Jack Dempsey

The Jack Dempsey (Rocio octofasciata, often still listed as Nandopsis or Cichlasoma octofasciata) comes from slow waters in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. Juveniles are drab grey-brown and give almost no hint of the adult; over a year or two the body darkens and fills with iridescent blue, green and gold spangles across the flanks and gill covers. Its name comes from the boxer, and its temperament is roughly what that suggests.

Aquarium care

• Reaches around 20 to 25 cm, with males larger and heavier-headed.
• Needs a large aquarium with footprint rather than height.
• Territorial, and markedly more aggressive once it pairs and breeds.
• Digs and rearranges; plants must be robust and potted, or left out.
• Strong filtration and generous water changes to cope with the waste load.
• Takes quality cichlid pellets and frozen foods.

Best kept as a pair on its own or with other robust Central American cichlids of similar size in a large tank. It is not a community fish and will not tolerate small or slow tankmates. Break up sight lines with rock and wood so no single fish can dominate the whole tank.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is available for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. Browse the Central American cichlid collection.