# Jewel Cichlids Bred What Type are they?



## savage-_-cichlid (May 9, 2012)

Hey guys i have a pair of jewel cichlids 3.5 inches that bred i was wondering what type of jewels are they? and which is male and female? i was thinking the more duller one was the male ( last pic)


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## BigTuck STL (Apr 28, 2012)

They are Red Jewels. I personally do not know how to tell the difference of male and female of this species. Someone else will chime in or you can now google the species.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

I beleive you are correct in identifying the larger, less colorfull one as the male. Often they can be easily sexed by body shape-----females more round, males straighter body shape with top and bottom of body forming parallel lines. More difficult though, sexing them from a picture then in person. As well, occasionally there are individuals, such as your female, where the sex is not so obvious based on body shape.

The larger, less colorfull (male) is the common jewel cichlid, Hemichromis guttatus. Often refferred to as H. bimaculatus in aquarium literature, but is actually H. guttatus, as the real H. bimaculatus is suposed to be extremely rare in the hobby. Your female is what is known in the hobby as Hemichromis sp. neon, or at least partly so ( she might be a mix?). It is not known whether H. sp. neon is a line bred variant of H. guttatus or a line bred hybrid of various Hemichromis species.


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## savage-_-cichlid (May 9, 2012)

Thanks for the replys guys! Really helped me out a lot , I know know more about these fishes. Does anybody have any breeding tips on these type of fishes?


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## RifterFish (Feb 5, 2012)

Are they the only fish in the tank? If not, remove any fish they have not killed yet. If you have them in a larger 55 gallon with other cichlids, you probably won't keep any of the fry unless you section them off from the rest of the fish. The only thing you need to do is make sure you put a sponge over the filter so it doesn't suck the babies up. Most local pet stores carry them. If not you can order one online and use a panty hose in the meantime - will need to be cleaned often. The babies will hatch on the third day and the parents will move them to another spot in the tank. You can feed them first bites until they get large enough for crushed flakes. They take a long time to grow. A good three to four month to reach an inch. They are not like mouth brooder fry. Some will grow faster than others and they will be your males. Jewels can lay eggs every 2 weeks. But don't worry, they allow the fry to eat the eggs so you won't be swamped - except for the 200-300 fry you already have. Leave them with the parents. They take very good care of them all the way up until about 1.5 inches then they start getting aggrivated with them and chase them. It is time to move them into their own tank at this point. If you try to move them under an inch they will most likely die - they are very sensitive (that is why you only end up with about 30-40 fry that make it to 1.5 inches in the end). I can almost assure you by the next day or two they will have laid eggs again. They are baby machines. I've been breeding them for years. well, I really don't do that much work. The parents do it all for me. Watch your hands when cleaning the tank. They WILL bite you and they have teeth.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

RifterFish said:


> Are they the only fish in the tank? If not, remove any fish they have not killed yet. If you have them in a larger 55 gallon with other cichlids, you probably won't keep any of the fry unless you section them off from the rest of the fish. The only thing you need to do is make sure you put a sponge over the filter so it doesn't suck the babies up. Most local pet stores carry them. If not you can order one online and use a panty hose in the meantime - will need to be cleaned often. The babies will hatch on the third day and the parents will move them to another spot in the tank. You can feed them first bites until they get large enough for crushed flakes. They take a long time to grow. A good three to four month to reach an inch. They are not like mouth brooder fry. Some will grow faster than others and they will be your males. Jewels can lay eggs every 2 weeks. But don't worry, they allow the fry to eat the eggs so you won't be swamped - except for the 200-300 fry you already have. Leave them with the parents. They take very good care of them all the way up until about 1.5 inches then they start getting aggrivated with them and chase them. It is time to move them into their own tank at this point. If you try to move them under an inch they will most likely die - they are very sensitive (that is why you only end up with about 30-40 fry that make it to 1.5 inches in the end). I can almost assure you by the next day or two they will have laid eggs again. They are baby machines. I've been breeding them for years. well, I really don't do that much work. The parents do it all for me. Watch your hands when cleaning the tank. They WILL bite you and they have teeth.


Yeah....they can be VERY VERY aggressive when spawning and in protecting their babies. If you do have other fish in the tank you had better keep an eye out.


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