# jewel cichlid



## danny_boi (Apr 23, 2009)

is it hard to breed jewel cichlid?what size do they mature for breeding?is there a way to sex them through their behavior or size?


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## mncherie1 (Mar 27, 2009)

Mine got right to it, they were about 2 inches. They way I can tell them apart...my females belly has a hint of yellow and the males does not. He is also a lot bigger than she is. They both have the same fins, I can not tell any difference


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## 810Aaron (Apr 19, 2009)

I have 2 in a 120 that breed once a month, the male is a real deep red and larger than the pale and thinner female


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

they almost breed on command if you have a determined pair ...when i did water chnges the water would go down a few degrees and instantly started spawning shortly after each one if they still didnt have fry....the males tend to be bigger and more slanted forehead with the females being smaller and more steep forhead....the males are usually the ones with noticably more dots all over him.....if you have any pics of ure fish it would be easier to tell you the sexes


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## mbargas (Apr 19, 2009)

danny_boi said:


> is it hard to breed jewel cichlid?what size do they mature for breeding?is there a way to sex them through their behavior or size?


I can only relate my personal experience.

I recently bought 6 _Hemichromis lifalili_ that were about 2.5". Two of them paired up and spawned within a few days of putting them in my tank. When I separated the other 4, 2 more paired up and spawned. These (lifalili) are also known as dwarf jewels, and they probably spawn at a smaller size than some of the other species.

As far as sexing is concerned. Both look very similar when not breeding. At spawning time one of them turns into an intense brownish red (male?) and the other into an intense and very clean bright red (female?)

Traditional wisdom recommends keeping them in soft water, but mine are doing well in the very hard Florida tap water. They appear to be very undemanding of water conditions.


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