Firemouths And Jewel Cichlids?

[bml766]

I understand but I do have a good filter if that means anything, a fluval 205 for a 90 litre.

Don't know if your interested but here is a video of my old tank,
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbsaSsMKbwk&feature=plcp

apart from the gravel being abnormally high, I thought it was alright

 

[onidrase]

I understand but I do have a good filter if that means anything

It is good to have a bigger filter, but that generally lets you surpass a bit of overstocking of fish suitable for the tank size, and imo jewels are a tad on the large side for a 20 gallon tank

 

[bml766]

so a jewel cichlid
a small shoal of large bodied tetras
and a a small shoal of upside down catfish

Sound Good?

 

[Wills]

so a jewel cichlid
a small shoal of large bodied tetras
and a a small shoal of upside down catfish

Sound Good?

No, sorry you dont quite understand what your getting into here. A 20 gallon is too small for a Jewel Cichlid they are big fish and need a bigger tank than you can offer. Even removing the aggression issue a tank this small for a fish this big is just not right really

Look for an alternative and move on. There are not many fish similar to Jewels in apperance but there are a lot of beautiful dwarfs around - Apistogramma Panduro are very nice with the steel blue males with red tail and the black and yellow bumble bee females they look great and in a 20 gallon tank your looking pretty good.

If you want the Jewel I would go for a 30 gallon and get a pair, Jewels are so aggressive you really dont understand what your trying to do. In the past few months there must have been 10 people that have tried them in tanks (all bigger than this one btw) and all have failed, all have ended up with dead or battered fish and a Jewel returned to a store or being kept in as a wet pet in a tank larger than yours.

Sorry to be harsh but your so close to making a big mistake

Wills

 

[bml766]

So what is the largest size cichlid I could get in the tank?

 

[Wills]

Stick to the classic Dwarfs - what about a Ram tank? Get some Alder Cones and Almond Leaves and then get 1 Electric Blue ram and 1 Gold Ram a school of Sterbai Cories and a school of Rummy Nose Tetras. Or you could get a few of each type of Ram and wait for a pair to form I always think it would be interesting to mix an Electric Blue and a Gold as they are pretty different.

Wills

 

[josh_g]

Hey mate jewel cichlids are vicious I had one that used to stand up to a jaguar cichlid that was easily 3x it's size. Jewel cichlids can also grow pretty big the one they have in my LFS is 5" easily. What about a pair of electric blue rams? and maybe small group of say 5 neons or glowlight tetras? I think that would look real nice Or just forget about cichlids and go with maybe some killifish. They have some beautiful colored killis out there. You have plenty of options for a 20gal why do you want a jewel cichlid so badly? Didn't see your post there Wills think you pretty much covered everything I just said

 

[Murrayjane]

Jewels can be pretty aggressive. I am currently dealing with one and am trying to find solutions of where to put it. I might even have to put him in a 29 gallon solo. Although he is only a juvenile, he still is more aggressive than my pair of firemouths. This thread is a few months old, so I hope you made a decision on something more practical and not go down the horrible journey I am undergoing.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

In my experience, and some members who have known me a while saw me through my experience.

I had a Jewel Cichlid in a 75g tank with 2 severums and a synodontis cat. A later added a Green Terror, and 3 Vieja Bifaciatus to the tank. Within 24 hours, the Green Terror was belly up. Within a week, one of the Viejas was dead and another severely injured. I removed the Jewel, and at someone elses suggestion, placed her with my Malawis as they were similar in aggression. Bad idea. The Jewel started shredding my malawis, whihc were twice her size in lenght and bulk. I ended up giving her to the pet store as I could no longer find a setup that would work with her. Had her for 6 months.

Here is some light reading. Don't look if your squeamish as there are some pictures of the Vieja before it died.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/383233-quiet-jewel-cichlid/page__p__3216746__fromsearch__1#entry3216746

That this thread has some pictures of the master B herself. Beautiful girl but totally mentrual.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/378103-my-psychopath/page__p__3165167__fromsearch__1#entry3165167

 

[GShorty1981]

20 gallon is to small but i think you guys dont realise that a Jewel gets no bigger than 4" and they tend to be soft if on there own, my friend has one with Severums, Firemouths, Dempsey etc in his 120g for years and its never bothered anything, i used to have one for about 3 years to which never got bigger than 4" in my 75g and never bothered anything either, i just sold him when i changed my stock.

But a 20 gallon is to small for a jewel, they are a chunky fish and need a 30g minimum imo.

I suggest going for a breeding pair of kribensis which get to a similar length but don't get as chunky or deep (or possibly aggressive) mix them any type of smaller tetra you like, just avoid catfish like Corys because they will get bullied.

I would also avoid a shoal of deeper bodied tetras in a 20g, its not big enough for say a shoal of 8 black widow/skirt tetras.

 

[dougie]

My jewel was in a 40g long & was absolutely fine with community fish...... Unless it resembled a cichlid, in which case it would smash anything. I lost others due to lack of knowledge on my part. Beautiful fish, but hard work unless you are prepared to forget any larger fish or 'cichlid shaped' & cater for the Jewel's needs above all others.
I had tetra's, & barbs with mine, I loved it...

 

[Dieses Madchen]

My jewel was in a 40g long & was absolutely fine with community fish...... Unless it resembled a cichlid, in which case it would smash anything. I lost others due to lack of knowledge on my part. Beautiful fish, but hard work unless you are prepared to forget any larger fish or 'cichlid shaped' & cater for the Jewel's needs above all others.
I had tetra's, & barbs with mine, I loved it...

Off topic but I LOOOVE your avatar. I'm a monty python fan myself lol