Archivarium 2004

[Lael]

I have had my eye on the jewel cichlid for a little while now and want to know what they are like.
1.are thay just the normal cichlid when it comes to agression?

2.what other cichlids can I put them with?

and any other information you can give me

[Tommy]

Common names can be decieving but I'm assuming that you are talking about Hemichromis bimaculatus "Jewel Cichlid"... There is a profile for them in the gallery with a lot of user comments as well as a fantastic picture on page three of the comments

Jewels are a medium/small growing (6") cichlid that can have a wide range of temperments depending a lot on the environment that you provide it. Agression is a "relative" thing...if you try to keep one of these fish in a 15g tank with tetras it IS going to destroy everything in its path. If however you provide a nice wide tank with plenty of cover and a minimum of hostile tankmates you might find this fish to be one of the more mild natured "mind your own business" cichlids available. At the same time I have observed this fish holding it's territory in the face of African mbuna without difficulty (yes I know the water params were wrong...it's a long story). I wouldn't hesitate to keep this fish as a "filler" fish in a tank with one or more tankbuster type cichlids such as Oscars. Water requirements are similar. If however you decide to add other jewels into the mix and you introduce the pairing/nesting factor and you have yet another entirely different temperment that may or may not work.

That all being said, although beautiful, some consider these fish to be one of the more obnoxious species of cichlids which might help explain in part the reason that you rarely see photos of full-grown adult species. They don't seem to get much respect in the hobby in my opinion. If someone were to commit to keeping this fish for it's entire lifespan as the "centerpiece" fish of say a 30 gallon tank, I don't think that they would regret it.
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