Jewel Cichlid: complete care guide
- Sep 10, 2020
- Anshika Mishra
- 2553 0 0
A complete care guide on the Jewel Cichlid is important because there is a lot of misconception about these fishes. So, let us know what is the truth and how to truly care for these guys.
AGGRESSIVE FISH
These fishes are very aggressive fish, it will kill most of the fishes you put in the tank with them. It should not be kept with anything but themselves. A lot of people like to keep it with South American and Central American Cichlids, but don't, there is actually no point in risking it. Keeping South American and Central American Cichlids with the African Cichlid is not a good idea in general.
ORIGIN
The first thing one should know is that these guys are not African Lake Cichlids, they are in fact from the rivers down in South Africa. There is actually one reason why you should not keep them, the area from where they belong makes them much more aggressive. At the same time much more hostile than most Lake Cichlids.
The maximum size of these fish s would be 5-6 inches, the male gets bigger than the female.
They are so aggressive that it is advised to not keep any tankmates with them.
TANK SETUP
The best setup for them would be; just get a 30-gallon and keep just one breeding pair of them. A 40-gallon breeder would be the perfect setup for a breeding pair of these fish. They are aggressive even when they are not breeding.
HARDY FISH
Other than being super aggressive, they are a pretty hardy fish.
Temperature: 70-78
pH: 6.5-7.5
DIET
They are carnivorous, they do well with a high-quality pallet, high-quality flake meal. High-quality Hikari, micro pallets will also be a great option.
BREEDING
Breeding these fishes is actually quite simple, the only difficult part is determining what sex your fishes are. There is not a lot of ways to tell that; it is said though that the males have more blue and they have more spangles on their tail, but this is really not going to be that accurate. So, sexing these guys isn't really easy.
If you want to find though you can try a group of Juveniles and as they pair you can just take them in a separate tank and breed. But even the pairs have o be separated at some time, once they lose interest in each other they will try their best to kill each other.
These guys will event take on the bigger fish, they can attack Texas Cichlid, Oscars, etc. These fishes are crazy.
BIG ATTITUDE FISH
Definitely a great little fish if you want a big attitude and a little fish. They can be glass bangers. they can jump up and bite you as soon as you open the lid. There are a lot of things that you have to take into account when purchasing them.
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