Lake Victoria Basin, West African, Madagascar & Asian Species • Tell me what you think of these Jewel Cichlids :)

[easywolf31]

I want to add one female (if possible) Jewel Cichlid to my new 130 gallon aquarium. Would a single female possible be a bit less agressive than a sole male? Looking at this picture, would you be able to identify a female, I know there are 3-4 in there really dominant looking, could those be males?

[Mr.Nero]

Jewel cichlids Are Hard to sex even as adults, the best way to surely tell is buy at least 5-6 and when you see two of them pair off from the rest you'll then know you have a male and female. I bought the last two jewels my local fish store had left and luckily they turned out to be male and female. It's a dice roll.

[easywolf31]

Which species do you guys see more often?

Hemichromis Guttatus (Jewel Cichlid) 
Hemichromis Lifalili (Blood Red Jewel)

I don't think I've ever seen the latter anywhere. I wonder which are more agressive..

[easywolf31]

Incredible...even more species here..never knew more than one existed..All of them look great! Check out Hemichromis sp. "Moanda" / "Muanda"

I can imagine it would be an utter disaster trying to keep more than a pair in one tank with others?

https://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/r ... p?genus=87

[Mr Chromedome]

The "Moanda" has been identified as the real H. lifalili by Anton Lamboj, the fish previously called by that name are just another population of guttatus. The profiles here are a bit dated. I'm impressed that they have guttatus instead of calling it bimaculatus. Almost all general fish sites still have it wrong.

[easywolf31]

The "Moanda" has been identified as the real H. lifalili by Anton Lamboj, the fish previously called by that name are just another population of guttatus. The profiles here are a bit dated. I'm impressed that they have guttatus instead of calling it bimaculatus. Almost all general fish sites still have it wrong.

Thanks Mr. Chromedome, so the Moanda with the high fins (sailfins?) is now the Lifalili? Interesting. Have you ever seen one in a pet shop/or breeder? Really awesome looking all these Hemichromis's. I'm guessing the ones in the first picture I posted on this topic are of the bimaculatus/guttatus types?

[BC in SK]

I'm guessing the ones in the first picture I posted on this topic are of the bimaculatus/guttatus types?

Hemichromis guttatus. The common jewel in the hobby.
As Chromedome mentions, even those labeled H. lifalili are just different populations of H. guttatus. . The real H. lifalili is the same fish that is also known as H. sp. "moanda" in the trade.
In older books and a lot of places on the internet you will see the common jewel listed as H. bimaculatus. Just understand these are all mis-labled. They are H. guttatus.
H. bimaculatus is very rare in the hobby and seldom imported. You are unlikely to come across one. Pictures of wild caught specimens show a fish that lacks blue iridophores (bright blue spots).

[mbargas]

I'm guessing the ones in the first picture I posted on this topic are of the bimaculatus/guttatus types?

Hemichromis guttatus. The common jewel in the hobby.
As Chromedome mentions, even those labeled H. lifalili are just different populations of H. guttatus. . The real H. lifalili is the same fish that is also known as H. sp. "moanda" in the trade.
In older books and a lot of places on the internet you will see the common jewel listed as H. bimaculatus. Just understand these are all mis-labled. They are H. guttatus.
H. bimaculatus is very rare in the hobby and seldom imported. You are unlikely to come across one. Pictures of wild caught specimens show a fish that lacks blue iridophores (bright blue spots).

IMHO it really doesn't matter what you call them. They are all closely related, and there are no doubt numerous hybrids out there.

Bottom line: there is considerable variation in coloration among various strains. Some will show color even when they are not breeding, and others will be very drab and only color up somewhat while they are breeding. I posted some pictures of mine in a previous thread. I'll see if I can find it.

[mbargas]

Here are some pics of breeding jewels. Each was from a different source. Note the big difference in coloration

https://imgur.com/gallery/lhKTJ

[Mr Chromedome]

Here are some pics of breeding jewels. Each was from a different source. Note the big difference in coloration

https://imgur.com/gallery/lhKTJ

Both are still H. guttatus and share characteristics of that species. Most of the Jewels in the hobby are H. guttatus, or mislabelled H. guttatus, so they aren't actually hybridizing. However, there are a few other species that are seen occasionally, and they have very distinct color and behavior patterns that separate them from all the Common Jewel populations. Some even have slightly different shapes.

