Olly Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Can I add a jewel cichlid or two to my community tank? It currently contains: moonlight gourami golden gouramis dwarf gouramis small angels young blue rams small black ghost knife young silver sharks bristlenose and lots of snails but not too worried about their safety hehe big tank so no worries about space just wondering if they would be compatible with the current occupants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 You can do whatever you like,lol On a serious note now. Jewels are very territorial fish. You may be ok if tank has plenty of hiding holes, but i think you will start to find dead or missing fish in your tank. Ive just rehomed two of mine as they were destroying their tank, ripping up plants and harassing other fish. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Ummm in short answer, NO... not a good idea... adding a Jewel Cichlid or two would be a huge disaster... :-? If you want to go Jewels it might pay to keep them in another tank, seperate species, they are definately not suited to a peaceful aquarium... They often can cause problems amongst other semi aggressive to aggressive cichlids alone, so can only imagine what they would do in your current tank. HTH 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 They were nice and calm in my community tank. But all the fish in my community tank outweighed them 10 to 1. You didn't mention how big your tank is, must be a good size to have that many fish in it. If it's a 300L+ I'd say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 its 450 (1.5m by 0.6m by 0.5m) i dont want to risk my blue rams i have a really nice pair that keep laying eggs and eating them. if i get a successful spawn and raise the young il get some jewels cos il have back up if they eat my rams lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Well in our tank, 300ltr, we have 6, it is a comunity tank and we have had no problems at all with our jewels, they ony get nippy when they are about to spwan, and even then they only guard the wee hidy hole that they have in our peice of wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 We have kept and bred the red jewel, they were atrocious.. they were in a 4 ft tank before we took them out to breed in their own tank, and the tank mates (not peaceful communals) were smacked up against the opposite end of the tank, too scared to move, the jewels once paired up decided to own the full tank as territory, of which is often the case, that is why they were moved ,especially when the babies are ready to travel with mum and dad will they attack anything in sight. Alot of sites on the net advise that the jewel be kept in a monospecies aquarium or with species that can pack as much punch as they can themselves. Definately not to be kept with delicate fish. I wouldn't risk it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Well in our tank, 300ltr, we have 6, it is a comunity tank and we have had no problems at all with our jewels, they ony get nippy when they are about to spwan, and even then they only guard the wee hidy hole that they have in our peice of wood I think oyu seem to have got the best Jewels around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 I think oyu seem to have got the best Jewels around! Yup!. The person I got my Jewels off had them in a 5foot tank, and they had taken the middle of the tank for themselves, and were attacking the pair of oscars if they came close.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 i gave a friend of mine 2 jewels a couple months ago and they had their own 2 footer to themselves, they are now maybe 7cm and have just been moved into an 80 or 90l community tank. full of a few different species of tetras and angels and some blue gouramis (dont know the specie) and they are all doing fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy_Lips Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 wait till they get to around 13+cm :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 wait till they get to around 13+cm :lol: i cant wait!! hehe, then they will have to have their own tank.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Temp wise no probs, ph wise rams 6.5,knifefish 6 - 6.5, jewels 7.5, :-? sizewise rams 5cm, bala shark 36cm, knifefish 60cm. How many of each do you have? I would be very concerned for your rams. Like Afrikan wrote they are very aggressive when defending their young (they are magnificent parents). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 the 2 bala sharks are about 100mm long as is the ghost knife. the rams will be fine until i get my new tank set up. any ideas what i should put in my new tank i just got? 250L. will discus be ok with blue rams? i want a planted community tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Discus and rams go very well together and make any tank look magnificent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 awesome what about when the rams decide to breed? will rams eat guppies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 3, 2008 Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 If you want to breed rams I suggest a seperate tank and yes rams will eat guppies if they are small enough to fit into their mouth as with almost all fish will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted June 3, 2008 Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 If you want to breed rams I suggest a seperate tank and yes rams will eat guppies if they are small enough to fit into their mouth as with almost all fish will. Definatly agree here, whilst we have had no troubles with our jewels i doubt very much that any sort of fry would be safe with them, apart from their own as our wont stop breeding!! (we probably have about 30+ in the main tank now! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 they keep trying to breed in my community tank. i havnt got a spare tank to put them in until my gouramis grow up. will the discus be ok in with them when they spawning? the rams are currently the same length as the discus at about 3.5-4cm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 Are your Discus and Rams in a community tank with other fish, or together in another tank ? If they are in another tank how big is the tank ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 they arent currently together but im thinking about putting 10 young discus in a 250L tank with a pair of blue rams and maybe a school of neons or cardinals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 I think 10 is too many for that sized tank, IMO 6 would be more suitable and if your rams do breed I think the fry would most probably be eaten. I would also go for cardinals rather than neons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 I agree with you there I plan to cut down to six once they have coloured up and I can choose my favourites. I would prefer cardinals but they way more expensive :-? I wouldnt try to breed them in there but they spawn when they want to. If the rams decide to spawn in with the discus, will they harrass the discus much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 Discus can be very persistant when trying to pinch eggs and the rams would not really be much of a match for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 i wouldnt think for a full grown discus but my rams are longer than my discus at the moment. should i wait until the discus grow before mixing them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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