Tips for aquarists

Friday 22 June 2012

The complete guide for - Breeding jewel cichlids

Breeding jewel cichlid(Hemichromis bimaculatus)

 

The jewel cichlid from the African rivers of nile,niger and congo are one of the most desired cichlids,for their amazing colours and compatability with

relatively beginner aquarists.Their active nature and ease of breeding just adds to the desire of having them.

This blog shows you how to breed this wonderful fish step by step-

1-Housing-

They are hardy fishes that can adapt to many surroundings,and water conditions as long as the extremities had not been reached.They do well in aquariums above 40 gallons,but a single pair kept for breeding purposes might do fine in about 25 gallons.The temperature range for optimum growth is 75 to 82 degrees-F,and ph 6-8.Make sure their are some hiding places in the tank(an important rule u should know if u keep medium sized cichlids).*Do not put them in planted aquariums if you want your plants to be safe,because like most cichlids they are found off digging(although hardy plants that can survive frequent digging might work out,also some specimens might work out in a planted tank,as every specimen have different temperament),


2-Finding a pair-

This is perhaps the toughest part in the whole process of breeding jewel cichlids.For opting a easy way out
you could buy an established pair from a pet store(although that would be the expensive alternate).What most of the experienced aquarists suggest is to buy 7-8 juvenile jewels and let them grow and form the pair on their own(I bought 4 specimens one month old and within a month they formed a pair,and the next month they were spawning).
which would happen quiet fast if optimum space and good quality food is provided.You would know you have a pair when they start defending a area of the tank and/or team up to chase other inhabitants of the tank.

3-Sexing-

A lot of people say that they are monogamous and hence impossible to sex from outside.But my opinion is a bit different.If u turn off the lights of your aquarium and focus a strong torchlight on your jewels you would see the male's spots on the body are far more visible and bright than the female.Generally speaking the males are more colorful(greater contrast between the body color and the color of the dots)and bigger than the females.Another way of sexing might work if u know for sure the sex of an isolated jewel cichlid,and put the one in it you want to determine the sex of.If their is instant fighting between both of them,they are most likely of same sex,and if they stay peaceful or you see one(male if bigger) chasing the other,probability is high that you have both of them of opposite sex.But this might not work out some times.



4-Conditioning-

 Jewel cichlids readily accepts most types of fish foods.Flakes and pellets and occasional live foods like earthworms,meal worms or adult brine shrimp(if obtained from a trustworthy source) are enough to get them into breeding conditions.Although there is not much fuss about feeding them,I recommend  Hikari Cichlid Staple(Click on the link to buy).

 

A temperature of about 78 degree-F would work fine.You would know when your pair might get busy,when you see one of the jewels becomes plump(belly swollen due to eggs inside).They generally start breeding at an early age of 3-4 months if the pair is formed and they are well conditioned.




5-The breeding-

When ready to breed your pair would choose and defend a territory fiercely.Then you would see them cleaning a portion of their territory.The female would lay any where between 100-800 eggs(depending on her size)on a flat rocks,or as a matter of fact any flat surface which they had cleaned before they can stick their eggs too,which are instantly fertilized by the male.

This process lies anywhere between 15-45 minutes and in my case always happened between 3-5 p.m.

At this time it is important to remove other inhabitants of the tank,to other tank(although it might be possible to raise them in a community aquarium,bit hard though due to their aggression level).Click here to see jewel fry.





       Jewel pair Getting busy.


6-Hatching-


The eggs will hatch in about two days(don't worry if u wake up and find all eggs gone cause they might have hatched and their parents would have moved them some other place.You should provide jewels pair with some ceramic pots in which they would choose where to keep their newly hatched fry,or they would dug a pit somewhere for the same.

It would take about 3 more days for the fry to become free swimming(egg yolk might still be attached),and after 1-2 day they would start to be needing feeding.

7-Raising the fry-

 Now some people believe that jewel cichlids are bad parents,but mine and some of my friends always raised their fry with full dedication.So it is important that u at least give them one chance to prove themselves.

.You could feed your fry small live foods(baby brine shrimp,infusoria,micro worms,etc.) or very finely crushed flake food,but remember live food always give better growth.Also jewels which take care of their fry would sometimes munch up their food and spit it out for the fry to it.

