# pleco and jewel?



## bblovesae (Feb 3, 2012)

hey there, I have an aggressive jewel in a 10 gallon tank by himself, he hasn't lived with another fish since I got him from the fish store. I'm setting up a 20 gallon tank for him and would love if I could put another fish in there with him. I was wondering if I put a pleco in the 20 gallon and then put the jewel in after if the jewel would be aggressive towards the pleco. if you have an idea of another type of fish that would be suitable I would love to hear.

any advice is appreciated


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## samaki (Oct 25, 2002)

Hi A pleco grows to a big size, so I wouldn't advice you to do so, tyr to fond some synodontis species that grows to a mean size as the nigripinnis or perhaps a female jewel .
xris


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## bblovesae (Feb 3, 2012)

ok thanks, I was planning on bringing the pleco back to the LFS once he started getting too big.


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

bblovesae said:


> ok thanks, I was planning on bringing the pleco back to the LFS once he started getting too big.


You'll have to buy at least a mid sized pleco to hold its own with the jewel and even then you are stretching whether he will be comfortable in a 20...
Plecos can regularly hold their own against aggressive fish, but it will depend on the personality of the pleco, whether he's prone to running away and hiding and whether he comes out at night or day. It also depends on how the territory is divided up. I had a spawning krib pick a non-aggresive pleco nearly apart, and they aren't known for their dominance.


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## bblovesae (Feb 3, 2012)

okay thanks.

anyone have an idea of what I could keep with him in 20 gallon? if I got a female and grew her out a bit before putting them together would there be a chance of pairing up or at least no bad aggression?


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## samaki (Oct 25, 2002)

Re
20 G is by far not the ideal volume to keep jewels, perhaps it can be good for Kribs but jewel tend to get a little too large for this type of tank. the bets should be to put more than one female and let him choose. But we are not living in a ideal world, if yu can't do that then yu can try with some barbs that are more robusts than characids.
xris


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

That's not a bad suggestion, Kribs usually want about 25 or 30 gallons, but they are community fish if kept in a well stocked tank. They are beautiful and can pair up pretty easily.


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## bblovesae (Feb 3, 2012)

I agree that kribs are beautiful and I would love to own a pair. however, I already have my jewel and he needs to go in a bigger home. I currently have the 20 gallon tank cycling with some water, gravel and a sponge filter from my 10 gallon. I'm hoping there will be a fish I can keep him with... I would really love to try keeping him with a female but I'm worried about coming home one night and the female being dead or beat up.

anyone have a suggestion?


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

unfortunately no. i remember your old thread about trying to add a female with your jewel. jewels are nasty and mean, remember IRONDAN had a 125 gallon. and his jewel would still boss around fish twice his size. your tank is tiny compared to that. id suggest selling your jewel and looking another fish you like that isnt super aggressive. its not fun to lose a fish to aggression and its a waste of money.


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

HI, I have 10 red jewels in my community tank, so far so good, they pretty much keep to themselves, but I also have some other aggressive fish, like Mdokas, socolofis and red top trewasi long pelvic, so they keep the jewels on their toes. The jewels are all about 4-5 inches long except 2 of them that are bigger, they are bright red. I haven't see any real aggression on any of the Jewels so far. I don't said that I will never do...but so far they have behaved.
I also have fry in that community tank in several grow stages, I can't get them out because I have lots of Holey Rock and they are hiding in the rocks so pretty much in this tank nature will take it's course. The Jewels don't even bother the babies.


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## kira (Jul 23, 2012)

try and add 2 or 3 females in the tank. He will certainly choose one and pair up. At this stage just take the other fish back to the lfs. 
Once they start breeding they'll never stop.
And when you can, get a 35g+, your pair will be happier than ever


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## jatmiko (Aug 18, 2012)

iam new comer friend..


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## Pablo B. (Aug 3, 2012)

It really, in my opinion and experience, depends on the "personality" of the Jewel. I have a 75 gallon with nine African cichlids in it........all mixed from a Zebra Obliquedens, a Tretocephalus, a Rusty, a Parallelus, a tropheus Duboisi, a Peacock, an Elongatus, a Milomo, and the Jewel. The Jewel is the smallest fish in the tank and she will hold her own with most of the others as no one bothers her. She even will sometimes chase the Milomo, the Elongatus, and thinks about chasing the Zebra. It's rather intriguing to watch this all happening before your eyes, too.

I would think that the Jewel, if not used to being around another fish at all, would start picking on the plecostomus I am betting. If you had say a 55 gallon tank, it most likely wouldn't be a huge deal as there would be more space for both fish but a 20 gallon? Too small in my opinion. But that is just my thoughts on it.


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