Jewelfish

The jewel cichlid is a small, intensely coloured fish from the coastal forests of West Africa, from Guinea down through Sierra Leone and Liberia into Côte d'Ivoire. Out of breeding condition it looks fairly ordinary, but a spawning fish flushes deep red and lights up with rows of blue-green spangles. Three black spots along the flank — on the gill cover, the mid-body and the tail base — separate it from the very similar two-spotted H. lifalili. It grows to about 15 cm.

What defines this fish in the aquarium is temperament. It is one of the most aggressive cichlids in general trade, and a breeding pair will drive off fish far larger than themselves, snap at a hand in the tank, and sometimes turn on each other. Many keepers give it a tank of its own. If you want tankmates, they have to be robust and have room to escape — Congo tetras, Synodontis, larger plecos in a big tank.

Pairs form best by raising a group of youngsters together and letting one pair settle; simply buying two adults often ends with the weaker fish dead. A 110 litre tank with rockwork, caves and firmly rooted or potted plants gives it the territory and cover it wants — it digs, so loose plants get uprooted. Keep it at 22–28 °C, pH 6.0–7.8.

It eats more or less anything, though live and frozen foods bring out its colour; include some vegetable content too. Spawning is straightforward — a pair lays on a cleaned flat rock, up to a few hundred eggs that hatch in about two days, and both parents guard the fry.