Jewel Tank

This is my Jewel tank, it's a 20gal and will most likely be a temporary tank just until I get the 55gal up. I fell in love with jewel cichlids, they're personable like a lot of the SA/CA cichlids and they move slower. I'm going to see if there's any at petsmart this weekend. Muffin the common pleco also lives in this tank. He needs a home, just look at those beautiful eyes! Don't laugh too hard at my decorating skills I'm used to decorating with live plants and wood. There is a mossy piece of wood in there that I couldn't find room for in my other tanks.

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Nice!

It would help to name the pleco "Stud Muffin" sounds more masculine.

Noooo petsmart wildside has adults and juvie jewels I was there yesterday

I too love the jewel cichlid! being a african fish, but not from the rift lakes sometimes people put them with mallawii or tanganyikan fish, (which is wrong).... I actually love the way you have yours set up.. this is your first time owning one right? Well just wait until you find him/her a buddy, they turn this gorgeous fire red color when spawning, just beautiful. Cant wait to see when you find him/her a lover... keep us updated!

@DMD-Will do! Stud Muffin needs a home! Thanks for the comment!

@aquaman-I'll go to wildside if they don't have them at petsmart, but wildsides fish seem to be just as sickly as petsmarts the last couple times I've gone to buy. Petsmart has a solid return policy .

@Sandnuka-Thanks! Yes first time African owner. I've had SA/CA cichlids in the past and usually steer clear of Africans but the jewels have converted me a little... She/he has turned red for me once. It was right after she became comfortable with me enough to eat. Red or not they're a gorgeous fish. I had more lava rock in the tank but realized Stud Muffin needed some room too so I took some out.

Although I love to hear people say a african fish converted them to the african side of the hobby.... Its really a weak victory cause jewel and talapia butterkoiferi are both african fish, but live in rivers with water way more similar to SA/CA fish... there temperment is more SA/CA, and of course there spawning is even that way! lol... you pretty much have a CA/SA Wannabe. lol

and I know you think youve seen the red.... but thats just a lil' show compared to when they spawn... I am being completly honest when I say they GLO red.... like a glo fish... its amazing.

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This is the closest I can find to what I meant, but really it doesnt show the GLO effect too much... I guess you have to be in person with it to see it.... lucky you, soon you will be.

I have seen inexperianced staff there but never sick fish I'm not saying they have not had them. Ever just not when I go.twice a month to look and buy if its good pickins lol

Ive been to some pretty awesomely clean and well kept petsmarts though... with staff that new more than most hobbiest for sure.... Guess it just depends where you go..... I used to swear by jones pets in marysville, last time I went there were so many dead fish in tanks... pretty sad.

@aquaman- None of the fish seem sickly when I'm at wildside but during QT usually they'll start showing signs of disease. Certainly not saying petsmart has healthier fish, but if something does go wrong I can return them no questions asked. Wildside I usually get in quarrel with the owner or one of the employees if I try to return something. There's been numerous times when I've only wanted to buy a couple fish to add to a group and they said if I didn't buy a certain number they were revoking the return policy for me... Would rather skip the hassle.

@Sandnuka-yeah I've seen pics of when their in spawning mode. So I was going to buy just one jewel but can they live in a group. Haven't been able to find much info on whether they can be or if they should just be kept in pairs. Is there any way you can tell the gender? I was a little worried about having a pair to be honest, it seems like people are constantly getting rid of them because they're aggressive. If they did spawn and I ended up with a bunch of gorgeous babies who's gonna want them.

Your tank looks good - nice job

Thanks

Well you gave me a few good questions lets begin!

Q: Can Jewel cichlids live in a group setting?
A: Yes and No, I have personally had them in a group of 5 in a 29gal tank before. That is until a pair formed, then everyone had to be moved except the pair. I tried leaving a 2nd female to see if the male would breed with both.... NOPE! evidently he is a good husband, no cheating! lol.... but seriously, they are monogamous, not a common trait in african fish... but like I said, they are much more like new world cichlids.

Q: How to sex your jewel cichlid?
A: males are typically brighter, and have more jewels. Females tend to be Larger. But that may not always be the case, only true way to sex a fish is VENTING... I wrote a thread on this back in the day.

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Q: How bad is aggression on the Pair?
A: Honestly, they are awesome parents, kinda like convicts in that way... super aggressive to anyone in the tank except for themselves.

