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Need some advice on Hemichromis B lifalili (Blood-Red Jewel)

37K views 49 replies 7 participants last post by  tabmos 
#1 ·
I walked into an obscure pet store and there in front of me were a type of fish I've been looking for but never thought I'd find. Around here its always been common Jewel Cichlid territory.

I bought a pair of Hemichromis B. Lifalili (Blood-Red Jewel Cichlid) and would like to give them the perfect (or as close to) setup. Meaning size tank, parameters, environment etc. I really would love to breed these. One of my top 3 fish easily.

Any advice needed! Will go on a research binge tomorrow.
 
#28 ·
bhavik95 said:
Hi there here are some videos that i took
they werent really active today for some reason i dont think they are like this most of the time
but yesterday they were very close together in the same cave and everything today its different :/




hope this helps
So I had some time and watched all 3 videos more closely. They definitely look like they want to breed and they will. Really nice video quality and very nice looking Jewels by the way. Here's what I would do.

1. I think they will spawn on the right side. Collapse that cave and make it flat maybe just very slightly lifted, just a few mm.
The top part as it is right now is not good as it's too exposed and when they hatch they may just scatter around. The cave is too small also. They are substrate spawners not cave. Next move some plants just a bit more front so they can make pits around the flat rock. They will place the hatchlings in there once they hatch.

2. Fix the left side as well do the exact same thing. You will need to lift the filter intake from there or place it in the middle of the aquarium.

They look kind of happy and still exploring where to spawn, to me at least.

Can you tell us when you placed these Jewels in the aquarium? Who came first in the aquarium the other fish or the Jewels?

It looks like a new tank, when did you set it up? Also when did you add those caves?

And like we've warned you, you will definitely lose or seriously get some of the other fish hurt.
 
#29 ·
Thanks!

What do you mean collapse the cave as in break it down? to lift it i could put some more gravel under it in that side would that work?
when you say substrate spawners do they actually lay in the gravel as last time they ended up laying on a piece of driftwood and they ended up digging the gravel themselves

This is what i have done before you posted would this work?
https://ibb.co/diZ7tF
https://ibb.co/itzwna

Was thinking of doing the same thing but just on the right as on the left there is the filter intake. Would this work?

The jewels have probably been in the tank for about a 7-8 months i think maybe more. the jewels were the last fish i added

no the tank has been running for years now cant remember when it was first started as for the caves i added them last month

yes i understand but they were fine last time they ended up breeding.
 
#30 ·
#34 ·
3 1/2 week old Red Jewel fry in 40g & 5 day old fry with parents in 75g. I freed up a 55g and will move the new fry there in 5-6 days if I see the parents eating them or if the female gets pregnant again. If that happens 3rd batch will stay with the parents.

 
#36 ·
bhavik95 said:
any help please
Remove right side cave, place left slate flat on the right side, cover intake with a sponge and measure your ph, kh and gh next. Also temperature and TDS if possible. Let me know once you've done half of that.
 
#37 ·
hi there so what i have done now is have the same setup as posted before but on the right hand side away from the filter but in between the slate and the cave i have now put a small piece of flat slate rock. is that better?

*** put a sponge filter over the intake and the temperature is around 26-27C.
i cant measure ph, kh,gh but i do have hard water coming out from the tap as i live in the UK
 
#38 ·
Hi, that sounds much better. The only small problem now is the hardness of your water. Do you think it's extremely hard? These Jewels like it acidy or under say 7.8 at least, but I don't really think that's the problem. Unless of course your hardness and alkalinity is over the top.

I think they may realize that if they breed you will snatch their babies or there will be no room in the aquarium with all the fish, or they will need to kill all the other fish. If they don't breed in a month or 2, than remove the other fish or place them in another aquarium. Not much else can be done I think. Good luck.
 
#39 ·
No i dont think my water is that hard i mean i keep red cherry shrimps in the same water as i keep the other fishes and jewels. i dont know if that helps

Ok hopefully now they feel more safe and comfortable to breed as i have covered that area up so only the jewel fish can get in and out and added quite a few plants around that area

i was also thinking of doing a 40% water change maybe tomorrow and getting some bloodworm pellets, do you think that would help?
 
#40 ·
They love frozen blood worms best but i see them going for the freeze dried blood worms very strongly too. There's blood worm pellets too lol?
 
#43 ·
For the top slate, probably not, too exposed, If there is a slate under it, depending on the size, is it small? that may probably work. If I were you, I'd remove everything from that corner, place the big slate ONLY with about 10 gravel pieces on it. If they move the gravel pieces you will know they are looking to mate. So just put one gravel slate, the biggest one, on that corner, and not so high up lol. Just lay it flat, maybe on a 5 degree angle upwards only. They need some room to fan the eggs. So get all that **** out of there, looks like a Bombay slum or something the way it is all piled up and stuff.
 
#45 ·
bhavik95 said:
LOL! yeah there is a small piece of slate under it.

if i was to remove everything from there and place the biggest slate flat wouldnt it be exposed as well?
Haha just do it you will not regret it. I meant exposed because it's really sticking out and very high.
 
#47 ·
bhavik95 said:
Yeah ok i will try that! i'll sprinkle a bit gravel on the top surface and see what happens.

but will they still breed even though its all open in that corner?
Yes they don't care for caves and hiding they are open substrate spawners. Let me know if you see them picking up the gravel and spitting it away. Once you see that happen they should start laying eggs in 24 hours. Just don't bother them until then.
 
#49 ·
Easywolf, I noticed a while back, you no longer have jewels listed in your signature. what made you decide to move on from them?

It isn't my thread, so at the time I didn't think I should weigh in on the advice behavik95 was seeking from easywolf. But I will now. I do not agree with DJ Ransome and Easywolf's advice to behavik95. I think that behavik95's jewels not being so prolific any more, has absolutely zilch to do with decor. Nor do i think his set up of decor to be inferior in any way to the set up that easywolf has. Some times pairs of cichlids are prolific and then they slow down. Nothing much more then that. Fish are still breeding many more times in captivity then they ever could in the wild. I've had jewels every decade starting in the 1970's and I've had a whole range of set up with more open areas and shelter. IME, given a choice, jewels will lay their eggs in good shelter even when there are no other fish in the tank. Very, very seldom have I had them lay eggs in open areas. But of course I am giving them a choice. They are like most cichlids and should be provided with some good shelter in the tank.
 
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