I have a jewel cichlid, 6 barbs, and 2 pictus cats. Should I add another Jewel, or will the one be ok by itself?
Jewel Cichlid
- Thread starter texas1977
- Start date
i think the tank size would figure into this. if you "only" want one i would imagine it would be fine tho. 
plenty of room for more if you want them judging by what you have posted.
if you wanted to try, they also aren't super hard to breed and the parents colors are amazing when they do. you would probably be best to get several others, say 4 for example. then wait for a pair to hopefully form and either remove the extras or leave them be. the paired ones will claim roughly 1/2 the tank, the others will get along ok in the other 1/2 as long as you have some hiding spots. the pictus will probably thin the fry out tho, but some might actually live. the only thing i can think of for sexing off the top of my head is that the males are ALOT bigger when they get older. you might be able to find some references on the web tho.
good luck
if you wanted to try, they also aren't super hard to breed and the parents colors are amazing when they do. you would probably be best to get several others, say 4 for example. then wait for a pair to hopefully form and either remove the extras or leave them be. the paired ones will claim roughly 1/2 the tank, the others will get along ok in the other 1/2 as long as you have some hiding spots. the pictus will probably thin the fry out tho, but some might actually live. the only thing i can think of for sexing off the top of my head is that the males are ALOT bigger when they get older. you might be able to find some references on the web tho.
good luck
assuming we are talking about the "hemichromis bimaculatus" type jewels, you have actually gotten a soft water african. so technically you should stick to other soft water type fish. this pretty well sticks you to south americans. i've had mine with convicts, they have similar temperaments and sizes. if you only keep one the aggression levels should be fairly low too, so just about any smaller soft water cichlid would work fine.
i have also kept mine with some of the more common hard water africans when i was new. this *could* lead to problems tho, not to mention one type or the other won't ever be really thrilled with your water parameters.
my old tank was setup with: inhabitants: jack dempsey, auratus, blue zebra, breeding jewel pair, turquoise jewel pair, pictus cat, striped raphael, spotted raphael, 3 upside down cats (synodontis nigriventis?), 1 apple snail
but this wasn't the best route to go.
if you can find the turquise jewels, they have a really awesome color morph. it's like an iridescent blue instead of the red.
good luck whatever you choose.
i have also kept mine with some of the more common hard water africans when i was new. this *could* lead to problems tho, not to mention one type or the other won't ever be really thrilled with your water parameters.
my old tank was setup with: inhabitants: jack dempsey, auratus, blue zebra, breeding jewel pair, turquoise jewel pair, pictus cat, striped raphael, spotted raphael, 3 upside down cats (synodontis nigriventis?), 1 apple snail
but this wasn't the best route to go.
if you can find the turquise jewels, they have a really awesome color morph. it's like an iridescent blue instead of the red.
good luck whatever you choose.