Feed several times a day in small quantities,but be careful not to overfeed.Also frequent small water changes are necessary to maintain good water quality,and keep the water temperature constant.

Jewel fry grow very fast and might reach up to 3/4th of an inch within a month if well cared for.



Happy breeding jewels.


For a video of jewel pair and their fry click here.



Some tips and warnings

1-You might see jewels sometimes eating their fry(apparently),but in actual they just catch up the wandering fries and pick them in their mouth and drop them back to their home.

2-The first few attempts to  spawn might not be successful due to lack of synchronization between the pair,but don't be disheartened they would eventually reproduce.

3-Since the jewels breed every other 1-3 weeks,the new eggs might be eaten by the old fry.

4-Some eggs which turn white(not fertilized),might spread fungus to other which needs to be taken care of using anti fungal solution,but only if you are raising the fry separately.

5-If the first time their eggs are eaten,the male might become very aggressive and kill the female.So it is better to give them a target fish,that is visible to them(might be in the same tank partitioned,or other tank trough which they can see).

6-Although filtration is important,try to restrict to sponge or bubble filter or the fry may get sucked in.

For an interesting behavior of jewel cichlids click here.

48 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very helpful thanks mate, my partner and I were reading this info as our Jewel Cichlids were laying eggs and the time just happened to be 4:30pm lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Appreciate your feedback.Tell me if you need more info,on jewels or any other fish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can I keep multiple pairs in a 40 gallon tank? What's maximum?

      Delete
  4. So helpful Thank you. The eggs were eaten and the male was trying to kill the female. I would of never know to watch them if you didn't post this. When can I put the female and male together again?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can keep the pair together 5-6 days after the aggressive behavior took place,they would be fine then.
      Happy jewel breeding.

      Delete
  5. Hey thanks for the information i just bought 2 jewels on sunday, the pet store did not really know how to tell the sex of them so i got 2 that were near the same size.One was very ugly no color just a little red on the tip of the tale that faded to a yellowish brown.The other was brightley colored with a full red tale covered with btright blue spots all over its body and 2 big black sopts on eather side of it.Figureing it was a male. When I put them into my tank they wanted nothing to do with each other. But it has been 2 and a half days sence iv had them and they wont leave each others side.I am thinking they have paired off but I am hoefully going to get a nother 3 or 4 of them to try to breed them thanks for the info.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi there. I just realized that my super bright Blood Red Jewels have bred and have hundreds of fry. My problem is that I have other Cichlids, Bala sharks, and 5 Tiger Barbs in the tank(36G Bow) and I am thinking trying to remove them all would stress out the fry. They have chosen a back corner behind plants and ornaments to stay. Any help would be appreciated!! Also, what are these fry worth?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank u so much for sharing ur experience with us. I am relatively new to cichlids as always thought a chemistry exam would b needed to keep them happy however a few knowledgeable fish keepers have shown me these fish aren't that bad. I brought 30 youngsters from a wonderful fish keeper and some are around an inch and a half now so are in my larger tank hopefully I may see some pairings of those 9 fairly soon, as they are truely stunning :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have a 55gal established cichlid tank. 1 medium blood parrot, a small convict, medium jack dempsey, 6" dinosaur eal & a 3" grey & blue jewel cichlid. I recently added a 2" red cichlid. Within 2 weeks they have about 300 fry & my larger grey has now turned a beautiful dark red color with bright blue spots (I assume is the male) they've become VERY aggresive even biting me when I try to clean the tank. All my fish are now stuck in the corners. Its been about a week since that fry have hatched (never even seen any eggs) hopefully they relax when the fry become a bit bigger. My blood parrots fins have been badly damaged but is so large I dont wanna stick it in 1 of my 10gal aquariums. Clearly this many fish wont fit in my tank when the fry mature so I plan on giving them to the pet store & purchasing a tank devider before the next spawn or get rid of the female. Had no clue they bred so easily

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi thanks so much for wonderfull info..... I have mine nw for almost a year and of the numerous attempts of breading this would be the 2nd time that the eggs actually hatches and I can see only bout 5 fry left. Is there a reason for this or how can I improve on this. Thanks. Richard. Cape Town. South Africa

