Jewel cichlid idenitification and agression

Question
Hi, Aaron! My 29 gallon tank was recently reestablished after retirement. I went ahead and made the dive into cichlids after some experience with a 15 gallon tank and bought some juvenile Hemichromis guttatus. However, I cannot find any information on the internet or in available fish encyclopedias about them having these peculiar... stripes, all 8 of them. One line more or less follows the first and then the second lateral line, and the other follows the very top of their backs. They also have faint black markings along the face. All are brown with flashes of red occasionally (and spontaneously!), and most still have the third ocellus near the caudal fin, supposedly a sign of immaturity.
  I have checked nitrites: 0. nitrates 20-40ppm. soft water, 7.4-7.8 ph very alkaline. There are plants, but i put a bubbler in case. Seems fine...
   I am also starting to get concerned about aggression, because some are pairing off and getting jumpy. No organized fighting but...

Thanks,
Remy

Answer
Standard red jewel cichlid correct? A few things....
1. These are more aggressive than the other varieties of jewel.
2. Those stripes could be a sign of stress.
3. You may not have the variety of fish you think.

The jewels that I've bred didn't show any body lining after 2 inches.

As far as pairing goes, just keep the ones that look the best....simple and easy.

Another thing is that your water is a little alkaline for these guys. Most people thing that since they are from Africa they need the same water parameters as the rift lake cichlids....this is not so. But it is easy to correct with out buying all of the expensive powders and liquids to lower the pH. Simply use a generous amount of drift wood in your decor. (Make sure to soak it first). Keep checking you PH levels on a weekly basis.

As for the aggression. Well....that's cichlids. Either keep the best 2 looking fish and hope something happens or keep the first ones to pair off and wait for something to happen...your choice. The tank size you are running these fish in is way to small for this many individuals of this specie.

I would either get some dither fish or a larger tank.