Jewel Cichlids

[goldfishgeek]

Hello,

I have four Jewel cichlids in a 20 g tank, I am aware this is not big enough and need some advice re what to do next.

Boring back story

I bought 12 fry from Ebay, put them in a 25G and watched them grow......and then pretty much watched them disappear! My book said they were a species only tank and my plan was keep them in 25G possibly selling some or exchanging at my LFS and upgrading the tank in the summer (ie now sort of). That was in Aug 2010, the tank sprung a leak at Christmas and since I had the empty 20G I put the four remaining fish in there. I never intended on keeping all of them, I didn't really think I'd only have 4 left mind you.

However some further research on the internet has lead me to realise that they can't live with each other or anything else. Recently I have realised they are now big enough to be aggressive and there has been some damage.

My questions

1.Could I sell two (or give away) and keep the other two in the 20G? or is it too small?

2. If it is too small could I keep all four in a Fluval 200?

or could I keep 2 of them in the Fluval 200 with anything else?

Lately they seem like mini sharks, one- the biggest one got badly damaged but is recovering thanks to Melafix and primafix.

thank you
GFG

 

[minnnt]

I would say 20 gallon is plenty big enough for a single pair of jewels.

 

[Duz]

Cichlids are a territorial fish and unless the tank is overstocked, they will try to set up territories. Hence why they now might be attacking each other. If you have a tank overstocked with cichlids then they won't have enough room to set up their territories and so will get onlong with each other. The less fish (cichlids) you have in your tank, the larger their territories can be. Eventually, when you get to a low enough amount of numbers (in this case 4) you then have the problem of all their territories are overlapping and will occassionally try to attack each other to gain extra room. The reason for them setting up territories is so that (in the wild) they can have a large selection of food, more hiding places and more mates will come into their area if its bigger.

Is your tank around 90liters? Personally, I wouldn't keep any more than 2 as they will still set up their territories and its normally best if you pick 2 of the same size, this way they don't have an advantage over each other. Likewise if you upgraded to the fluval 200, I would still stick to just the 2, unless you wish to overstock your tank again with cichlids. But a 20 gallon tank would be a decent size for them.
If you decide just to keep 2, you can keep them with other fish. I had 2 krib cichlids and I kept them with loads of different fish. Of course its a good idea to avoid keeping fish like guppies and bettas with them as they may get their fins nipped. So long as they have a large enough territory each they will get along with most community fish. Provide enough coverage (leaves/rocks/wood) to break up the territories and give them a few hiding places and they will love you for it. Hope that helps.

 

[james41683]

over crowding isnt really needed with the jewels, that type of stocking is normally used with mbuna. the 20 gallon should work for a pair if you have a m/f that have paired up. like mentioned above a small school of fast moving tetras or tiger barbs could be used as dithers and to fill in space, nothing with long flowing fins though because they'll be ripped to shreds. if you do get a larger tank i would still only keep the pair, then mix in a shool of tetras/barbs and some sort of bottom dweller.