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has anyone got any of these nice fish as im thinking of keeping them and im going down to my lfs today and im going to get four of them and hopefully get a pair how do you sex them? is there food that i need to give give them ? they will be going into a 55 gallon tank is that okey?

Ok, If you want a aggressive fish exspecially when they are breeding, this is the way to go.
My in-laws had two. Male @ female. They mated up and had eggs, and all hell broke out in the tank. The parents chased every fish in the tank that came anywhere near the eggs/fry. Some of the fish where at least 3 times bigger than them, and still they chased them away. Ended up haveing to separtate the Red Jewels into another tank just for them. They had 2 lots of fry. My in-laws kept 2 fish from the first lot of fry and remated them with the orginial daddy. The daddy lost interest in the orginial mummy and chased her around and nearly killed her. They ended up having to remove her. So when it comes to breeding, (which is very often, cause they breed easy) these fish are a nightmare.
Sexing them. Males are larger and have blue spots on his tail. The males Dorsal fin is more pointed, than the females. These fish turn red when they are ready to mate. When you have two fish the same size, it is hard to tell the difference in sexes. The tank size should be ok, as these fish grow upto 6-7cm, but the females are smaller. In kepting 4 fish, should kept 1 male and 3 female. HTH

[span class="edited"][Edited by TigerAngel 2004-07-25 05:15][/span]

thanks do you think they would be alright in a malawi tank as malawis are quite agressive and my PH iws only 7.5 my temp is 26 so that should be ok for them yes?

Is this another tank?, or the same 55 gal. If its another tank, how many fish and of what species are there. You do not want to overcrowd your tank.
In a lone 55 gal 4 would be fine. 1 male & 3 female.
In a mix tank, 1 if you do not want to breed them - 2, male & female if you do, just be prepare for the aggressive and the necesssary perhaps to remove them if things get too bad. I research and got these 2 url with some useful information.

This url tells you the difference in the sexes.
http://www.cichlids.com/info/Hemichromis_bimaculatus

This one the size/ph/temp/and breeding.
[link=http://www.mongabay.com/fish/other_african_cichlids.htm ]http://www.mongabay.com/fish/other_african_cichlids.htm [/link]
Scroll down the page till you get to the Red Jewel fish.
There is actually two types.


[span class="edited"][Edited by TigerAngel 2004-07-25 11:15][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by TigerAngel 2004-07-25 18:02][/span]

thanks tiger your name should be star angel i got them today and reading that one how to sex them has showen me that iv got 1m,1f but i will be getting more thanks angel!

Malawi how is your jewels going?

Hey
Very good they rea 2 inches ill try and get some pics of them when my mum up loads the soft wear into the computer they are male and femasle but im going to get anothe female soon.

please keep me informed and tell me how your 1m and 2fm go.