animals (60–74°F); jack dempseys need 72–86°F. They overlap only at 72–74°F, the edge of both ranges.
• Common pleco Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful plecos.
• Yoyo loach Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than yoyo loaches.
• Honey gourami An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches honey gouramis do.
• Clown loach Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful clown loaches.
• Firemouth cichlid Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than firemouth cichlids.
• Elephant nose fish Jack dempseys are aggressive, and slow, long-finned elephant nose fish cannot escape them.
• Blue gourami Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than blue gouramis.
• Cherry shrimp Jack dempseys hunt shrimp. Adult cherry shrimp will be eaten.
• Rainbow shark Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than rainbow sharks.
• Sparkling gourami An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1.5 inches sparkling gouramis do.
• Corydoras An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches corydoras do.
• Bristlenose pleco Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful bristlenose plecos.
• Convict cichlid Both are aggressive, and jack dempseys are much bigger, so convict cichlids lose.
• Bala shark Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful bala sharks.
• Dwarf gourami An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches dwarf gouramis do.
• Bamboo shrimp Jack dempseys hunt shrimp. Adult bamboo shrimp will be eaten.
• African dwarf frog An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches african dwarf frogs do.
• Amano shrimp Jack dempseys hunt shrimp. Adult amano shrimp will be eaten.
• Ghost shrimp Jack dempseys hunt shrimp. Adult ghost shrimp will be eaten.
• Red tail shark Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than red tail sharks.
• Pictus catfish Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than pictus catfish.
• Clown pleco An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3.5 inches clown plecos do.
• Tiger barb An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches tiger barbs do.
• Bolivian ram An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches bolivian rams do.
• Otocinclus An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches otocinclus do.
• Silver arowana An adult silver arowana eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 10 inches jack dempseys do.
• Electric blue acara Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than electric blue acaras.
• Paradise fish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3.5 inches paradise fish do.
• Apistogramma An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches apistogramma do.
• Upside down catfish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 4 inches upside down catfish do.
• Zebra pleco An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3.5 inches zebra plecos do.
• Endler's livebearer An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1 inches endlers do.
• Molly An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 4 inches mollies do.
• Congo tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches congo tetras do.
• Pearl gourami An adult jack dempsey is twice the size of a pearl gourami and will hunt or batter a slow, long-finned fish like this.
• Lemon tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches lemon tetras do.
• Tinfoil barb Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful tinfoil barbs.
• Zebra danio An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches zebra danios do.
• Zebra loach An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3.5 inches zebra loaches do.
• Kribensis An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 4 inches kribensis do.
• Cherry barb An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches cherry barbs do.
• Dojo loach Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful dojo loaches.
• German blue ram An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches rams do.
• Hatchetfish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1.5 inches hatchetfish do.
• Panda cory An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches panda corys do.
• Siamese algae eater Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful siamese algae eaters.
• Ember tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 0.8 inches ember tetras do.
• Neon tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1.5 inches neon tetras do.
• Black skirt tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches black skirt tetras do.
• Hillstream loach An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches hillstream loaches do.
• African cichlid Both are aggressive, and jack dempseys are much bigger, so african cichlids lose.
• Harlequin rasbora An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches harlequin rasboras do.
• Celestial pearl danio An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1 inches celestial pearl danios do.
• GloFish tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches glofish do.
• Rummy nose tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches rummy nose tetras do.
• Black neon tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1.5 inches black neon tetras do.
• Blood parrot Jack dempseys are aggressive, and slow, long-finned blood parrots cannot escape them.
• Odessa barb An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches odessa barbs do.
• Serpae tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1.75 inches serpae tetras do.
• Platy An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches platies do.
• Dwarf neon rainbowfish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches dwarf neon rainbowfish do.
• Discus Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful discus.
• Pencilfish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches pencilfish do.
• Killifish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2.5 inches killifish do.
• Cardinal tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 2 inches cardinal tetras do.
• Electric yellow cichlid An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 4 inches yellow labs do.
• Silver dollar Jack dempseys are aggressive and will bully peaceful silver dollars.
• Pygmy cory An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1 inches pygmy corys do.
• Swordtail Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than swordtails.
• Glass catfish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches glass catfish do.
• Glowlight tetra An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 1.5 inches glowlight tetras do.
• Rosy barb An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 4 inches rosy barbs do.
• Boesemani rainbowfish An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 4 inches boesemani rainbowfish do.
• Chili rasbora An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 0.8 inches chili rasboras do.
• Fancy goldfish Fancy goldfish are coldwater animals (65–74°F); jack dempseys need 72–86°F. They overlap only at 72–74°F, the edge of both ranges.
• Peacock cichlid Jack dempseys are aggressive and much bigger than peacock cichlids.
• Gold barb An adult jack dempsey eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 3 inches gold barbs do.
• White cloud minnow White cloud minnows are coldwater animals (60–72°F); jack dempseys need 72–86°F. They meet only at 72°F, the edge of both ranges.

Planning a mixed tank? The tank mate checker tests every pair at once. Or read the jack dempsey care sheet.