pair of jewels in a 10gallon tank

[callum]

could a pair of jewels go well and breed in a 10g tank plz help

[sirasoni]

no.

[Rbishop]

I wouldn't do it for the long term. Get a 20 long.

[bluekiller82]

Definitely not. Id recommend a minimum of a 40 gallon. They reach about 6".

[Rbishop]

Well, in theory and the wild that may be true, but more likely in a home environment, 4" is great. There will be some that post the larger size, but it is the extreme exception and not a rule.

[richos]

They will grow to the size of the tank they are in...in a 10G they will stay about 2" long.
Get a bigger tank for them as soon as you can...your 10G may make a nice tank for some neon tetras in you kids room. 10G tanks are for feeder fish and quarentine for sick fish.
In a larger tank 4' or bigger....they will get to be 6" easily.
My last one got the bloat about 6 months ago...he was about 8" (but thats about as big as they normaly get...ive seen bigger, but as bish says its the excpeption and not the norm.

[Dwarf Puffers]

^^^^^ (agrees)

If you want em, id suggest the 4' tank... They have more chances to breed, and live happy, long lives, and not kill each other, and not get stunted, etc..

[sirasoni]

an 8" jewel cichlid? have pics?

[Jayhawk]

richos - I strongly disagree that fish grow to the size tank they are in. A jewel will get to adult size with frequent water changes in a tank that's way too small for it. Stunting usually comes from not only the small space but poor water conditions as well, and it leads to a premature death.

What kind of Hemichromis are we talking about that reach 8"? The standard H. bimaculatus (although really likely to be guttatus) won't get bigger than 6" SL. maximum (but as our good moderator pointed out, it's usually only 4" SL).

Eric

[richos]

I didnt say they grow to anysize. I said 6"
But in a confined space they will grow with the tank...put a fry in a shot glass and see how big it gets even with hourly water changes. Yes you can 'force' it to grow but it wont reach adult size....its head will grow but its body will be stunted. If its stunted its not adult size!
I dont know anyone with a bimaculatus they are a dull browny red (not what you would want in a display tank). As you say the guttatus (only has one spot when mature instead of two like the bimaculatus) is known as the common Jewel (and like you say usualy are 4" not many of them get to be 6" unless kept in good conditions with plenty of food).
Though where I am they are not 'commonly' available...the most common around here is the lifalili (Red Forest Jewel - also has two spots when mature) though most apear to be a mix. (and are often sold as Central Americans as they like similar water conditions)
6" (normal adult size) Jewels....elongatus (5 star general); fasciatus; frempongi; letourneauxi; paynei (Green Forest Jewel).
My 8" may have been slightly on the exagerated side but he was a solid 7" (like I said...the exception and not the rule)
Ill try and find some pics (he died last year and I only had a couple of photo's...they are on a disc somewhere in my office)

[Jayhawk]

richos - I'm glad you clarified the "grow to size of tank" as really stunting. I just didn't want any newer folks to think it was simply that they stay small instead of it being a cruel thing (I wouldn't want to be stunted by being raised in a dresser drawer myself). I have read of experiments in the past with larger fish in 10 gallon tanks with constant flow filtration reaching adult size (granted, we're talking 10" fish in the 10 gallon tank), but I probably didn't explain that well.

I can see a jewel hitting 7" if it lived a good long lifespan since fish never stop growing. You're lucky to have H. lifalili in your area...we just have common jewels, but this side of the pond they're labeled as bimaculatus when they're obviously not!

Eric

[richos]

The lifalili is splendid fish...very bright red with tons of blue 'pearl'.
I have seen them labeled as bimaculatus in aquariums. they also have 2 spots when mature, but are much brighter coloured. Its good when you get the nice ones labeled and priced like the comons.
My wife paid 20 $AUS each (about 15 $US) for two 'unspecified' Central American Cichlids.
When she told me, I thought "oh no, what abomanations has she been sold" I rushed home to check and to my surprise, one of these Central Americans was from West Africa, the other from Madagasca...they dont quite go with my other CA's (I try to keep tankmates that you might find together in the wild) but they were both so very nice looking fish that I had to keep them...The Madagascar Diamond (Pollini-small spot) is called Bert (as in Bert and ernie) He is a quite a fiesty bugga and killed my common pleco a few weeks ago (pleco...9") I wasnt happy but hes such a character I cant help but like him. (hes worth at least 5 times what my wife paid for him)
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x312/RichOs69/01010308-1.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x312/RichOs69/01010330-1.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x312/RichOs69/01010313-1.jpg

[Jayhawk]

Nice pictures, and nice looking fish.