Jewel Babies soon?

[baxter]

Maybe somebody can help me out a little, as I'm pretty new to cichlids. I have a couple of Jewels in a 29, and they've been in there together for about a month. I just picked out two from the store, not knowning nor really caring if they were male or female. I wasn't planning on trying to breed them is the only reason I wasn't concerned with sex.

Tankmates are limited to a pleco with no eyes, a cory and an upside down cat.

Well, these two little jewels looked almost exactly alike when I bought them, but then a few weeks ago one of them started to turn red under its chin and along the bottom half of its body and its tail turned pretty yellow. It was like these colors just started coming out.

Then today I notice a pit in the gravel towards the back of the tank and both of them guarding it. And I mean guarding it. The one with the red on it has been keeping all the other fish away with a vengeance. It doesn't chase after the others, but gives them a serious nip if they come too close.

Am I wrong to get excited and think I just might have gotten lucky and gotten a breeding pair here? This certainly looks like breeding behavior to me. Also, what would the egss look like? Size and color?

Any info is appreciated!!!

[Rocketman]

It looks like breeding behavior...You will find that you may have to transfer other fish out of that tank, as the Jewels may get really aggressive towards the other fish.

At the Pet Store I work at, we had a breeding pair of Convicts that mated and layed eggs in the corner. This was a 10 Gallon Display Tank with 3 other Cichlids, (an an electric blue crayfish,) and we had to move the other Cichlids out as the Convicts were being far too aggressive. Now, granted this was a 10 Gallon Tank...since you have a 29 Gallon, if you can't move the fish, don't worry about it unless the Jewels start getting extremly aggressive.

Of course, this is a great excuse to get a new tank.

[baxter]

Well, they've dug another pit now, so it looks like they're getting ready.

Anybody know how long it will be or what the signs are before they lay eggs? Also, do I need to put something flat in there for them to lay on or will she lay them on the gravel and then move them? I have a rock formation in there, but it is just gravel on underneath the overhang. Will she lay on top of the rock formation?

[Rocketman]

Either that or right in the nest they are making. They will guard the eggs like nothing else. I don't know when you will know when they mate.

By the way, does anyone know how to sex Jewels?

[baxter]

Good grief they had babies alright. Got home from work on Friday and there were probably 150 to 200 of them in the tank!

The parents take good care of them, too. They keep them on one side of the tank and keep everybody else away. I read someplace else that it's good to leave them in the same tank so the parents have some fish to guard against. Otherwise they will start fighting and the male usually kills the female and then eats the fry.

Rocketman, as for sexing, the male seems to be the darker red of the two. I couldn't really tell a difference before they turned colors, but I'll look at lunch today and see if there's any body differences and let you know.

[Rocketman]

Wow, thats so exciting baxter!


I've got two Jewels...one is larger than the other, with much more promenent colors. Yet they don't seem to go after each other much.

[baxter]

Well, I checked and couldn't really tell a difference in their body structure. I've read that there are some differences, but if there are I couldn't tell. The only way that I know they're different is their coloring.

Good luck with yours!

[Rocketman]

Well, my larger Jewel, (who is older, though,) has a much deeper red, (espicially prominant around the 'lips') and very distinctve blue dots, much brighter than the other Jewels. The woman at PetsMart mentioned that it might not be breeding season, which reminds me; aren't there certain requirements for breeding fish? I.E, you have to keep the lights on and temperature up all the time or something.

[baxter]

The one with all the red is definitely the male. The female stays more bland colored, but her blue spots become much more prominent when she's ready to spawn.

As for conditions, here's what I have: I keep the temp around 80 to 82 deg F, and the lights do stay on a lot.

That maybe has something to do with it. I'm going to wait a few weeks, see if they have more kids, then start doing things differently with the lights. Originally I was leaving the lights on for the plants, but they should be ok with the lights cut down some.