jewels

[battlelance]

(I originally posted this in alt.aquaria, and figured here would be a
better place to ask. Sorry for the double posting if anyone notices)

I'm curious, I've recently taken in two jewel cichlids (a guy I knew
was getting rid of them), and I have them happily floating around in
their own 20 gal.

I notice they are african, seem to be in the same pH and temp range as
mbuna... My problem is conflicting information on temperment. Some
show them as semi-agressive, some say they'll take on (and win)
against convicts and dempseys. Some sources even say jewels would be
better suited in an american cichlid tank.

So, needless to say, I'm confused... So, question is, does anyone
think yellow labs, red zebras and jewels can co-exist in a severely
underpopulated 80gal with enough caves for about 40-50 fish?

TIA

[Bob]

at one point I had a jewel, convict, yellow lab all in the same tank.

It is not a very aggressive fish ime...I think most people would tell you
that only the zebra should be the problem. They like softer water than the
lake cichlids (being a river cichlid) but mine never had any problem with
about 8.4.-8.6 I kept him at.

I say go for it.

"battlelance" > wrote in message
...
> (I originally posted this in alt.aquaria, and figured here would be a
> better place to ask. Sorry for the double posting if anyone notices)
>
> I'm curious, I've recently taken in two jewel cichlids (a guy I knew
> was getting rid of them), and I have them happily floating around in
> their own 20 gal.
>
> I notice they are african, seem to be in the same pH and temp range as
> mbuna... My problem is conflicting information on temperment. Some
> show them as semi-agressive, some say they'll take on (and win)
> against convicts and dempseys. Some sources even say jewels would be
> better suited in an american cichlid tank.
>
> So, needless to say, I'm confused... So, question is, does anyone
> think yellow labs, red zebras and jewels can co-exist in a severely
> underpopulated 80gal with enough caves for about 40-50 fish?
>
> TIA

[battlelance]

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 20:30:53 GMT, "Bob"
> wrote:

>at one point I had a jewel, convict, yellow lab all in the same tank.
>
>It is not a very aggressive fish ime...I think most people would tell you
>that only the zebra should be the problem. They like softer water than the
>lake cichlids (being a river cichlid) but mine never had any problem with
>about 8.4.-8.6 I kept him at.

Actually the zebra is a Pseudotropheus estherae which is a mbuna from
lake malawi...

I think this might actually work. I'll keep an eye on them all :)

Thanks.

[Bob]

I meant a problem in the sense that it is certainly by far the most
aggressive fish of the 3 species.


> Actually the zebra is a Pseudotropheus estherae which is a mbuna from
> lake malawi...

[Bob]

Ah ha!, I see why you said that, my last post was confusing...when I said
this....

They like softer water than the
> >lake cichlids (being a river cichlid) but mine never had any problem with
> >about 8.4.-8.6 I kept him at.


I was talking about the Jewel, not the zebra!
sorry about that :)

[JTech]

> (I originally posted this in alt.aquaria, and figured here would be a
> better place to ask. Sorry for the double posting if anyone notices)
>
> I'm curious, I've recently taken in two jewel cichlids (a guy I knew
> was getting rid of them), and I have them happily floating around in
> their own 20 gal.
>
> I notice they are african, seem to be in the same pH and temp range as
> mbuna... My problem is conflicting information on temperment. Some
> show them as semi-agressive, some say they'll take on (and win)
> against convicts and dempseys. Some sources even say jewels would be
> better suited in an american cichlid tank.
>
> So, needless to say, I'm confused... So, question is, does anyone
> think yellow labs, red zebras and jewels can co-exist in a severely
> underpopulated 80gal with enough caves for about 40-50 fish?
>
> TIA

I had 2 jewels and 2 convicts together, they were happy together and the
convicts breed just fine.
The jewels can be aggressive ( territorial ), but they will balance out just
fine.

