new pics of jewels and texas

[ussmickey]

these are different tanks...with different cichlids (http://www.picturetrail.com/ussmickey) i know most of you dont like my red gravel..but other than that...do you know how to sex the jewels? they are always together. any help appreciated.

[demon_surfer]

i have a breeding pair of red jewels at the moment, they are awesome fish!! especially when they are showing their colors. Their fry are already starting to colour up at under an inch.

anyway to your question -

looking at the second from bottom picture i believe the one on the right and slightly above is the male.

In most cichlids it seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb that the larger stockier fish will be the male and the sleaker one the female. Also the Males are often more spectacularly coloured, they have to get dates after all :)

hope this helps, or better yet someone could give you some more specific details to look for!

[ussmickey]

i was thinking the same thing. that the bigger one was the male. im hoping that i have a pair. they are so pretty, the pictures dont do them any justice at all. thank you for the reply.

[demon_surfer]

no problem, they are spectacular when in breeding colous, infortunatly one of mine is beating the crap out of the other at the moment and its fins are all ragged. I cant tell which is hurt because they wont let me look at them.

The male might start getting insistant with the female in violent sort of way if he is in the mood and she isnt so keep an eye on them.

[ussmickey]

thank you. i didnt know that. i do know that i had to put my texas pair in with them while i updated their tank and the jewles took their tales off. they are back now ...cant even tell but i was so afraid for them for a while.

[Tiger15]

The male is larger, has more green spots on the face and body, but the female has more red in breeding dress. Older male has a mini hump that distincts him from the female. Here is a picture of a breeding pair I had 15 years ago. The male is to your right with more spots on the face. The female was actually redder in the belly but the photo color was distorted.

http://www.uploadit.org/files/030903-jewel.jpg

[ussmickey]

i dont know if you can tell too much from the picture. but the larger one has more markings on the face as well. i think i should be excited that my lfs gave me a pair...that never happens. to me anyway. the smaller one is more red. i do have one more question for you all though....i have my yellow african in there with them. do you think he should have his own space? i do have a 10 gallon that is not in use. im in the middle of shopping for a 125 gallon to replace my 55 gallon. i dont have a lot of fish in there but the size that they are becoming it seems they are crowded. lep. is the big trouble maker. but they seem not to bother the yellow afirican. do you think it will be ok until they get a new home? or should i move right away.

the lep is in the 55 gallon not with jewel and yellow. they are the only three in the tank.

[The Dude]

Here's a pic of my Texas female...very bitter fish...she's about 6 1/2" now...killed all of her former tankmates...lives alone in a 29 gallon tank...can't even keep a pleco with her...lays a batch of unfertilized eggs every few months, and goes nuts protecting them...
http://www.fogartyart.com/TEX.jpg

[ussmickey]

how long did it take for her to get that big? i have mine in a 25 gallon right now...but im sure that i need to research for the proper tank size for them. i should use my 25 gallon tanks. (2 of them) for grow out tanks. my jewels seem to be more aggressive than the texas.

[optix]

You guys will need a 75g to properly house a single specimen. I plan to get a bare bottomed 75g for a single male texas in the next couple weeks. I am thinking of maybe adding a male marbled con as well though.

[ussmickey]

i was thinking that i could put the texas in my 55 alone. but now with that info maybe not. i should be shopping for multiple tanks. wont that be fun. :D :D . i always love going shopping for my fish friends. now to buy them a new home. or two maybe three.

[peifc]

No wonder the fish in that 29g tank being killed. That tank is too small to even house a 6" Texas. Texas is aggressive.

75g is an ideal tank for single texas. If need to house with another fish in that tank, need a bigger one. Heck! Texas even kill their own mate, which happened to one of the members in MoJo's forum. His texas male killed the female even they have successfully bred.

Texas cichlid grows fast if taken care of properly no mater what kind of tank that fish is in.

[The Dude]

My Texas is about 5 years old now...she grew up in my 75 gallon tank with a male firemouth and a gold/pink Jack Dempsey and a pleco...got them when they were less than an inch each...they were fine together for the first couple of years, then the Texas decided she was going to start laying eggs without a mate, and went nuts on the other fish, beating them up untill they got sick and died...so that's why she gets the chump 29 gallon tank...I liked the other 2 fish, particularly the gold JD much more than her...

[ussmickey]

just a question...if you were so upset with her why didnt you get rid of her instead of putting her in a small aquarium? it just seems like that would be the right thing to do. or find adequet housing for her. just a thought. i really dont want to offend anyone because everyone has been so helpful to me. so im sorry. i just think that i need to find better housing as quick as i can. they are very small right now. but i dont want them to be unhappy. no bigger than an inch and a half tops.

[The Dude]

I don't think my Texas is an unhappy fish...has plenty of room all to herself...she's a 6" fish, man, 29 gallons seems like plenty to me if she needs to live alone...I can see where a 10-12" Oscar or Midas cichlid would be absurd to keep alone in a 29 gal, 36" long tank...she has plenty of plastic plants and gravel to re-arrange constantly...she loves to dance around and beg for me to feed her...for some reason she hates my wife, and whenever she comes in the room, she tries to attack her through the glass...it's not that I hate the fish, just that she was my least favorite of my original 3 cichlids...

[ussmickey]

i am really sorry if i offended you. i have been keeping fish for years and by far not an expert. they talk about things on here i have never heard of before. but this is a really helpful place to find out just about anything you need to know.

[demon_surfer]

a jack dempsey should be fine in a 55 gallon for a long time. They dont get quite as big as oscars etc. Just keep an eye on him and if he is brushing the front and the back of the tank when he tries to turn round then you need to upgrade! :)


all though if you are really looking forward to shopping for those tanks ignore what I just said, he doesnt need just a 55 he needs a 240 gallon with lots of fishy friends and big fancy filters and huge lights and diamonds for gravel *nod*


that should keep you shopping for a bit! :D :D

[The Dude]

No offense taken...just letting you know I still kind of like the fish, and I think she's perfectly happy with what she's got...