Q: If they did spawn and I ended up with a bunch of gorgeous babies who's gonna want them?
A: This is an easy question! You can sell them on the forum, on Craigslist, or if you want to get serious to a local pet shop... I know several shops that buy from local people... Midway is a sponsor so I will mention them.

That should of covered all your questions.... So what do ya think?? What I would personally do, is just what you planned on doing... getting a few from petsmart, (3-4 usually really cheap) to make sure you get a suitable mate for him/her.... When a pair forms, go ahead pull the others and sell or donate them. (You got them cheap enough anyway) Then sit back and watch the cycle of life.... SOOOOO COOL!

Haha, I'm so bad about adopting out my fish after I get them, another tank always goes up... When I got this jewel it came with another one(he died because of a heater malfunction) and the one that died was almost twice the size as the one I have now.

Well I'm excited about this whole thing!. How long will the parents take care of the babies before they try to eat them? I'm considering moving all my plants out of the 20gal in my living room for the future jewel pair, figured a mating pair would be cool for people to see when they come into the house but I have to make the decor look nice in that tank with it being in the living room and all. I have a large thick leaved anubia I was planning on leaving in the tank. Anyone have pics of their non-plant friendly smallish tanks? Maybe I will go to wildside and see how much the slate is to make a slate cave. I have a hunch it's going to be way out of my price range. I may just have to wait for summer again to go down to the river and find some awesome rocks for free. Ant suggestions on how to decorate a jewel tank let me know. I though floating frogbit and maybe the mossy stick would work okay in with the jewels too. I just hate plastic plants.

I never kept babies in with parents too long... they always get moved to a grow tank relatively quick... So I cant asnwer how long until dad and mom start munchin on there young.... I think the way you have it is fine... just need a lil' cave for them or a small clay pot would work too...

Cant wait to see pictures of the new ones!

I went to the south hill petsmart last night and I had bought their last jewel. When I got out to the car my mom and I were looking at it and I noticed it's abdomen was a little sunken and then I noticed these little tiny tiny red worms coming out of the fishes vent. Marched right back in to return the fishy. Not something I even wanted to consider dealing with. I'll try wildside next weekend. I will be moving my jewel cichlid to my 20gal in the living room shortly. "Gochu" kindly took a large number of trumpet snails off my hands so the bio load won't be so bad in there. I'll have to post pics of the new tank jewel tank. This one should look a little better considering there will be live plants it. I've got a large anubia I'm leaving in there and I've got some java fern on bogwood I'll most likely leave in there.

I had been thinking about trying Jewels and happened upon 2 sources. Anyway I ended up with 15 from the 2 sources and have had them in quarantine since 3/10. I absolutely love them. So much personality....they're like little puppies....up front to the glass wagging their tails everytime I approach....LOL If you're looking for some more of them I'd be happy to share a couple of mine with you when they're done with quarantine. I'm feeding them several times a day and doing lots of water changes and they're coming along nicely.

nice to hear you are trying hard to get your fish.also i told him to ask you because i remember seeing you had a large amount for free

Kianna wrote:
I had been thinking about trying Jewels and happened upon 2 sources. Anyway I ended up with 15 from the 2 sources and have had them in quarantine since 3/10. I absolutely love them. So much personality....they're like little puppies....up front to the glass wagging their tails everytime I approach....LOL If you're looking for some more of them I'd be happy to share a couple of mine with you when they're done with quarantine. I'm feeding them several times a day and doing lots of water changes and they're coming along nicely.

That would be fantastic, how much do you want for a couple? I couldn't find anyone selling them. As gorgeous as they are jewels seem to be a very undesirable cichlid for most. So no one seems to have them.

@aquaman-yes he did tell me it was you and thanks for referring him. I really needed to get some of the snails out of one tank because I was taking out most of the plants.

you might want to try some assassin snails. they eat other snails and reproduce very slowly. i had a huge snail explosion in my planted tank so i added some assassins and in a fed months they had the population in check. they are very pretty too. when they breed your lfs will gladly buy your excess assassins as many people need them.

I have a soft spot for trumpet snails, they do more good then harm. I have assassin snails but now only a couple, over the years they died off. The number I had wasn't a problem but it became a problem when I needed to unplant the tank because cichlids were going to be housed in it.