Common jewel cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

This is the familiar red jewel cichlid, tough and brightly colored and famously bad-tempered, especially once it pairs off and breeds. Keep it as a single fish or a bonded pair and expect that pair to claim and defend a large part of the bottom, digging pits and rearranging things as it goes. It is too aggressive for most community fish, so choose tankmates with real care or keep it as a species-only pair. Feed meaty frozen foods, pellets, and a little vegetable matter. A pair needs around 250 liters with rock, wood, and flat stones to spawn on, arranged to break up territory.

In the wild

Rubricatochromis guttatus ranges across the lowland waters of coastal West Africa and is famously adaptable, turning up in a wide range of conditions. It is not fussy about chemistry: a pH between 6.5 and 7.8 and a temperature of about 23 to 27 C suit it well. Give it a sandy floor it can dig, driftwood and rock for cover, flat stones as spawning sites, and robust plants attached to wood, since loose or delicate plants tend to get uprooted by a working pair.

Good to know

Rubricatochromis guttatus is a jewel cichlid in the family Cichlidae, reaching about 14 centimeters. The name means spotted or speckled, for the fine iridescent blue dots scattered over its red body. It is a substrate spawner with both parents guarding eggs and fry. A 2022 revision moved the jewel cichlids from Hemichromis into Rubricatochromis, and most fish sold in shops as the classic jewel cichlid belong to this species.

Did you know

For over a century most jewel cichlids in the trade were sold as Hemichromis bimaculatus, but the true bimaculatus is rare in aquariums. The everyday red jewel that generations of keepers have owned is almost always this species, guttatus, wearing a borrowed name.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Star jewel cichlid

  Rubricatochromis stellifer

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Turkana jewel cichlid

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  4.7 in (12 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Cherry-belly jewel cichlid

  Rubricatochromis cerasogaster

  Freshwater

  3.5 in (9 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
• Dwarf petrotilapia

  Petrotilapia microgalana

  Freshwater

  5.5 in (14 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Loria's melanochromis

  Melanochromis loriae

  Freshwater

  5.5 in (14 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Slim zebra

  Maylandia tarakiki

  Freshwater

  5.5 in (14 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)