female con pair up with a jewel????

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
cichlid2006

cichlid2006

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 20, 2008
2,640
1
68
43
Fife - Scotland
Ive noticed that my jewel and con have the odd lip lock but never anything serious and you would guess they hated each other but they are always swimming together when they arent liplocking. they even eat together a lot of the time.
she has a little dug out under the wood making my midas' shelter and i thought i seen her following its curved area (going upside down) but i cant get a look inside without disturbing it. the jewel rarely goes anywhere else other than that side of the tank and ive noticed my midas is beginning to claim its home back from the jewel, the con gets to go wherever she likes. when the con goes for a swim so does the jewel and vice versa.

so would/could a jewel and pair up?
does it sound like it from my description?
will my midas go medieval in time and claim that side of the tank back from the jewel?
why does my midas let the con get away with anything but not the jewel?

i should also mention that when the midas comes back to his shelter the female con gets quite aggitated and starts head shaking and twitching at him with her fins up while facing the midas head on with no fear.
 
wow she just went for my midas. she (the con) is only 1.5-2" long and my midas is 5"+ and at least 4 times her height and 3 times her width.
 
Exactly what species are you referring to when you say "Jewel"... To me a Jewel is a Hemichromis bimaculatus... info below is based on that...

so would/could a jewel and pair up?

It is possible for them to "pair up"... but most likely not possible for them to breed. Convicts are well known to hybridize with just about anything that will accept them, but with these two species being from different continents they are probably too far removed to actually produce fry together.

does it sound like it from my description?

Sounds possible...

will my midas go medieval in time and claim that side of the tank back from the jewel?

It's really hard to predict what fish will do... also the personality of each fish is a bit different...

why does my midas let the con get away with anything but not the jewel?

Male Cichlids are often more aggressive towards other male Cichlids, and less so towards females... but the above response applies to this one too...
 
I"m not going to say it's impossible...their spawning techniques are practically the same so there is always a possibility...but I'd highly doubt it.
 
the type of jewel you mentioned has more red than mine. mine has a lot of blue rather than red on it. i would post a pic but the little bugger wont sit still for a good one.
she has started a fight with my midas. she is in and out of that cave constantly. the midas has been quite good about it at the moment and only chasing her rather than hurting her. the jewel isnt doing anything when the midas goes near her cave.

i thought the continents barrier would make hybridization near impossible if not impossible. its tank dynamics i was trying to avoid though.
 
the middle spot in the jewel isnt visible and i cant remember seeing it ever. if that helps in the type of jewel. from the pics ive found of lifalli (sp?) and bimaculatus mine looks like either one at various times.
 
Your jewel is probably a H. guttatus which is the common jewel cichlid. There is also a line bred or hybrid version (experts aren't sure which) called a turquoise jewel with much more blue. H. bimaculatus is extremely rare in the hobby (it's kind of like the whole Geophagus surinamensis thing).

There have been reports of fry being raised from jewel/CA crosses, but it is rare despite the number of people keeping jewels with CA cichlids.
 
this is the the closest to what mine looks like the majority of the time. a bit more red than mine but closer than the others. cheers Darth Pike.


my midas appears to have been evicted from its home now. guess midas is getting its own flower pot sooner than anticipated.
 
Since jewels are from Africa are they mouthbrooders?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom