these are different tanks...with different cichlids 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.
new pics of jewels and texas
- Thread starter ussmickey
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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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
http://www.uploadit.org/files/030903-jewel.jpg
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 lep is in the 55 gallon not with jewel and yellow. they are the only three in the tank.
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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...
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.
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.