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Jewel Cichlids

Hemichromis bimaculatus


Origin West African rivers
Maximum Size Six inches theoretically -- four in real life
Longevity 10 years
Housing 10 okay but big tanks work better
Security Females need cover at breeding time
Temperature Prefers 75 to 82
Attitude Stands up to larger cichlids. Not always the winner.
Sexing Difficult to distinguish discernible differences
Breeding Not that hard
Foods Not picky
Water Will live in old, yellow water. Prefers it cleaner

Origin: Jewels come from some of the west African rivers, not the Rift Lakes. Jewels kick bootie. Do not mix them with community fishes. We have here an African cichlid that mixes best with North, Central, and South American cichlids. In the wholesale listings, we find them listed with the American cichlids (ditto the kribensis). Jewels stand up to oscars twice their size. They cannot, however, stand up to Rift Lake cichlids. Mbunas skin ’em alive.

Name “Jewel” refers to the little iridescent sparklies (the maculatus or “spot” in their scientific name) that cover their bodies -- not their colors, and certainly not their personalities.

Spawning These little rowdies spawn about as easily as a Dempsey, but have fewer fry because they stay smaller. Jewels would spawn as easily as convicts if you could sex them as easily. You can’t tell the sexes apart by color or finnage -- even by size. You have no clue to their sexes until you see your pair defending a clutch of eggs. You pretty much have to let several of them pick their own partners. Put some ceramic (excuse me, they’re all resin these days) caves in a cichlid community tank and watch them whale on the Dempseys for possession. Put in several caves and rocks to avoid serious battles for spawning territories.

Conditioning Give your jewels a variety of foods to plump them up. Plump them up! Flakes and pellets first, then give them the right size frozen foods. Small earthworms contain secret secretions that puts a surge in their urge to merge. Ditto on mealworms snipped in half. You’ll see a change in color, belly size, and aggression level. If you see their breeding tubes appear, get ready to pass out cigars. Chances are, you’ll miss the whole process and find them protecting a patch of wigglers by the time you know what’s happening.

Red Devil (Amphilophus labiatus or Cichlasoma labiatum)

A very interesting and colorful fish with an aggression that is best explained as hyper territorial. They are fairly quick growing, loves to dig and needs caves to hide it. This fish is not satisfied with one cave as territory but wants the whole tank to itself. As juveniles it can be housed in groups, but when adults best kept singly. They are primarily an orange or orange red, but their color morphs as they grow.

Location:

Red Devils are naturally found in Nicaragua, Managua, and Xiloa

Size:

Males can grow up to 15 inches, females stay around 10-12 inches

Diet:

They are omnivorous. They readily except flake, blood worm, pellets, wafers, and live food, but absolutely need greens in there diet which can be supplemented with algae wafers, algae flake, or fresh greens like skinned baby peas, fresh romaine lettuce, and strips of zucchini.

Minimum Tank Requirements:

55 gallon for a group of juvies. Absolute bare minimum for adults is 90 gallon,100-120 with divider for breeding pair.

Water Requirements and Region:

Soft water with a Ph between 6.5-7.9. Temp. between 72-82 degrees F. These fish are not very picky with the Requirements as long as the fall somewhere between the aforementioned but they will live longer and thrive better with constant weekly water changes. They will swim all over your tank top, bottom, and middle.

Tank Mates:

None!

Social Behavior:

Once these guys hit about 3 inches they become little devils, and do not do well with any other fish not fast enough to get away. They will easily decimate larger fish and do not tolerate sharing their home.

Sexing:

Sexing juvenile is only possible by a process called venting which entails catching the fish and physically exposing their sexual bits, the male's bit will be longer and skinnier, where the females bit will be shorter, and blunt. When they mature the male will develop a nochul hump on his forehead, and will be a good big larger than the female when full grown. The female sometimes develop the hump as well but a lot smaller, and tends to disappear after courting has taken place, and are a good bit smaller than males.

Breeding:

The male will court the female until she becomes interested in breeding and if she doesn't he will force her, or kill her. The act will happen in cave where the female can lay anywhere from 300-600 eggs. The eggs will hatch in about 3 days, and become free swimming in 5-7. The female will be the primary care giver for about 2-3 weeks. After about week of the fry becoming free swimming it is a good idea to separate the female with new fry from the male by a divider in the tank, because the male will be wanting to mate again around this time and the female will not be ready and he will hurt her. The fry can be fed baby brine shrimp, baby micro worms, and even store bought liquid fry food, and crushed flake.