Minimum tank size for jewel cichlids breeder.
- Thread starter Justepic
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- breeder jewel cichlid
Bigger is better since these cichlids aren't known for being friendly 
But... if I start out with 6 , then when they pair off, return the other 4, then can I keep these two in a 30 gallon with a bristlenose pleco?Bigger is better since these cichlids aren't known for being friendly
Should be fine IMO. Normal risks associated with cichlids breeding... female may be killed by aggressive male if she doesn't have anywhere to escape. Best way to go about this is to have a hole in a flowerpot that is just big enough for female to get through, and too small for male. May be difficult with jewels since they stay similar in size. You might have no problem with aggression between them, but better to think about it beforehand. Having a small tank set up on the side to place the male in "time out" if need be, would be a good idea.
Keeping any type Pleco in a breeding tank is not advisable.
Being at least partially nocturnal, Plecos will eat cichlid eggs and fry, while cichlid parents sleep, and they also eat algae that the fry will need to graze on.
And I agree with all the things Gourami Swami stated.
If you want to keep fry, a 40 is a good size grow out tank to remove fry to, when parents are ready to spawn again in a couple weeks, otherwise they will eat the older fry..
Being at least partially nocturnal, Plecos will eat cichlid eggs and fry, while cichlid parents sleep, and they also eat algae that the fry will need to graze on.
And I agree with all the things Gourami Swami stated.
If you want to keep fry, a 40 is a good size grow out tank to remove fry to, when parents are ready to spawn again in a couple weeks, otherwise they will eat the older fry..
As others have said bigger is better. My pair did not last in a 29. Male berated the female relentlessly. I got one spawn out of them, that they ended up eating anyways. In the end I had to separate them. There was plenty of hides and other fish to chase around but didn't help.
Mine are in a 20 right now and they are fine toward each other. I am about to set up a 30 for them to give a bit more room. Before they started their first spawn they killed off my bn pleco, before I had realized they were beating it up.
I had to put a divider in the tank to have a small area for the fry to go into. Funny enough the baby’s were attacking the father and he was taking it like a champ. But I separated them feeling that some day he might have enough and just eat them. I kept some of the bigger nicer ones in the side of the divider and put the majority in a 5 gal. I noticed the ones with the parents grew much faster and have much nicer markings and the others stayed at a slow growth rate even after being away from the alpha. I am just about to sell the last of the big ones and the female is looking just about plump enough to start the next batch and we start all over again.
I went to my lfs recently and they don't do jewels.
However I am thinking about doing a variation of an egyptian mouth brooder called nichols breeder which are very rare.
I saw them at the shop and they were soooo cool!
My mind is set