[battlelance]

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 22:06:25 GMT, "Bob"
> wrote:


>I was talking about the Jewel, not the zebra!
>sorry about that :)

No prob :)

I've had them in there for a few days now, and everyone seems to be
getting along just fine.

My only problem is that one of the labs is just about missing their
entire tail fin except for a little part. It seems the other yellow
lab keeps chasing this one, and will stop only when the jewel steps in
to break up the fight. I'm wondering if I might have a male and a
female, and she's just not ready to get down and dirty. It's hard to
sex these fish! Anyway, I added some more AquaClear (stress coat), a
few tbsp of salt and some melafix. Hopefully the lab can hide out in a
cave for a while and grow back that tail fin.

I also think I need to get more fish in the tank. With only 6 fish
(two yellow labs, two red zebras and two jewels), they are getting
very comfortable with the huge territory they can claim in this 80gal
tank. I'm thinking of picking up a few more lab and MAYBE a kenyi. I'm
still doing some research on them, and it seems they can be even more
agressive than the jewels at times, so I'm not sure.

[Happy'Cam'per]

You need to get that Lab out of there, if she's not ready to breed he will
kill her, she will die from inflicted wounds and exhaustion. I would not
leave her in the main tank!!!
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**



"battlelance" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 22:06:25 GMT, "Bob"
> > wrote:
>
>
> >I was talking about the Jewel, not the zebra!
> >sorry about that :)
>
> No prob :)
>
> I've had them in there for a few days now, and everyone seems to be
> getting along just fine.
>
> My only problem is that one of the labs is just about missing their
> entire tail fin except for a little part. It seems the other yellow
> lab keeps chasing this one, and will stop only when the jewel steps in
> to break up the fight. I'm wondering if I might have a male and a
> female, and she's just not ready to get down and dirty. It's hard to
> sex these fish! Anyway, I added some more AquaClear (stress coat), a
> few tbsp of salt and some melafix. Hopefully the lab can hide out in a
> cave for a while and grow back that tail fin.
>
> I also think I need to get more fish in the tank. With only 6 fish
> (two yellow labs, two red zebras and two jewels), they are getting
> very comfortable with the huge territory they can claim in this 80gal
> tank. I'm thinking of picking up a few more lab and MAYBE a kenyi. I'm
> still doing some research on them, and it seems they can be even more
> agressive than the jewels at times, so I'm not sure.

[battlelance]

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 11:34:46 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote:

>You need to get that Lab out of there, if she's not ready to breed he will
>kill her, she will die from inflicted wounds and exhaustion. I would not
>leave her in the main tank!!!

Well, the question still remains, how do I tell if it's a female? I've
gone through about 30 web sites that talk about yellow labs, and every
one had a different opinion on how to tell a female from a male.

[Happy'Cam'per]

The fact remains that if you don't remove it regardless of sex, it is going
to die a slow miserable death! Take it out now while you still can.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**


"battlelance" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 11:34:46 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote:
>
> >You need to get that Lab out of there, if she's not ready to breed he
will
> >kill her, she will die from inflicted wounds and exhaustion. I would not
> >leave her in the main tank!!!
>
> Well, the question still remains, how do I tell if it's a female? I've
> gone through about 30 web sites that talk about yellow labs, and every
> one had a different opinion on how to tell a female from a male.

[battlelance]

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 16:29:29 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" > wrote:

>The fact remains that if you don't remove it regardless of sex, it is going
>to die a slow miserable death! Take it out now while you still can.

And put it where? If these fish feel the need to eat eachother, then
there isn't much I'm going to do about it, short of buying a seperate
tank for every fish that has had it's fins nipped. My 1" zebras stand
up to the jewels just fine, yet I have one wimpy lab. I can't make
special accomodations just for this one fish.

Anyway. the lab finally dug a cave in the sand and it hiding quite
comfortably. I've started a feeding schedule of light feeding 4 times
a day, and now they've all calmed down a little.

I think it'll work out for the little guy.