female jewel atacking male

[you MFKer!]

my female jewel chiclid has started atacking the male jewel. i got the fish from my lfs 4 days ago and the male who was very brightly colored in the shop has only just regaind his full colour .this is when the female started to atack him. if you hav any info or expirianc with thi sort of situation please coment i wil post picks soon as i am not 100% shure of the sex and would apreciate any other opinions.

ohh and they are in a 10g (will be upgraded when required)
the male is aprox 2in
the female is aprox 1.5 in

any thoughts ?

 

[you MFKer!]

do fish have a time of the month ?

 

[Ogrim]

I am noe expert here, however fish don't have PMS lol. There are a couple of different type of Jewels out there. They are all somewhat aggressive, especially when spawning.
Far as I know Red Forest Jewels are possibly a bit less aggressive, but don't hold me to this. [FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica]It is difficult to distinguish between the sexes. Males are usually darker with less color and they are slightly larger.
These fish are very territorial, make sure there are plenty of hiding places or move/divide the fish being bullied.
The best way to get a breeding pair is to get 4 to 6 individuals from different places & see if any pair up from the lot. In your case the one you got from the LFS may just have been rejected by the other for being weaker or they are of the same sex.
Cheers
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[Pyramid_Party]

Jewels are really aggressive despite their size. They can hold their own with larger cichlids. Also, how can you tell male form female? I don;t think its possible with Jewels. A 10 gallon is small. I hope you are atleast planning a 20 long in the future. My guess why they are fighting its a small tank. Jewels are already highly territorial.

 

[you MFKer!]

Jewels are really aggressive despite their size. They can hold their own with larger cichlids. Also, how can you tell male form female? I don;t think its possible with Jewels. A 10 gallon is small. I hope you are atleast planning a 20 long in the future. My guess why they are fighting its a small tank. Jewels are already highly territorial.

the methods of sexing them are not all that relyable but males have pointier fins (females being slightly rounder) and the male is slightly larger full grown (these first two are generic to allot/most cichlids). and with the turquiose jewels (the species i have)the male has more shineing blue scales all along his body the female with only a few on her face.

fortunatly the agression stopped .i think he just dident want to beat up a girl lol.. but then he got rearly pissed and tought her a lesson now they get on fine. they now vent their anger at me through the glass...

 

[Just Prince]

get a bigger tank. I keep a mated pair of Hemichromis Gutattus in a 20 long with no problems. The tank size is part of the problem. You might also try to get a larger group a see who survives or pairs up then sell or give away the rest.