# Are My Red Jewels Breeding?????



## hessels92 (Mar 15, 2010)

Hey guys just wanna no if my red Jewels are Breeding or if they are even male or female.










male









female


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## chrisFewell (Feb 3, 2009)

anyone? Im trying to sex mine, they are about 1.75" does anyone know the difference between m and F?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You might also try the West African forum, maybe that's where all the Jewel keepers hang out.


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

I keep jewels and know for a fact that the only 100% ways to know the sex of or Jewels is to:
1. Vent them
2. See them spawning where the female will have an egg tube come down just behind the anus
3. actually see which of your fish is laying the eggs

There are other ways that people say you can sex them which are less reliable like that males will have more iridescent spots on them where the females will be smaller in size and have less spots. I don't rely on this method b/c I have seen males with hardly any spots. I will say though that if they have paired up you do have a male and a female look for round patches of brown/white eggs in a circle on one of your rocks or where they are gathering. If you had two males they would interact but it wouldn't be peaceful and they wouldn't hang out together. They would do what is called "kissing" which is actually fighting and one would clam territory on one side of the tank and the other on the other side. The toll tale sign of spawning though is looking for that small egg tube that will be protruding from the underside of your female it will almost look like a little penis so don't think that's your male! If this is the first time that they have spawned expect to have about 150-200 fry when hatched and the numbers will increase with every spawn up to 500 when she gets big enough! They have different spawning schedules then most cichlids where they will spawn three to four times in a row before the last batch of fry even get to 1/2" they will have already laid new eggs and will start to care for those eggs. If this is a species specific tank and you intend on keeping the fry remove them when you see this happening where like most cichlids once the parents stop caring for the young they themselves will eat or kill them to make room for the new ones! They will do that three to four times in a row then take a break for a couple of months where then they will right back at it! If they are in a tank with other fish even other Jewels the other fish will try and eat them where the Jewels then become hyper aggressive and will protect the eggs/fry. When I left the fry in my mixed african tank they all got eaten my first two broods so the last one I siphoned all the fry out into a five gallon bucket (already half full of tank water to protect them from smashing on the bottom) and gathered the parents and moved the family to a grow out tank until the fry where almost 1/2" and moved the parents back! Jewels tend to be great parents and spawn easily but watch if this is a young pair as some will start to eat the young and if you want them to survive you will want to take them out! I have found that for the best survival rate keep them with the parents for as long as possible until you seem them getting agitated with the fry swimming around them they will start to hide from them or flick their fins at them to move them away this is probably the time you should move the parents back to the main tank (if main tank is populated with other fish) or move the fry to a grow out tank (if it is a tank with the single pair in it)! One other thing that you want to make sure of when you have a breeding pair of Jewels is that there is plenty of hiding spots and place for the female to escape the male. I have seen it happen many times when they take that break from spawning for a couple months the male wants to keep breeding and she doesn't and she ends up dead! This usually happens in a tank where there isn't enough places for her to escape him and he will be relentless! When most people have a species specific tank especially just one pair they tend to not have many rocks, plants, etc etc b/c this species does like to hide a lot and they think this is the way they will get to enjoy the fish and view them often! This really just gives her no where to hide and she will get killed so make sure there is plenty of places for her to go when he is still "in the mood" :lol: . Well I hope I have helped sorry so long Good Luck!


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## westcoastkid (May 24, 2010)

Judging from the color paterns of the two fish you possibly have a male and female, just like my breeding pair. When did they start to color up? Have they been more or less inseperable? If they are a pair they will take over a teritory and when you see her (the red all over one) the male has the red lower jaw start to clean a flat rock or even a flat piece of wood.
Mine used the wood first then a nice rock for the next dozen spawns. Youll see only one of them at a time for feeding and where you see the other is where there clutch is. They will be over top of the eggs fanning them. About two days later they will hatch and another two or three later they will be swimming. At this time take whatever food your feeding the adults and crush it to a powder if it's pellets use two spoons or a pepper mill. Take a pinch and put it down in the water just above them, do this 2 or 3 time a day if you can or they can starve. The fry will pick off the smaller weeker ones themselves so you will see the numbers shrink but after 2 or 3 weeks whats left should be strong and healthy. Hope this helps, good luck.

Ryan


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