# Jewels and dithers



## Lyricaltoo (Jan 9, 2014)

I just bought a m/f pair of Red Jewels this afternoon. I am wondering if they *need* dithers? Do they do better with them? I'd really rather only put some in if they were a necessity. And if so, what kind and how many would be best?

Thank you.


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## kuni (Nov 8, 2009)

Are these the common pet-store jewel (H. guttatus)? If so, they will happily eat many dithers. Large fast tetras (Buenos Aires, Congo, many Alestes) are a decent choice, as are giant danios if you can deal with their somewhat spastic swimming behavior.

How big is your tank? If it's 40-55G, some dithers might help. If it's smaller, they'll likely be killed (as will one of your jewels).

If the goal is to form a strong pair bond, you might try putting a mirror in the tank. The male and female will spend time attacking it rather than each other.

You could also try a single "target fish" to give the parents something to defend their nest against. Assuming you have these in a tank bigger than 29G, you could try a large blue/gold gourami. They're cheap, tough as nails, and unlikely to kill a jewel.


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## Lyricaltoo (Jan 9, 2014)

These are Hemichromis bimaculatus. They are in a 39g right now, to be moved once they get bigger.


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## kuni (Nov 8, 2009)

Lyricaltoo said:


> These are Hemichromis bimaculatus. They are in a 39g right now, to be moved once they get bigger.


That sounds like a fine size for a pair of jewels, possibly for their entire lives. I would recommend adding a single blue/gold gourami or paradisefish to make the jewels feel safer and give them something to drive away from their breeding site. Both of those species are pretty tough customers themselves and are generally capable of putting up with jewel aggression. Congo tetras could also work well, though they are fast and predatory and will eat the baby jewels.

You will want some flowerpots or flat rocks to encourage the jewels to spawn. I've had them spawn on driftwood too.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Also, to correct your misconception, the real _Hemichromis bimaculatus_ has never been generally available in the aquarium hobby; that was a misidentification made about 75 years ago. The correct ID as _H. guttatus_ was learned about 25-30 years ago, but every general aquarium site on the web still uses _bimaculatus_ because they don't know how to actually research what they are putting on the internet. Most simply copy what they've seen in books - very old books.


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## Lyricaltoo (Jan 9, 2014)

kuni said:


> Lyricaltoo said:
> 
> 
> > These are Hemichromis bimaculatus. They are in a 39g right now, to be moved once they get bigger.
> ...


Thank you very much! I would never have thought of blue or gold gouramis or a paradisefish!

I do have a flowerpot, a cave, 2 flat rocks against the sides of the glass and one piece of driftwood, I have more soaking also.

I'm really pleased with these two so far! They already come out and wiggle when I get near the tank. The male, the larger of the two, gets a light red tint to him once in a while now too.


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