Hey guys i have just got hold of 8 jewel cichlids, they are only young at the moment and 1-2 cm long. They are in a small tank at the moment - 450Lx200Wx300H with a sandy bottom with a few rocks.

When they are bigger i will move them into a 600x300x300 tank, again with sand and rocks on the bottom. By then i will hopefully have two pairs and will give the rest to friends.

They have been raised in tap water, no special ph or anything, what im wondering is what would go well with these fish?

and also would my 600x300x300 tank be big enough for 2 pairs as well as a few other smaller compatible fish

cheers

I have never kept jewel's before but id say your 2ft tank is probably too small for 2 pairs unless you did something to separate them like a divider or something.. And then there might not be enough room for the females if they males get agro during breeding.. lol but then again ive never kept them im sure someone who has will offer better advice

2ft tank will be to small in the long term (great as a grow out tank) but once they are adults they will get upto 10-12cm (correct me if i wrng going on memory) and to sleepy to google it lol.

p.s congrates on getting some awesome fish

according to Aquahobby they get to 10-15cm's

i didnt think i was to far off lol

cheers for that guys....now i have another reason to get a bigger tank

Lets say i did get a bigger tank (which i will once the car is how i want it) what would make some good tank mates? i dont mind spending good money on some good fish

kribs are good, also sum cat fish

Jewels are pretty aggresive, specially when breeding. I suppose larger cichlids such as Geos or Lake Victorians.

Yikes 2ft tank definately asking for trouble with Jewels, once paired they will kill others off if there is not enough space for territory... we used to keep Red Jewels, great fish... but yeap, very highly aggressive at times. Definately a good thing that you will get a bigger tank... most semi aggressive cichlids do quite well with them if you are wanting tank mates... Some keep Blockheads in with them.. them being non rift lake species also if you wanted to stay African. I wouldn't go with Kribs tho... a little too placid for Jewels long term... some Synos would be good for catfish...

Beware as the young get older - Jewels are pack Hunters. A pair will be stroppy but nothing compared to what the group are capable of. I've heard of a pack taking out a large Oscar, and have seen a group devour some feeder fish in seconds. But the colours are awesome, I have a couple only in a African tank for colour.

http://www.cichlids.com/wiki/index.php/ ... imaculatus

They are great looking fish when in breeding colours but that is only a brief moment before all hell lets loose. They are great parents and extremely territorial. Very easy to breed and bloody hard to sell (TO ANYONE IN THE KNOW). I only bred them the once.

Yeap we only bred them the once to obtain cert for breeding... not the easiest fish to find homes for as alanmin said... even tho a larger tank full of Jewels can look awesome... especially against white... we found that even with lighter substrate etc, they still coloured beautifully and the redness and blue speckles really looked stunning with white background.