CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Anyone has owned a pair of these beautiful fish or has had luck at breeding them? I recently acquired a pair or them from my LFS and they have started turning that deep fire engine red! Talk about a site esp. as it contrasts the bright blue/green dots through out their bodies. I was kinda worried at first B/C they were a light pink color and really didn't look like the pictures that I saw of them. They are perfect as in fin condition and they are very active as most cichlids are. Question being, they are very similiar to my O personality wise. They come up to the glass already take pelets from my hand and they are just an all around cool fish. I don't know if I just got lucky with these, but anyone having info on them I would greatly appreciate the input on them. Tried to deeply research them online but w/o success. Couldn't really find anything helpful on them. Thankx

Hi Kickstart,

What I can tell you for now is yes, yes they show the best colors when breeding. They are smart fish(not personal experience havn't had them) and aggressive and territorial. Keep them at about 75-80F. (77 or 78F is good). Hard to sex when young like most fish, but again looking at genital papillae helps. I assume your jewels are Hemichromis bimaculatus.(think heard of some other fish also nicked 'jewel'). Have any currents in there for them?(not electric Notice any small green spots on any of them? How big are they? some claim they pair up best when between 2 and 3 inches long.

Joe
Cichlidfish.com

Hi, is this the fish?
http://www.astroatlas.com/jewels/

http://www.petsmart.com/fish/answers/br ... 3729.shtml

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acre ... lfish.html

I just want to see if this really works:)

http://www.astroatlas.com/jewels/

http://www.petsmart.com/fish/answers/breed_guide/articles/article_3729.shtml

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/3538/jewelfish.html

Hi Jay,

I see you're getting the hang of things on posting on this bbs , now stop posting good sites until i'm finished developing my website yuo can post ugly/dumb/useless ones so mine looks good, heheh just kidding I posted on the oscar discussion and told chuck/kickstart to come take a look at your post over here....later,

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

Thanks:)

Whoa Dude...Thanks Jay! That was sweet. Although I had to send the guy an E-mail, cause he didn't have a cool BBS like Joe's...HEHEH! Way to go Joe! The fish that I have are very similiar to the ones displayed on the pages but have no dark colors in them. I know? I think I might have some kinda hybrid fish. I gave him the full detail on the age, size, diet, etc. of the fish and now waiting for a response. I'll let ya'll know...oh yea and thanks again..
Chuck

http://www.fishaholics.net/gallery/hemichromis_bimaculatus.html

I have found that the jewel cichlid and the red jewel has the same scientific name:)

Yea, seems color coding always gets into the naming, not surprised to hear red jewel is same as jewel cichlid. Some probably call the tiger oscar, the "red"(or orange) tiger oscar.

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

Those are the ones! Right on pecan...I guess I really don't have the swing of the site serching thing yet. Well thanks for the help there Jay. Later All/
Chuck

I found myself a book with lots of different species in it, I hope I have enough room:)
RED CICHLID;JEWEL FISH

FAMILY: Cichlidae
DISTRIBUTION: The river systems of the Nile, Niger and Zaire
DESCRIPTION: Shape=elongated, compressed silhouette Color=brown back with a greenish sheen;sides of body greenish yellow;yellowish underside. A dark horizontal band extending along side may break up into five or six large patches. At spawning time almost the whole body is red(brighter in the female), the forehead and back being olive green with a reddish sheen;bluish black patches, accompanied by six or seven rows of skyblue spots. Size=up to 6 in(15 cm).Sexual differences=activity, the spawning tube is pointed in the male, rounded in the female.
ENVIRONMENT: Temperature=72-82F(22-28C)(the higher value for breeding). pH=around 7. Water hardness=medium to medium hard. Substrate and funishings=large tank with coarse sand or gravel. Single large plants.
FEEDING: Abundant, not-too-small live food.
BIOLOGY: Behavior=only young fish can be kept in schools. Mature fish can be kept only in pairs. Reproduction=pairs must form from the same group. Excellent parents. Social life and compatibilty= fairly aggressive. Can be kept only with equally powerfull species--e.g., two or three different species of cichlids.
(SIMON & SCHUSTER'S GUIDE TO FRESHWATER AND MARINE AQUARIUM FISHES)
Jay

Cool Jay! Thanks again for that nugget of info!
Chuck

Nice Jay,
I'll have to add The Jewel cichlid to the site soon. Once Chuck becomes an expert Jewel breeder we can become an authority on that too Hey Chuck do you know if you have a male and female or not sure of the sexes?

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

I HAD a breeding pair but not anymore. They died from either a fungus or an unknown disease. I have to start over. I am not happy! Actually I am enraged! Al, the guy who I have become real good friends with at the LFS, said he will give me another pair. Until that happens I have to completely drain my tank and EXTENSIVELY clean it and buy new gravel, filters, the whole nine yards so this doesn't happen again. Even though the feeder fish LOOK healthy don't trust them. I had them in a solitude tank for 5 days b/f I fed them to the fish and about 1 week after they got this plague. It has to be something along the line of the bubonic. I don't know? I just don't wqant this to happen again. I tried everything over a 2 week period and nothing worked. I tried everything but boil the gravel. Oh well, I really hope that this doesn't happen to any of yall. It's hard to deal with losing not only close to $60 worth of fish but to start enjoying the fish them BAM! Gone. I think I will be getting a bigger tank next time around. I have been told it's easier to keep a larger tank cleaner and disease free. Any suggestions let me know!
Chuck

Hi Chuck,

Sorry to hear about that, especially since you said they were a pair, that's a real bummer. I would agree though that a bigger tank may help but I think that the main thing is aggressive filtration. I mean if you have a 50 or 60gallon tank, use like a 350gallonsper/hour filter minimum. I run a magnum 350 along with an overthe back 2 stage filtration with bioballs filter for my 65gallon. I DON"T Think you have to REPlace all your Equipment. JUST BLEACH it all. Bleach will kill all the parasites etc..Then you'll have to rinse it well of course and maybe leave things soaked for a day. Well, I hope you don't have to deal with that kind of stuff again. Good luck getting another pair.

Joe