My jewel cichlids in a 240-liter 5-foot tank

[stevana]

Just set up my new 5ft tank with sand, gravel, and some rock work, also added Java fern and Anubis. It's going to be a fishless cycle, and I'm thinking of getting some pink jewel cichlids I saw at the LFS. I was wondering how many I should get and what other fish would be good tankmates for them.

[letham]

Jewel cichlids are indeed stunning, but they do have a feisty side, especially when they start pairing up. For tankmates, you'll want fish that can handle a bit of roughhousing and give as good as they get.

I've never personally kept jewel cichlids, so I won't pretend to be an expert on what works and what doesn't. That being said, having a decent-sized group of them on their own might be the way to go - they're beautiful fish when they're coloured up, and with a larger group, any aggression gets spread out, so individual fish don't get picked on as much.

I'll move this over to the African cichlid section, you might get more info there.

[coralhaven]

I've got a single jewel cichlid in my tank, and to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure what sex it is - I've never come across a foolproof method for sexing them. I picked it up about 18 months ago when it was tiny, under an inch in length, and now it's grown to around 4.5 to 5 inches, nice and chunky. The colouration is stunning, and it's got loads of personality - a real character. Mine's not fussy about food at all, lol. I've never seen it start trouble with any of my other fish, and it often swims up to my JD, seems quite friendly. Of course, I've heard they can be right little terrors in a species tank when they start breeding, but so far, so good.

[stevana]

If I was to go for a species tank, would anyone know a rough number for stocking, or is it more a case of seeing how things go and adjusting as needed.

[coralhaven]

I'd be cautious with the stocking and wouldn't go beyond two pairs, personally. A pair with some Congo tetras could work well, though. There might be some catfish that'd be suitable too, but nothing comes to mind right now. The issue with bottom-dwellers is they can be quite nosey and may get in the way when the jewels are breeding, which could lead to trouble.