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi...
    Today is the 5th day after laying eggs. All the eggs were eaten on the 2nd day, now shall i wait or add my other fish to the tank again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes if you want you can breed them after few weeks. during this few weeks you have to feed them well with nutritious food.make sure to feed them after lay eggs too.if they are too much hungry they may eat eggs or fry.also they are good protective parents by nature.if they are feel that something threat to eggs or fry they will attack back.so what i did is i put two or three non aggressive small breed fish in the same tank.in my case i kept molly fish with them.i got good results from the same pair who ate the eggs in first season.
      happy breeding

      Delete
  11. My jewels lay eggs every 1-1,5 weeks but they turn white next day and then are eaten. It seems for me I'm having 2 females so. Thanks for good advice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes may be.may be they are just not mature enough to breed.also if they are breeding in a community tank male one may busy with defending the area and protecting the eggs and not doing the fertilization job properly. also laying eggs once a week is too much close.at least you should give them one month break there for you will have more eggs.also one more important fact.you should provide them a clean tank,the breeding surface.yes if there are many fungus types that affect the eggs,that will also turn your eggs white.treat your tank before breed them too.

      Delete
  12. Can you leave one aggressor fish and one bottom fish in the tank with the parents and the fry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no i dont think its a good idea if you thinking of the security of the new born ones. you know parents do care fry all the time and most of the time they swim in a bunch.but there is a possibility of a unseen attack from other fish.also when the about 2-3 weeks time to remove parents,yes i have seen some of my parents pairs do eat little ones.not all of them but they accidentally do eat them.

      Delete
  13. Can you leave one aggressor fish and one bottom fish in the tank with parents and the fry?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Can you leave one aggressor fish and one bottom fish in the tank with the parents and the fry?

    ReplyDelete
  15. my jewels have been laying eggs for weeks now and the mother keeps eating the eggs i have now moved then to a new clean tank and theg have layed again this time i have notice after few days the eggs have gone and all thats left is clear looking eggs does this mean the eggs have hatched?? please help

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes in my previous comments i have clearly mentioned this matter.any way ill explain again bec vidler.they are good parents by nature but not all the time.eggs should fertilized well. then should not affected by the fungus.if so eggs will hatch to ' wiggers". This are bit aggressive fish and though they lay eggs they dont have very strong bond as other fish do as a pair. so external activities like keeping a target fish to see them will make their bond strong.may be a fish of their same kind or just big enough to seen by them.you can use a divider a a small tank very close to breeding tank.then they will try to protect their eggs and will stop eating them. also if you make them too much stress or just a any strange activity which make them nurvos will make them eat eggs.

      Delete
  16. This is my fb link.so if anyone need quick replay regarding any matter about this industry pls inbox me.i will try my best to help you.
    https://www.facebook.com/isuru.chathu

    ReplyDelete
  17. Really hard to read with silver/gray background an this red lettering have to hold phone sideways to read

    ReplyDelete
  18. Really hard to read with silver/gray background an this red lettering have to hold phone sideways to read

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi. My jewel cichlids havnt layer eggs at all... they have paired up...i have water temp right...have a target fish,flat rock,all the right food..but nothing..almost 2 months all that happens is that one turns redish. Any advise?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi. My jewels have layed and one of the pair atw them and now the other jewel is pail pink and the other bright orange.the orange one has been aggressive to the pail pink one any suggestions on whats happening?

    ReplyDelete
  21. I got my female 2 days ago and I found that today she has a very big stomach, did some research, and I don't have the baby daddy but I have another male in this tank who seems to be interested in her (always near her) will he fertilise the eggs? And will he raise the babies too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also, I have 6 other cichlids, 2 clown loaches and 2 bristled nosed plecos and my female looks like a male does that mean that I got the gender wrong and it's actually a disease?

      Delete
    2. If In 2 days the stomach has increased suddenly then more probability of disease is there.

      Delete
  22. Thanks for the post. My juwel just laid eggs and we are very excited to see them grow into fry. Problem is, we were just temporarily keeping them for someone and dont have an aquarium heater. Do you think they can survive at room temperature or should we run and buy a heater? The parents seem to be doing fine at this temperature.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 22- 30 degrees would be fine. If the temperature is lower you would need to get a heater.

      Delete
  23. I have three jewled cichlids. Two paired off and spawned more than once. But it seems I gave two females and one male. Now he's interested in the other female and being aggressive to his mate. The other female has turned her colors also, to more reddish orange. Which I believe that means she is ready to breed??? Is this possible? I thought they keeper the same mate??

