mbunas jewels

I'm curious, I've recently taken in two jewel cichlids (a guy I knew was getting rid of them), and I have them happily floating around in their own 20 gal.

I notice they are african, seem to be in the same pH and temp range as mbuna... My problem is conflicting information on temperment. Some show them as semi-agressive, some say they'll take on (and win) against convicts and dempseys. Some sources even say jewels would be better suited in an american cichlid tank.

So, needless to say, I'm confused... So, question is, does anyone think yellow labs, red zebras and jewels can co-exist in a severely underpopulated 80gal with enough caves for about 40-50 fish?

The jewel cichild comes from West Africa.The ph should be neutral.They would hold thier own against mbuna.

To the original poster:

I have kept jewels with Mbuna, and I know you're not *supposed* to do this but at the time I had no choice! You can be anal and say the jewels should ideally be in their own water parameters but I found that my Jewels (Lifalili) really thrived with the Malawis. Their colour was great and they spawned once a month or so. Keeping in mind that the jewels and Malawis were all Juveniles at the time and grew up together. If you had to throw a pair of jewels into an established Malawi setup they would not stand a chance! Having many caves in a sparsely populated tank will only make for HIGHLY territorial Mbuna! It really depends...YMMV!!! Put them in and keep a VERY CLOSE eye on them for the first couple of hours, if the Jewels are not being accepted within that space then chances are they'll be toast by morning!!!

If I was faced with your decision I would put them in say a 3 foot tank on their own. They are AGGRESSIVE when in breeding mode and will kick any Mbunas ass, honestly, I think they could hold their own against Mike Tyson

Jewels have a wonderful personality and are 'Moody' at times, overall one of my favourite Cichlids. HTH!

Well, the pH for jewels aren't all that different from mbuna, and the acceptable range overlaps by quite a bit. I'm sure they'll be fine.

They've been in the tank now overnight, and everyone is getting along just fine. The yellow labs were kinda ticked at the red zebras - the jewels kicked the zebras out of their cave, and they tried to move in with the labs. They nipped at eachother for a few hours, they all found new caves, and away they went.

Interesting though, the zebras took caves near the top of the pile, and yellow labs took some in the middle and the jewels dug their own cave in the sand. I wish I knew what was going on in their head

BTW: How would Kenyi cichlids get along with the labs and zebras? The LFS has some really nice female kenyi's, and they're all from the same

'they're all from the same lake.' That's not a real good indicator of compatibility, especially in this case where the lake is so large and the species in your tank have never encountered each other in the wild. Metriaclima lombardoi (kenyii) are by far one of the prettiest mbuna. When the males finally change color they are absolutely stunning (of course depends on your stock). They also happen to be the most aggressive and lethal mbuna I have kept to date. The dominant male bit the head off of a dither fish that I put in the tank to kelp keep the aggression down. After killing off or attempting to kill off all other species, the male then started in on the females. I had a 1m/5f ratio and it still didn't help. If I were to keep these again, which I will because they are one of my favorites and I have a lead on some wild caughts, I would keep them in no less than a 125.

Oh, and for the compatibility of the M. estherae (Red Zebras) and the L. caeruleus, the lombardoi would kick their non-aggressive butts.

I was refering to water conditions.

It seems everyone has an opinion as to the temperment of a particular fish, which makes this particularly confusing. I was speeking to a breeder who was saying the kenyi are not much different than most mbuna in terems of aggressiveness. I've also read that jewels are extremely agressive, yet mine are rather shy and get bullied by the yellow labs.

So, I've basically accepted the fact that you can't judge temperment until the fish is in the tank.