# two jewels and a jd. might have been a mistake.



## VonMozz (Feb 1, 2015)

hey guys, so i have a 90 g tank with two jewels. *** had them since the summer. i beleive theyre a pair although i havent really been able to sex them.. and i havent noticed any spawning or eggs. but up until now they have been a very dull brown yellow. and they were alwayss hiding, unless it was feeding time i basicaly never saw them swimming around. so i added i jd yesterday. not completely sure on the sex yet hes relatively small. a tiny bit bigger than the 'male' jewel. almost instantly the pair colored up. the 'male' being the brighter than i thought he could even get. but the problem is all he has done is chase the jd around. before i put him in i did some scaping, a day or two earlier added more rocks and cave-ish territories and they have confined him to a long plant, up against the glass. at first they were lip locking over one spot but i guess the jd gave up. the awesome thing though is now the jewels are usually swimming about. i feel kinda bad for the new guy. i dont want his life to be constantly being chased around. xshould i would wait i couple more days let him settle in.. or was this a bad idea and i should start looking to rehome? or maybe add a somewhat large group of dither fish? or any other fish? cuz im liking seeing the jewels out of hiding. any advise would be awesome!


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

The main issue is you added just one fish to an established tank. Adding a single fish into a cichlid aquarium is almost always going to result in it being chased by the existing fish. If the Jewels breed though, the JD is likely to be killed. A group of dither fish is a good idea, whether you keep the JD or not... Dither fish also give the JD a better chance to survive.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Agreed - adding dither fish is a good idea, and you should also rescape, sometimes that can help. You did rescape a day or so prior to adding, but that does not really do anything in terms of helping the new fish as the jewels still had a couple days to establish territories. Do another rescape now, add some dithers and see what happens.


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## Woundedyak (Oct 19, 2007)

Those jewels can be a handfull if they pair up. What I've learned is once they find a spot, They will tend to just stay there and not venture to far, but they will defend it. It doesn't take long for other fish to get the message and stay away. They seem to like dark caves with flat rocks surrounding it. They like to lay eggs on flat rocks or smooth river rock. So do some reading on them and build a nice penthouse for them in the corner. Then put some visual blockers out beyond the Penthouse. Good Luck


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## VonMozz (Feb 1, 2015)

so little update. the JD is now king of the tank. but it did come with a price; most of his tail and a bit of pectoral fins. although he picked the closest spot to them as he could i beleive they have arranged a property line.

i didnt think about the risk of only adding one fish.. :S and now his beautiful will never be the same. but i did go out and get some tiger barbs. there was one casualty. but i havent seen any problems since. the jewels are almost always out. and the JD is super social. and murderous, i suspect. he seems to pay no attention to the barbs, though that could very well change.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

His tail and other fins will likely grow back if the jewels leave him alone.


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