Breeder Selection - Jewel Cichlid - Tropical Fish Hatchery

Featuring: Breeder Selection, Vat Setup
Starring: Jewel Cichlids (Hemichromis)
Cameo: Mia

[@cosmoplakat9549]

Ooh, four new honeymoon suites! Glad the last guy wasn't left out!

[@goliadfarms7029]

It's nice when things work out for each of the breeders. Charles

[@Dovietail]

My first and favorite cichlid, 45 years ago.

[@goliadfarms7029]

They are fun fish. Both Jewels and Convicts make great parents. Charles

[@thefishylife6823]

Suzie your doing a great job!!!! Charles is grumpy today! LoL awesome fish y'all!!! Keep up the great work!!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Do not encourage her! I'm never grumpy even when she is right. Thank you, Charles

[@garvinchinnia2438]

Never been much of a cichlid guy, but seeing your operation is making me interested

[@goliadfarms7029]

I haven't met a fish that I didn't think about raising. Cichlids have very interesting life cycles. Charles

[@fisherguy45]

Wow, those jewels are thick and healthy! Thanks for showing the setup of the block and hotel too.

[@goliadfarms7029]

They don't have as good color as the breeders we lost, but we'll get back to that in a couple of generations. Charles

[@MasterPhotographer]

Interesting colors combined with different breeding style. Seeing the setup for the breeding tanks is very educational. Thanks for sharing!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you for watching and commenting. I hope to see progress in recovering the colors of our previous breeders. Charles

[@trekabe9745]

Hey again from Colorado...Im binge watching these videos, was busy the past few weeks😊....I can see why they are called Jewel, beautiful Cichlid....awww and when you scolded Maya she looked at you as if to say, 'I'm sorry, I'll be good I promise'😋

[@goliadfarms7029]

Wait until you see the females in breeding dress. They are brilliant scarlet. Maya always seems contrite, but she rarely follows through on her promises to be good. That said, she is a great dog. Charles

[@RescueDogTreats]

Wow, such gorgeous fish!!

[@goliadfarms7029]

I like them. Charles

[@markferniz1124]

Been waiting for this episode! Than k you very much!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. I'm looking forward to those pairs producing some good fish from which to select future breeders. Charles

[@markferniz1124]

@@goliadfarms7029 I have a strain i have kept for very long now And I wanna know more about them. Very interesting ferocious fish.

[@lots33ml]

That was my first african chilid that i kept in a aquarium 40 plus years ago. The very first fish i ever had was a gold fish i won at a carnival. That started my love and interest in keeping fish so many decades ago.

[@goliadfarms7029]

Me too! The first fish I owned were some goldfish I won in a ping pong toss at the Goliad County Fair when I was six years old. I do like Jewel Cichlids too. We lost most of ours in the Texas Winter Storm. Charles

[@pato7694]

Stunning fish right there. Man these videos are making me want Malawi’s again. I swore them off a long time ago but I think my inexperience at the time lead to a lot of issues I could correct now.

[@goliadfarms7029]

This particular fish is a riverine species, but there are some very spectacular Lake Malawi cichlids rivaling coral reef fish in beauty. The trick I've found with successfully keeping Lake Malawi cichlids is crowding. Crowding reduces aggression and improves feeding. That means extra filtration and lots of rocks. Charles

[@Exquailibur]

those fish are beautiful in my eyes, never heard of them, they remind me of the pumpkinseed sunfish ive seen in ponds, the pictures online are even more fantastic but those will always be the best fish. I will be sure to look into them.

[@goliadfarms7029]

I wish our good breeders had survived. They were spectacular. But given a few generations, we'll recreate them. Charles

[@Exquailibur]

good to hear that.

[@BicolBackyardAquaria]

thank you for sharing

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you for watching. Charles

[@BicolBackyardAquaria]

@@goliadfarms7029 I recall I Have my Jewel Cichlid breeder way back when I was High School this video brings back memories 😊👍🐠

[@goliadfarms7029]

@@BicolBackyardAquariaI still remember having my first cichlid spawn, convicts. Charles

[@ritenour12]

One of my fav chiclids had one for several years in my community tank

[@goliadfarms7029]

They are great parents. Charles

[@Adam_West_Batman]

Wow those fish are really neat

[@goliadfarms7029]

They are neat fish and great parents. Charles

[@dirtyoldfarmhand3]

Very nice!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. I'm glad we were able to save some of our stock after the 2021 Texas Winter Storm. Charles

[@Mdc7748]

Mia wasn’t letting mere fish steal the show.😁 Nice Jewels.

[@goliadfarms7029]

Maya (Mia is my nickname for her) wants to know why I'm sitting around talking about fish she can't eat while we could be out chasing cottontails. Charles

[@KentAJDK]

Beautyfull fish. 👍

[@goliadfarms7029]

You should see a female in breeding dress! They are bright scarlet. Charles

[@branislavbarcin1544]

Really interesting how many species you have. I maybe missed that - but did you mentioned how you feed and which food you use for your fish ?

