285 replies to this topic

[Peckoltia]

Got the little fella in with a breeding colony of VC10's and some archer fish at the moment in a 5x2x2.

[Mudjimba]

quote by ice: "Only fish ive had any success at all with my jack is red scats. "



And 2 or 3 mono sebae......


Nice work ice.

cheers

Edited by Mudjimba, 24 May 2011 - 07:04 PM.

[ice]

Thought I would put up a quick post to show people just how angry and bitey jacks really are. Heres a few pictures of some fish he has murdered in the past. His first victums were all 3 of my archer fish, 1 of which was bigger than him. At that stage he only had small teeth and couldnt bite chunks out of them..

 01.JPG   153.9KB   102 downloads

 02.JPG   177.76KB   104 downloads

His second victum was when he was about 10cm, it was a barramundi that would have been pushing around 23-40cm that he tormented by eating small chunks out of it. He only seemed to be hell bent on killing one, the other one I sold before he could finish it off. Unfortunately ive got no pics of that one.

Third victum was a L333, I know im an idiot but he didnt seem to bother any catfish at all. Had been living quite happily with a gibbi and a pair of L397s but must have liked the colours on the poor 333, didnt even last 48 hours. No pics of that either. Jack was 12cm. I should also point out that at this stage jack became not scared of my hand anymore and would lunge out of the tank at feeding time, I got bitten one night and got a few good little puncture wounds on a finger.. it sucked.

Next in line is a fat little black tandanas catfish (catfish was 12cm, jack was 22cm), I thought for sure he wouldnt eat it due to its size and big nasty spines.. WRONG! As you can see, everything behind the spines is torn off and eaten. Needless to say the second one now lives out the back.

 03.jpg   133.6KB   99 downloads

 04.jpg   98.38KB   72 downloads

Newest murders are a mono sebae, I had 3 of them and a murray cod in the new 6x2.5x2.5 to cycle it before the jack went in. Smallest one has mysteriously disappeared overnight last night, no sign of him yet... Jack looks fat and guilty also. Probably not good.

This brings me to our latest case, the poor murray cod. After being assured that they are just as angry as the jack and will not have an issue standing their ground he has once again proved that he is more angry and more agressive and has forcably removed the tail end of the murray cod. I wasnt happy about this as id become a little bit attached to the cod, he had lots of character. Ill get another one some day. The cod was about 6.5" and jack is 25cm.

Also now when im cleaning the tank, the jack has no hesitation to attack the siphon and also my hand if I get close enough or if I mess with his log. Im thinking about buying a chain glove soon so he cant tear my hand apart haha.

 05.jpg   149.57KB   102 downloads

 06.jpg   137.69KB   74 downloads

So, what have we learned?

#1. Don't put anything that you like into a tank with a mangrove jack, it will eventually be killed (unless its a red scat that cant fit into its mouth).
#2. Don't get a mangrove jack unless you are prepared to dedicate an entire (large) tank to it.
#3. Red scats are the only fish that i have encountered that can live with a jack, they do the old lean forward and threaten with spikes trick. And they are hard as nails and eat poo so probably taste accordingly.
#4 Don't get bitten by Jacks because it hurts like hell and they like to shake their head while biting.
#5 My other mono sebae are doomed.


-Dave

Edited by ice, 25 May 2011 - 07:10 PM.

[Imogen]

I'm pretty devestated about the cod. I really thought he'd make it. And therefore, I have to second the #1 rule

haha so we're getting rid of the mono's then?

[ice]

Only the smallest one is missing, im hoping its because it broke the #1 rule and fit into his mouth. If we lose another one we shall sell the 3rd haha.

Edited by ice, 25 May 2011 - 07:23 PM.

[Imogen]

That's a bit rough, why dont we sell them both and look around for some bigger, faster ones

[Fish Antics]

The cod was about 6.5" and jack is 25cm.

I can see why you might have had a problem there

[ice]

That's a bit rough, why dont we sell them both and look around for some bigger, faster ones

There are no bigger, faster ones. We could get more red scats though perhaps...

I can see why you might have had a problem there

Haha yeah.... he did well to last so long really... poor little bugger

[Neakit]

question why have you stated 2 different fish in 2 different measurement types? If the jack is 25cm would it be just as easy to say the cod was 16cm?

[sandgroper]

That's one expensive jack you have there, wouldn't it be cheaper to feed him lobsters.

[ice]

question why have you stated 2 different fish in 2 different measurement types? If the jack is 25cm would it be just as easy to say the cod was 16cm?

Probably, i like to mix it up a bit sometimes

That's one expensive jack you have there, wouldn't it be cheaper to feed him lobsters.

Haha yeah id say it would, needless to say ive now stopped trying to add new fish.

[Peckoltia]

I didn't read the entire thread. Have you added any salt to your tank?

