Help me color up this jewel :(

[mome rath]

In a previous thread, we determined that my mystery fish is a Hemichromis spp., but its coloration is very drab, perhaps due to stress.

Currently I have some rocks (limestone perhaps?... I get all my rocks from a fossil field) and sand in the tank. Would it be a good idea to remove these rocks and try to neutralize the pH?
Occasional live/frozen foods? I am giving it primarily flakes and pellets.

What else might help to color him up?


Thanks.

 

[ChilDawg]

Removing any calcareous rocks would be a good start, as I believe Jewels are riverine and need lower pH levels.

 

[Cloud-9]

Hemichromis Bimaculatus

I believe what you have is the hemichromis bimaculatus. It is the most common of the Jewels. The best specimens will show the brightest colors. Look at the specimens available at all the petshops in your area carefully when you are shopping for fish and buy the ones that have the best potential for showing good coloration.

This is not a hard water African cichlid. Jewels prefer their water to be neutral and not very hard. Softer water would probably be better. You only want to put inert objects inside the tank. Avoid limestone unless your tap water is very, very soft and acidic to begin with. It's hard to mess with water chemistry without performing tests for ph and hardness. You can probably take a water sample to your pet store and ask them to do those test. A test kit would be a good investment for you since you care a lot about how your fish looks.

A fish will only reach its aesthetic potential if it is in very good health. Give the fish the water conditions that is correct for that species even though a tough and hardy fish like a jewel can tolerate a wide range of water conditions. You can also try feeding foods that enhance color: Tetra Ruby is a good choice if the fish is small. You can try pellet food when it gets bigger. Freeze dried krill and shrimp may also help with color.

I have a very small Jewel in a 5 gallon tank right now. He is about 2 inches long. His colors are drab right now. But I am hoping that I will be able to remedy that. I suspect that is because he is not a colorful specimen to begin with. I should have taken better care in choosing. But I will give him a chance. I feed him Tetra Ruby and Vibra Gro.

 

[scott]

Cloud-9, you also might want to move him into a bigger tank. I don't think there is any cichlid, other than maybe a juvenile dwarf the would appreciate a tank that small, especially when they are growing. The stress from a small tank alone is enough to take away their color. I would recommend a twenty long. A varied diet is very important also. Various pellets, frozen food, occasional raw fish or shrimp, and flakes as well as vegetable matter (spirulina is the best in frozen, pellet or flake). As a juvenile you should be feeding at least twice a day. I feed my juvenile trimac and festae four times a day with a mixture of the above and my festae has grown about two inches in six weeks. I have them both in twenty longs. (I have a 150 for them when they get bigger, like next week). Whith more food they will grow faster also and you need to do copious water changes. Biological deterioration in the form of ammonia, nitrites and nitrate in excessive levels (that being anything over zero for the first two) will also lead to stress and inadequate coloring. With a two inch cichlid in a five gallon I hope you are doing water changes at least every other day and recommend it for any sort of color. In a twenty I do it every four days.

 

[Cloud-9]

Hi Scott

That's just his temporary home. He's in isolation right now. I just bought him recently. He'll go in my main tank once he proves to be free of parasites or diseases. Not to worry. This is just temporary confinement for about a month unless he shows signs of parasites.

 

[mome rath]

I'll can the rocks...

I'll be home this weekend to take the limestone rocks out, and try to find some others that might be suitable for the tank... I used to collect those rocks at a fossil field for my mbuna, and it's more convenient (and a lot cheaper) to use those than to buy them from the LFS. In fact, when I worked there for a while on break, the other employees said they used the same site. Har har... But, not for this fish, I guess.

The tap water at home was a bit higher than neutral last time I checked, but I have a pH buffer I can use. The problem with that would be consistent application, since I'm at school and that particular fish is at home.

I think for right now, since the fish shows no other signs of physical stress, I'll just take the rocks out and maybe toss in a nice chunk of driftwood. Are there other good ways to lower the pH besides a chemical buffer? I've read about people using rainwater or peat, but that was quite a few years ago and I've been away from the hobby for some time.

Thank you for your help.

 

[stik6shift98]

i agree to get that limestone out...but my jewels chagne their colors on a weekly basis......its differnt all the time and i do nothing to change the tank