[@goliadfarms7029]

Our fish database says we raise 213 species/varieties. We feed exclusively Purina Aquamax foods. Aquamax 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500. Charles

[@branislavbarcin1544]

@@goliadfarms7029 Thanks for answer - impressive !

[@MisterNuM]

I think these are still my favorite ciclid, had some back in the mid 90s. Around the same time I remember seeing something labeled "electric blue jewel ciclid" which had the colours reversed. Blue with red spangles. When I try to search the internet now, can't find anything about them. My best guess is they were mislabeled, do you have any idea what they might have been?

[@goliadfarms7029]

I remember the electric blue jewel too, but can't find them anymore. To the best of my memory, electric blues were a color selection of Jewel Cichlids. Commercially available Jewels are likely hybrids of two or more Hemichromis species, which is why we don't label them Hemichromis bimaculatus as some people do. If anyone knows of some electric blue jewels, I'm interested in them. Charles

[@petery4801]

👌👌👌❤❤❤

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you, Charles

[@georgevacherlon931]

On a side note what species of dieffenbachia do you got growing in greenhouse they're beautiful

[@goliadfarms7029]

I don't know the species. It was a plant my mother had that her cats shredded. I placed a scraggly plant next to our floor gutters and it took off growing. Charles

[@michaellindsey1543]

I didn't catch it. So does just one pair go into that vat or multiples??? Very interesting videos, thank you.

[@ihspstanktribe]

He said 1 pair per 55 gal vat

[@michaellindsey1543]

@@ihspstanktribe Thank you.

[@goliadfarms7029]

We put one pair per vat. I've done multiples before, but prefer to take no chances. Charles

[@caewalker9276]

Is it true that Jewels are really aggressive? Thanks Suzi, Stormy and Charles. Mia behaves just like my Wolfhound Brecca.🤗

[@goliadfarms7029]

Jewels are very aggressive when they decide to spawn and when they have eggs and fry. I once placed some mbunas and a pair of jewels in one of our 800-gallon cattle water troughs for the summer. When the Jewels spawned the rest of the were relegated to about 20% of the space. It was easy to see the territory the Jewels defended. In their space there was a nice carpet of bright green algae. The mbunas kept the algae in their space eaten down to the concrete bottom. Charles

[@jayh5277]

I have a young jewel cichlid getting its colour nicely how long would it take for them to really colour up

[@goliadfarms7029]

They should have full adult colors by 10 months. Keep in mind that both sexes have a lot of control over their coloration. The colors of both sexes intensify when they are breeding, females especially become scarlet red with blue spangles. Charles

[@Definitelynotacelebrity]

Ever thought of doing a care guide/species spotlight(term used by Rachael O’Leary) for specific species? Love jewels, know nothing about them!

[@goliadfarms7029]

That is a good idea. I need to spend time watching Rachael's videos to get some ideas. Next time (about 3 months) we process our remaining Jewel breeders, I'll give more information about them. Charles

[@markferniz1124]

I must be missing something, I have been watching it multiple times and I cannot find how I would be able to know which one is male or female :D

[@goliadfarms7029]

Males tend to be a bit duller in color, larger, with a hump on the head, and more pointed fins. While males are much duller red, they usually have more blue spangles than females. Females are brighter red, small, don't have a hump, and have rounded fins. These were all young fish. They get a lot easier to sex when a few months older. Charles

[@laurag1076]

Cool colours. Would love to see in a tank.

[@goliadfarms7029]

Next time we process breeders, I'll video some in a tank. I hope I can catch a female in full spawning colors. They are brilliant scarlet with blue spangles. Charles

[@laurag1076]

@@goliadfarms7029 oh yes! But I guess I meant in a home aquarium. Someone's aquarium. Set up. Would be great to sit and watch. I have 3 tanks but I've never been into chiclids till watching u. They do come in amazing colours. Would look great in a big tank. Xxx

[@goliadfarms7029]

@@laurag1076 Well...it's time to get more tanks! Then stock them with cichlids! Charles

[@benjaminmorley1007]

Do you raise the Hemichromis fasciatus or five star general cichlid?

[@goliadfarms7029]

We currently have Hemichromis ezul. We lost an aquarium strain Hemichromis in the Texas Winter Storm. Charles

[@2869may]

I think I may have gotten the bird.....lol

[@goliadfarms7029]

Oops. Do I have to go watch the video? Charles

[@2869may]

@@goliadfarms7029 I was just guessing...lol

[@pjjordan5491]

Still look better in small viewing tanks on shelf on ur left side , but ur too set in ur ways to listen .

[@goliadfarms7029]

Okay...okay...I'll try to do that for you occasionally. Who said old dogs can't learn new tricks. Charles

[@Avijitdeviloneart]

Hi, how are you telling the male and female apart ?

[@goliadfarms7029]

Females are brighter colored and have rounded fins and a flatter head. Charles

[@chosen2030]

Do you breed H. Exsul?

[@goliadfarms7029]

We don't raise them, but I'd like to and have a source for them. The males color up a lot better than Jewel Cichlids. Charles

[@brianhobbs772]

I’m loosing my sea legs here 🤪

[@goliadfarms7029]

My sea legs are far gone. Charles