Does anyone know how to sex red jewel cichlids. In the future I'm thinking of getting a pair, and I want a male and a female. Mostly how to you tell if its a female?
sexing red jewel cichlids.
- Thread starter stingray4540
- Start date
most jewel cichlids (Hemichromis) are 'red'. what species specifically are you talking about? generally, you'll find that when not spawning, males and females look similar and you won't be able to tell males from females. the best way to end up with a "pair" is to get a group of 5-6 juveniles and allow them to pair off themselves, rather than attempting to buy a ready made pair.
I've found with the common jewels sold at most LFS (not sure which species that is, I thought there was only one?) The males will have a dark black spot near the tail, where the females either don't have it, or it is very light in comparison w/ males. I agree with the part above about getting more than two, as a male/female combo will not always end up in a matting pair.
just 'some' of the "red" jewels in existance:
Hemichromis lifalili
Hemichromis bimaculatus
Hemichromis desguezii
Hemichromis fasciatus
Hemichromis letourneauxi
Hemichromis sp. Muanda
Hemichromis cerasogaster
Hemichromis cristatus
Hemichromis lifalili
Hemichromis bimaculatus
Hemichromis desguezii
Hemichromis fasciatus
Hemichromis letourneauxi
Hemichromis sp. Muanda
Hemichromis cerasogaster
Hemichromis cristatus
Wooo! Not sure exactly about the scientific name. The owner of my lfs calls them blood red jewel cichlids. I'll have to check with him on the scientific name, if he knows it. The only thing is that I only want to end up with two, and how will I know which two hooked up? If they breed that would be nice, but I mainly just want them to get along and hang out together. I don't want two males that just butt heads all day long.
it will be obvious in their behaviour.
after a pair has developed, you can remove the non-paired cichlids (perhaps return them to the shop). i will suggest to you however, that "jewel" cichlids may not be the best choice for you. these are a scrappy species.
Yes I know they are scrappy, that's why I want them; they may be in a tank with a Dempsey. I just don't want to get in a situation where I have one dominant male and the other male isn't so he gets his a** kicked from both ends. (dempsey and dominant male.) And end up with a dead, or really beat up fish. I hate that, and my wife would kill me if she ever saw a fish get picked on to death in our house. But I don't care if they scrap a little, my two dwarf gouramis do that.
here's what I've done when picking out bolivian rams. Stand back from the dealers tank (sit down if its low enough), and watch.... and watch....and watch. After about five minutes the fish will start to act naturally. After a while you should be able to pick out the dominant male and female of the tank. It will only work if the tank is big enough and the fish have been in there for awhile however. Good Luck
in rare cases this 'might' be true but not usually. fish at the dealers shop are crowded into small tanks ... a very unnatural circumstance which doesn't elicit normal behaviour at all.
As I said:
I agree that buying 4, or better yet 6, juvenile fish is the best way to obtain a pair. For the newbie breeder and even for the not so new breeder with limited tank space, this might not be an option. If you don't have the scratch to buy multiple fish, or the tanks space to house the "left overs" my above suggestion is valid. I've done it, and other people on this forum have done it with successful results.
