Jewel cichlid keep attacking eachother

Question
Hi Ron,
my boyfriend and i are from Australia and have just recently bought a 10 Gallon tank. We have 4 jewel fish in the community. At first we added two for cycling, after 4 days we had to separate the two fish (using mesh to half the tank). because the bigger/redder jewel fish was killing (chasing/nipping)the other smaller jewel fish which turned grey blue colour. After separation the grey blue one turned a healthy red. We then went to the fish shop and the lady told us that it would be a good idea to buy some more jewels to fix the problem. When we put two new jewels in with the others and took out the mesh, it was fine for a while till the two original fish started victimizing the two new ones and one in particular. Now we dont know what to do about this problem, because separation is not as practical with the larger amount of fish... The victimized fish has now turned a pale grey blue colour and is spending a lot of time sitting in a far corner of the tank and is breathing faster than the others. Can you please give us suggestions as to what we should do?

Nicole

Answer
Hi Nicole,
 Unfortunately four jewels in a 10 gallon tank are 2 jewels too many.  The idea of adding other fish to help divert the fighting is okay, but you should have added some fast swimming tetras or giant danios, not more jewels.  Jewels are beautiful but highly territorial.
 What I would do.  I would keep only the original two jewels in the tank and add a fair bit of "structure", such as wood, rock, plastic plants, etc. to break up the space and provide lots of hiding places for the weaker fish.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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