Info. on Jewels?

[clevy]

I have had these 2 fish for over a year, and I am not sure if they are male or female? They stay together and hang out, but I have never seen any signs of spawning?

[chugger]

it's kinda hard too tell from those pics, the female is usually a more round fish, anyway , you should try to add some , water softner to the water, cause hemichromis's water is closier too the south american type then the african lakes, and if that doesn't help let me know i have a bunch og germen breed hemichromis sp. that r real red you could have a pair for free if you pay shipping

[clevy]

it's kinda hard too tell from those pics, the female is usually a more round fish, anyway , you should try to add some , water softner to the water, cause hemichromis's water is closier too the south american type then the african lakes, and if that doesn't help let me know i have a bunch og germen breed hemichromis sp. that r real red you could have a pair for free if you pay shipping

Hey, thanks chugger. I keep the jewels with all S. American, and some of the SA are breeding, so the water should be good for them? I have not tested it in awhile, so maybe I will try the softner after I see how the water is? I have looked at alot of pics of jewels and I would have to agree from what you are saying, I think I have 2 males. The fish do not look as rounded. I appreciate the offer on the jewels, I might have to take you up on it. Share some pics of your jewels. How much do you think it would be to ship from philly to Indianapolis? I appreciate the input! :thumbsup:

[chugger]

im trying to figure the camera too comp thing out, then i'll beable to send you some of mine , but i can give you a link to where i got them, with a pic of them, as for shipping i have paid as little as 25, and as much as 45 so i wouldn't beable to tell you.

[skjoldhus]

Based on your pics ( not to mention the obvious about the lack of spawning interest ) you have two males. The primary indicator is in the strong amount of red on the underside. The female is generally less bright, and a lot more green in her. The red edging and red underside is a major clue. During breeding a large mature male will become entirely red. I notice that they are housed with other larger cichlids which is one of two reasons why they are "hanging around" like a pair, or friends if you will rather than acting territorial with eachother. The other factor is the "packing" behaviour often attributed to groups of Jewels. This even includes pack hunting. Jewels display an amazing variety of behavior in the aquarium. They are incredibly versitile and tough fish.
The owner of a local fish store here in Sarasota related to me a story about having an excess amount of jewels at one point in her store and decided to feed one off to a Blue Ring Octopus. Not only did the Jewel survive a direct drop into salt water, it lived in the tank for 3 weeks and apparently began picking at the octopus to her horror. She returned it to fresh water and again, it survived the shock and was back with the other jewels as if nothing had happened.
They no longer carry Jewels as a rule because she considers them a free breeding pest. They do have a variety of other African cichlids.

- Best of luck with your fish! - Erik -

[clevy]

Erik, thanks for the info. Cool story as well. It still amazes me how strong some of the cichlids are. I still am searching for a nice female. Maybe once I get one, I will see the two males go wild?

[Crooks76]

:headbang2:headbang2Those are awesome pics.:headbang2:headbang2

[repair]

Erik, thanks for the info. Cool story as well. It still amazes me how strong some of the cichlids are. I still am searching for a nice female. Maybe once I get one, I will see the two males go wild?

They pair up so you will see one male beat on the other male.

I missed your call last week, give me a call and we can see if I have a female.

[repair]

Here is a pic of a know female and the second pic is a of known male and the third is of them together.

[clevy]

Repair, great looking jewels. Good shots as well. Thanks for sharing. The female has fantastic coloration. I take it she was spawning? She is a beauty. I am just learning more about the jewels. Which Hemichromis family are yours? Bimaculatus, Guttatus, or Lafalili?
I just got home, so I will call you this weekend. Is that ok?

[repair]

The male gets just as red when they are spawning.

I have to admit I don't know which species they are.

This weekend is fine.

BTW Thanks for the comment on the photos but your put mine to shame :D

[chugger]

Repair, great looking jewels. Good shots as well. Thanks for sharing. The female has fantastic coloration. I take it she was spawning? She is a beauty. I am just learning more about the jewels. Which Hemichromis family are yours? Bimaculatus, Guttatus, or Lafalili?
I just got home, so I will call you this weekend. Is that ok?

clevy that dark red color in your hemichromis reminds me of a line of hemichromis jeff rapps had 3 years ago from europe, with hemichromis that have been line breed for along time it's harder to tel;l, but if you want some def females just let me know mine had more babies.

[clevy]

Chugger, I appreciate you getting ahold of me. The shipping would be more than I would want to do at this time, from Philly. I think I found some female jewels locally. Thanks for the offer though. :D

[chugger]

ok good luck for some reason i really like these guys

[fish head )'>]

Scientific Name: Hemichromis guttatus
Common Name(s): Common Jewel Fish
Geo. Origin: Ivory Coast to Cameroon Africa
Habitat: Still or Slow-Moving Water with Root Tangles
Diet: Omnivore
Gender Differences: Monomorphic
Breeding: Substrate Spawner
Temperament: Mildly Aggressive
Maximum Size: 4"
Temperature: 75-89°F
pH: 5.6-9.0
Water Hardness: Neutral

Do a lot of you keep them with S.A.? It seems like they would fit in and look good with them even though they are African.

[chugger]

i use too, and i know of people who keep them with all kinds of cichlids, from south and centeral america, i try to keep mine only with other west african's

[Connor0729]

they say that these guys are mean, but my jewel is in a tank with a pair of blood parrots and he was dominant for one day and then got beaten down again:) when he gets older i have a feeling that blood will spill:lol3: :lol3: :lol3: :lol3:

[chugger]

maybe, but i know blood parrots r a cross of two pretty mean cichlids, but if the jewel is and kind other then a hemichromis lifalili, it will hold it's own soon, the thing i dont like about jewels, is for the most part, when they r dominat, there not happy till they kill the other fish, once in awhile you will get a good one who will just chase ther other fish from it's spot, most mostly they will pursue the other fish until death, in this case it's better to crownd a tank with fish, so not one fish can be singled out

[tazzy695]

I amnewto this forum but I have kept jewels for about 6 mounths now and have had several spawings from the pics I would think males but it is truely almost impossible to tell male from female till they are fully mature and you see them breeding my male that I just got a batch of fry from is dark brown and the female is bright red I also have another female that is dark brown just like the male all of wich I know could breed at any time

if you have 2 males it would not be advisable to introduce just one female as they will start to fight and one will end up dead my pair chase the crap out of the odd female and leave the malawi cichlids I have alone unless they are trying to get to the eggs or fry then the other WATCH OUT cause mom and dad will kill to protect them

also I have hard water and the spawn just fine in it as long as everything else is stable and pristine

[clevy]

Thanks for the input everyone. I would agree, from what I can tell I have two males. I am going to hold off putting any new fish in the tank now, because I just had a pair of Festae spawn and they have a nice size group of fry.:nilly:

[lilmixedboy]

yea any hemichromis species can hold their own.

[tazzy695]

watch your jewels around the fry as I know mine will hunt down and eat them in my tank

I experiemented and put 3 fry from the jewel parents I have back in the main tank after having them out for 5 days and the mother went and ate her babies without a thaught about it actualy she uprooted a plant that the fry was hiding in she hit the fry so hard on attack

I would actualy recomend moving the jewels to another tank while the fry are in there if this is possible