I have mine sitting at ~2ppt not very salty at all. Can't really see a noticeable difference in his behaviour/colour from 0ppt to 2ppt, not that you would really expect too.

It's pretty refreshing to buy a TB that will eat prepared food right off the bat, no hassles with initially feeding feeder fish. I am toying with the idea of cutting some large shrimp/fish open and stuffing them with white crane when it gets larger.

[ice]

Ive got about 600 grams in m 1000l tank at the moment, but that was just an initial dose to keep him happpy with new surroundings and help if he injured himself during the move or on any new obsticles. In his old tank I didnt add any.

I'll not add any more to the tank unless something happens to him. In my experience so far they really dont need any salt to survive, over east there are inland stocked lakes that have monster jacks in them and ive caught quite large ones in both salt and fresh water, both looking in great health. I think its just personal preference and what you want in the tank also.

It certainly is good to have a fish that eats pellets right away, mine will eat just about anything you throw in the tank. Even algae wafers... bloody loves them, the gibbi hardly gets fed haha.

I've never colour fed mine once and hes fairly well coloured most of the time, it changes depending on what hes upto or if hes angry/excited. Always wandered what kind of difference it would make though!

Feel free to come round for a look some time mate.

-Dave

Edited by ice, 28 May 2011 - 01:28 PM.

[ice]

The Gibby is also dead now, found a half chewed head in the jacks log on friday night, the rest of the body seems to have been consumed. Scats are still going strong!

[ice]

I was at the local seafood shop and saw some nice fresh Fremantle gardies, couldn't resist buying one for the jack. I wasn't entirely sure he would be able to fit the whole lot in. Greedy bugger scoffed the entire thing and sat there struggling to swallow it for a little while, then with a huge full belly was still begging for more. I thought it'd keep him happy for at least a day haha. Silly bugger bumped his head again while trying to get through the lid to the garfish.

Anyway here's photos and videos. Enjoy!

 1.JPG   174.38KB   56 downloads
Down the hatch in one go.
 2.JPG   189.05KB   50 downloads
Almost got the lot in after ramming it down his throat using obstacles in the tank.
 3.JPG   201.36KB   51 downloads
Big swallow.
 4.JPG   204.72KB   36 downloads
The guilty face.. "I didn't eat your fish?"

Sorry about the first video, it's a bit dark. Getting better lighting soon

Edited by ice, 11 July 2011 - 12:20 AM.

[Peckoltia]

Great updates mate. Sounds like your jack is a maniac. Mine seems quite mild mannered in comparison.

[Blakey]

How big is it now?

My jack from a few years ago was insane broke a total 5 lids.. Would eat anything and everything tabbies and prawns where his favourite. I had HUGe dramas though once he got to 12" and just could not keep him alive... Water params everything was fine. I came to the conclusion it was starting to mature and require certain conditions I couldn't provide. I ended up going pretty brackish to keep him in good shape for a bit longer but at 38cm he died.

Had people offering me $500+ for him but would never have parted with him. By far the best fish I owned. And the best tank mates where black bream... They got along really really well!

[ice]

I'd say he would be almost nudging the 30cm mark. Certainly is an awesome interesting fish, best one i've owned by far. I've got myself some 10mm polycarbonate lids so there will be no breaking them

Not sure about water conditions for mature fish, I know they catch the real monsters in deep reef areas offshore but i've seen and caught 40cm+ jacks in shallow water. There is also a stocked fresh water lake over east somewhere with an abundance of really big full fresh water jacks that are thriving in there. Mine is in full fresh water and always has been unless he injures himself while doing a bit of over enthusiastic feeding/chasing.

Hopefully I can manage to keep this one alive till he dies of old age in another 10-15 years or so, would love to have him in an even bigger tank or a pond when he gets some real size on him.

Will try to get hold of a black bream and give it a go, what size bream did you have in with your jack??

[waxy]

How big is it now?

My jack from a few years ago was insane broke a total 5 lids.. Would eat anything and everything tabbies and prawns where his favourite. I had HUGe dramas though once he got to 12" and just could not keep him alive... Water params everything was fine. I came to the conclusion it was starting to mature and require certain conditions I couldn't provide. I ended up going pretty brackish to keep him in good shape for a bit longer but at 38cm he died.

Had people offering me $500+ for him but would never have parted with him. By far the best fish I owned. And the best tank mates where black bream... They got along really really well!

Funny you should mention the size that yours died at, My bro has had 2 die at around that size for no apparent reason.
Awesome fish tho,

[Blakey]

My black bream where 20cm where a bit beaten up but the group of them I think stopped him attacking. He grabbed one once but their spikes got him and he never touched em again.

Oh and axolottles.., he loved axolotles.. Nice and soft and chewy