New Jewel Cichlid pair?

Lillyan

Lillyan

AC Members
Jan 26, 2010
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Culpeper, VA
Went to the lfs and I noticed two very lovely deep red Cichlids protecting about 50-60 tiny wigglers!

What I want to know is, are they male and female/pair? Both are very red and both chased off the other 3 dull Cichlids and kept sucking in fry and placing them back in the center. One has a black spot on the tail, the other doesn't. I bought both, unfortunately, the lady could not catch the fry, they vanished into the gravel.

Please tell me that means they are a pair!

One is doing well, it's red again, other still needs some time. Both are swimming together and exploring their new tank.

Here are some quick, poor pictures.
DSCN8896m.jpg

DSCN8892m.jpg
 
IME two males won't defend fry and two females together won't defend fry either. Two males will grapple, so in that respect alone, -yes they are a pair.
Sexing clues for Jewels are in the tail. Males have the teal flecks uniformly peppered through out the entire tail, where as the females teal flecks stop halfway down. Both male and female are red/orange and become more brilliant when mating. Another clue, -females won't breed with a male that is smaller than herself.
Mating behaviors look like the male "being mean" to the female and is usually a mixture of flashing and body slapping while quartering her away from other tankmates.
 
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That sux, I'm sorry =[
Jewels are really fun and interesting if you ever decide to give them another chance.
In the future if you do have a breeding pair remember that there needs to be dither fish /tankmates for the male to scrap with.
 
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