stocking advise for 90 gallon (aggressive)

[mesner]

Hi Gang,

I tried to do some searches and i couldn't find anything so here it goes

i have a mated pair of jack dempseys.. they are about 4-5 inches long
somewhat aggressive. 

I've tried a texas cichlid (they ran him ragged til he died), and tinfoil barbs (they got eaten )
i'm looking for something that can hold its own in there

Their current tankmates are a gray birchir who they seem to totally leave alone, and a raphael catfish who just does what he wants and thats that.

I've heard some species of knifefish may work, but I also heard that they may grow too big for the tank. 

i guess the problem is I have a huge empty tank and would like something a bit more to look at

any suggestions?

Thanks!

[markw]

Unfortunately, you have a breeding pair of Jack Dempseys. Even if you had a 220 gal tank they wouls till claim it all as their own. Any equally aggressive fish that could hold their own, will only be constantly fighting with them. And the other negative side to your situation is that they are now established in that tank, and they will take on any new additions.
Take out 1/2 of the pair, and you're problem is gone. Sorry to be so blunt!

[mesner]

no problem!

thanks for the advise!

[kerisb]

I also had a pair of Jack dempsey's and they bullied everyone in the tank, including my 12" oscar.   Actually bullied the oscars so much that they started getting aggressive.   Nothing I had could out bully the Dempsey's......so I ended up giving them away, they were just mean fish!!

[Dekker500]

"There's no such thing as a bad [fish], only bad owners"

[tongue firmly planted in cheek]

[kerisb]

Oh not saying they were bad fish...............just way more aggressive than what I wanted.