NURSERY TANK for Cichlids

Question
I have a mating pair of African Jewells, they have just layed their 1st batch of eggs in my tank. I have a Geo Jupari(small about 1 1/2), 2 Kribensis, i think male and female, 1 jack dempsey, 3 corys, and one brushynose pleco, all in a 55 gal. I do not figure that the fry will survive once they hatch and was wandering what if a 10 gal is a good nursery tank. If so does it need to be set up like any other tank, (ie.GRAVEL,FILTER,HEATER) i have seen some tanks for raising fry just mainly WATER,AIR BUBBLER,HEATER and thats all. also can you tell me how long the incubation peroid is for the Jewell eggs, and if they can be moved before they hatch. I'm new at raising Jewell young, but want to give it my best shot so your imput would be a blessing.. THANKS JR

Answer
Hi Jim;

I haven't bred jewels, but I have bred Jack Demseys (by accident actually) so I will do my best to help you out. I can give you some web site links too at the end of this letter.

The parents will do a fine job of guarding the eggs and the young. They hatch in 3 to 5 days, depending on water temperature. Apparently, the female incubates the eggs in her mouth toward the end of incubation. You may want to add a divider so they don't injure or kill the other fish in the tank. They are exceptionally aggressive during this time. The eggs are best left with the parents and the babies for at least a week so they are large enough for you to manage and get to a growout tank. 10 gallons is pretty small. I wouldn't get anything smaller than 20 gallons. They are terretorial even as babies and need room to grow and exercise. Make sure you have a place to take them too once they get big enough to have new homes. Local fish store or friends are good resources. The stores may not take them until an inch long or bigger. Plenty of water changes and good food will make them grow very fast.

The baby growout tank should have no gravel and a filter with a very slow flow. The babies get lost and/or stuck in the gravel and it gets too dirty with all the food you will be feeding. The tank could get fouled by it and kill your babies very quickly. Sponge filters work very well for baby tanks. They are operated by an air pump. Growing baby fish need to be fed 3 or more times every day. Make a 50% water change in the populated baby tank every day too. Your sponge filter will be too new to get rid of the toxins yet. It will not have any beneficial bacteria growing on it to do that. The ideal situation (like full-time breeders do) is to have the grow out tank fully running for at least 6 weeks prior to babies being added. This lets the biological balance get established. Put a pinch of food in the empty tank every day to feed the bacteria and keep it healthy intil the baby fish are added. This avoids subjecting the babies to the ravages of "new tank syndrome".

http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Hemichromis_bimaculatus.html
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gjeweln.html
http://petfish.net/jewel.htm
http://madhunag.tripod.com/jewelbimaculatus.html

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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