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Hi all

i have an ew 30 gal tank with 2 bristlenose pl*co's i need to add fish and wanted to add "jewel Cichlids as i had them before and they were wonderdful.....would they work well with the pl*cos? any other ideas?

ellie

If by "Jewel Cichlids" you mean one of the Hemichromis species, I'd think twice about having them with ANY other fish in a 30 gallon. In fact, I'd think twice about having them in anything smaller than a 55, and preferably a LOT bigger, particularly once they start breeding. Hemichromis guttatus and its near relations are robust Cichlids that are also VERY strongly territorial. To the extent of summarily exterminating anything considered to be a trespasser in their realm.

A few people here have either had these fishes in their collections in the past, or are current active keepers of these fishes, and will tell you the same thing - Jewel Cichlids are seriously feisty, doubly so when the urge to breed manifests itself.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

thank yo0u cal for the reply....i guess i better look into something better as ilove my pl*cos and don't want anythig to happen to them...
the only reason i liked the jewe;s was because of their personality....they were always "upfromt" and you ciuld actually find them.,..is ther4e any other fish like that....i have tried live bearers etc but they all seem to hide all the time?
thanks again
ellie

An angelfish would be a nice addition. Mine are always at the glass begging for food. You shouldn't have any problems with them getting along with your plecos.

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

NOW THAT SOUNDS GOOD.....I PLAN TOMOTRROW TO GO LOOKINTO SOMETHING.....I WILL SEE WHAT THEY HAVE.....

THANKS A LOT
ELLOIE

I'm going to beat Tim to this one: tiger barbs.

Seriously though, a school of smallish barbs are hard to beat for being up front begging for food whenever you pass by.

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Laetacara curviceps - the dwarf flag cichlid. Awesome personality and as you call it'very up front'. I have a pair in a small tank for relocation to the big. Though feisty (after all ,they are cichlids), you could easily keep severl of those without problems. Here is a link with pic:
http://www.tropicalresources.net/phpBB2/fish_profiles_curviceps.php

Mine are currently in a small tank with 2 juvenile female blue rams and 4 rummy nose tetras and get alomg very well - though everybody knows who is the boss

I currently keep two species of jewel,bimaculatus and guttatus, and I think their territoriality could be described as "tough but fair", they tend not to go ballistic when not actually breeding, in a 30 with a bristlenose plec or similar I wouldnt actually foresee a huge amount of trouble brewing, as long as you have enough bogwood in the tank to ensure they rarely actually meet. Jewels mostly fight with other cichlids. Thus far theyve never paid much attention to the scavenger crews or algae eaters.

Mine have not as yet bred though, and I have seen the odd flare of anger that certainly convinces me of their fighting ability, but by and large I find them to be nowhere near as persecutory to non-cichlid fish in the way that blue acaras and convicts cichlids can be. Trouble is, the bite power, when they do bite it causes a wound just about every time.Annoy the hemichromis with the presence of another cichlid though, and its like pulling the trigger.

I think you might get away with a 30 with just a single same species hemichromis pair, and a single bristlenose, but a 55 would be better. I have tested them with bristlenoses incidentally, and they seem ok, although if they breed, obviously that could change.

I have one of the pairs in community, but to be fair its a 120, and its all african river species, stuff they naturally cohabit with, seems to really stop setting them off. Theyre chilled 99% of the time, but you put the wrong fish in there and BAM!

How about keyhole cichlids? My pair are my some of my favorite fish I have, generaly they are peaceful but sometimes have their little squabbles and the only time either have tried to fight is when I introduced congo tetras and the male went for a few of them for a few mins but no lasting damage and then they were fine.

http://www.wetpetz.com/keyhole.html thats an info sheet I found really helpful when I was looking into them

I also keep them with a bristlnose plec in my tank and there has never been any problems between them at all.

i had jewels in a tank once and the jewels actually held their own against a breeding pair of convicts! not only that, but one of them got so aggressive that i took it to the fish store to exchange it for something else and the owner had to put it in a tank with a 10" bluegill. this fish was so aggressive that it actually had to be separated from the bluegill! and it wasn't even part of a breeding pair!

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

HAHA, little jewels taking on convicts lol, that I have to see, it would be too funny! Mind you I have a krib that makes Acaras, firemouths and jewels run. Its all a question of individual attitude at the end of the day. I guess ive been lucky to have 3 fairly relaxed pairs, but like I said, it depends what you have them in with. I think they positively hate SA cichlids, something about them sets them off.

Id definately recommend keyhole and rainbow cichlids though, mine are never any trouble at all.

yeah id have to say the keyhole too,i dont have any now,but when i did they were never any drama.also a bit of a jump off topic,hey longhair,your krib must be nusto(like mt fh and gt are)to be shooing away ba ands fms and jewels too,when i had my krib pair,they were that gental,that i kept them with large schools of asorted tetras.