    ReplyDelete
  24. yes its possible.remove his previous mate and let him do it with a new girl.it has happen few times in my aquarium too. after completing the breeding session, when you decide to separate parents let him keep alone and slowly introduce his previous partner.most of the time it works. cheers...!!!.

    ReplyDelete
  25. hello, we have a 50 gal. tank(tub) full of various cichlids types. We have a bunch of rocks and hiding places. We noticed that over the past few days two of our jewel cichlids have stayed in one area of the tank. We suspect that they laid eggs. Would it be beneficial to separate them and the eggs from other fish or have them continue out in the community?

    ReplyDelete
  26. yes.its better to separate them.add some plants.. rocks.i use sand for bottom and just a sponge filter.also a flat surface like broken clay pot or smooth rock surface is good.after all arrangement add the pair.males sometime become more aggressive during breeding.they may attack on the female too.trying to push female encourage to lay eggs.if you feel like female stressed too much and attack marks on body please remove the female one and try it some times later again.if not they will clean the selected flat surface and will lay eggs.just after laying eggs you have to keep a target fish( you may keep a guppy fish in boul) so close to tank where jewels can see it.(if not , most of the time they will eat all eggs ,it happen to me few times when i forgot to keep a target fish out side).. then they will start protecting eggs.aft you can follow above information.you are free to contact me on isuruchathu100@gmail.com for any information. happy breeding...!!!. cheers!!!!.

    ReplyDelete
  27. every month my jewel pair gives egg and the male jewel ate those fry. so this time on the 2nd day i have removed the male jewel and kept in the separate tank.

    ReplyDelete
  28. My jewel pair laid eggs yesterday, but after spawning, they have been staying in the bottom of the tank, like they're sleeping. Their color became very dull and they act sick. They are not staying anywhere near the eggs. The water conditions and temperature has been constant. Is this normal behavior after laying eggs? I'm just concerned, I don't want to lose my pair.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi Sarah. How long after the first batch did they lay eggs the 2nd time. I got a nice pair of blood red jewels and they laid eggs the 2nd day in the 75 gallon aquarium. Like an idiot I had to hammer something undeneath their aquarium and may have scared them and ate their eggs afterwards. If they eat the 2nd batch I will try a target fish. Great blog op! Do you think I can seperate the tank with egg crate and add a green texas cichlid in the other 1/4th of the seperated tank as a target fish? Op I will message you on Facebook. Thanks for all this advise buddy.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Also is it good to raise the temperature to about 82F and than do a large 50% water change and add colder water to make the temp about 74F? to mimic the rainy season? I heard that's when they spawn. But how long to keep it to 82F before doing this big water change...

    ReplyDelete
  31. my jewel cichlid couple gave three time egg in just one month but every time after three day both female and male eat them. in last incident i remove other fish mat from tank but did not success.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Is it good to remove parents from the tank after laying eggs ?

    ReplyDelete
  33. No...wait at least 2 weeks?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Good Evening. I have African jewels but I need to know after how many days from hatching can I remove the babies as they with Malawi's and the Malawi's eat the babies. Please help me

    ReplyDelete
  35. I have 8 in a 50 gallon tank. i raised them since they were 30 days old their r going on 3 yrs old now. I have 2 that seem to be the only ones that mate. They have had babies 3 times now. One time my son put a glass of milk in the tank so i had to change out the water and the babies were gone. The next time momma (I think the smaller one) changed colors and stoped helping so i think daddy ate them after a dayish. This last time after a few days I tryed adding a stick thingie in there cause they were just being too mean and wanted to help the other guys out but the next day no babies:.( I dont have another tank, so am goina have to keep watching babies die?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a solution to it. A makeshift one.Next time day lay eggs and the eggs are ready to hatch,shift them(fry) into a perofrated(so that the air can pass in) plastic container and add in air bubble dispenser into it.Add a pipe so it for adding food and you would be good to go.I also Grew them in the tank with oscars and 8 varieties of cicihlids this way.

      Also please follow me on instagram - www.instagram.com/khiskabanda

      Delete
  36. Cause I add new things,they move to the other side of the tank and already have babies;but #'s are dewlinding.I love the babies but;they are my babies!Would more be better or worse?I dont think they are happy and thats all I really want!

    ReplyDelete