Lamboj is currently working on a major revision of Hemichromis. Rumor has it that the small Jewels will be given a new genus, as Hemichromis type species is H. fasciatus.

[easywolf31]

Hey there. So this is the Jewel I got about 2 months ago. Looks like a female but I may wrong. Which type of Jewel specie does it look like? Does anyone know what would be considered a great temperature range & PH level for Jewels?

She's been slowly gaining some really nice dark ruby red coloring on her throat and tail areas. What can make her bring out more color?

[mbargas]

"Does anyone know what would be considered a great temperature range & PH level for Jewels?"

Conventional wisdom will say soft and neutral, but that has no bearing on reality. They have been established in South Florida, where the water is hard and alkaline, sometimes even slightly brackish. They are very tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.

In terms of temperature, they probably do best in the upper 70's or low 80's, but they can tolerate brief exposures to cooler temps as will occur in South Florida.

[mbargas]

https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factshe ... ciesID=457

[mbargas]

Environmental Requirements

Considerable research has been conducted to determine the physiological tolerances of introduced populations of H. letourneuxi in Florida.

A study by Langston et al. (2010) found that H. letourneuxi survived and grew equally well at salinities between 0–50 ppt. The survival rate at salinities above 50 ppt decreased rapidly. The acute response to changes in salinity was also tested; all fish transferred directly from freshwater to salinities up to 20 ppt survived, only 56% survived when transferred to 25 ppt and none survived transfer above 25 ppt (Langston et al., 2010). Whilst H. letourneuxi is euryhaline and regularly collected in estuarine areas and tidal rivers e.g. Charlotte Harbor Estuary, Florida (Idelberger et al., 2011), it does exhibit a preference for low salinities or freshwater (Rehage et al., 2015).

Schofield et al. (2010) investigated the cold tolerance of H. letourneuxi in field and laboratory conditions. In the laboratory it was found that there was a loss of equilibrium at 10.8–12.5°C and death at 9.1–13.3°C. In the field, all fish died during exposure to 4.0°C in shallow marsh habitat (Schofield et al., 2010). Shafland and Pestrak (1982) also investigated the cold tolerance of H. letourneuxi in laboratory conditions by decreasing water temperature 1°C day, from a baseline of 21°C. Six fish (95-100 mm total length) reduced feeding at 16.8°C (range 16-17°C), ceased feeding at 13.5°C (range 13-15°C), lost equilibrium at 11.5°C (11-12°C) and died at 9.5°C (range 9-10°C).

H. letourneuxi is tolerant of environmental variability and introduced populations in Florida have been found to be euryhaline, resistant to low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) and low temperatures (Loftus et al., 2006). The species is particularly tolerant of hypoxia and it is though that this conveys an advantage against native fishes such as centrarchids and has assisted in its ability to exploit the seasonally inundated wetlands of south Florida (Schofield et al., 2007; Schofield et al., 2009a).

http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/114751

[Mr Chromedome]

easywolf31, you'd get more color if the substrate and décor weren't all light colored. Fish fade or darken to blend into the background, and that background is glaringly white. A pair might color up during spawning, as they are trying to be seen at that point, but a single fish is going to try and stay inconspicuous.

The adaptability of Hemichromis guttatus to a wide range of habitats has long been known, predating the internet. In The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa Lamboj documents this again, having collected the fish himself in both soft acid environments and brackish lagoons. I find the ID of the invasives as H. letourneuxi rather odd, as that species was never very common in the hobby. I would not be surprised if it was a mistaken ID. Subsequent researchers would not verify the fish identification themselves, they would just use the name from the USGS, assuming that it was correct. After all, they are behavioralists, not ichthyologists. Also, the USGS does not update names on that site, which is obvious if you look for Genus Cichlasoma.