How many Jewel Cichlids in a 55 gallon tank

1. IME, convicts make very hardy tankmates for breeding jewels. Stock a group of females, but be aware when sexing cons, that very young males sometimes exhibit yellow belly spots. If you end up with a pair of cons it may work for quite some time.......but no guarantee as one pair (either jewels or cons) might end up prevailing in only 55 gal. of space.

Mbuna, IMO is another option. Avoid the very aggressive species (auratus, kenyi, bumblebee) as they are either too aggressive or too large(bumblebee) for a 55 gal. Never had a pair of jewels that could defend against mature adult auratus, and many that could not against kenyi at various times. My current pair in my 180 gal. are able to defend against the very large dominant male bumblebee but are not always able too against the smaller sub-dom male bumblebee. Of course if a substrate spawner cannot own space and defend from all tankmates, they are more then unlikely to breed in the tank. But in a 55 gal., one group of a medium to less aggressive species of mbuna might be an option, IMO. You don't want too many either, as breeding jewels will take some space.

IMO and IME, a 3-spot/blue/gold/opaline gourami is an option with breeding jewels. Either one, or a larger group to spread out aggression. Paradise fish as well as long as you have either floating plants and/or real/plastic plants that come to the surface. A group of giant danios might be worth a try.

Any of these above mentioned fish can perform the dither role well......that is, they will bring the jewels out, make them feel comfortable, and prevent them from being overly shy or scared. As well, a 'target' role. Even though jewel pairs are often much more compatible, long term, then many of the larger substrate spawners, I still think there is great adavantage in housing them with tankmates as a distraction/ diversion/dispersion of aggression. Especially other cichlids can divert the male's attnention during periods when the pair is not getting along.

2. Never seen a pic of their natural habitat. Like most cichlids they require some shelter: caves built out of rock, driftwood or flower pot. Unlike mbuna, they are much less inclined to utilise 2nd and 3rd layer caves, so don't go over board with rock work that takes up swimming space. I don't beleive they are especially hard on plants....though cons and mbuna sometimes are.

3. Male and female have different body shape. Females rounder. The top and bottom of a male body sort of makes for parralel lines. The last number of years, I'm 100% on sexing dozens of jewels at a very young age. Though I must admit that in a young group there are always lot's that I am not certain are either female, or male that have yet to develope male characteristic. Anyways, jewels are easier to sex, IMO, then similar aged young CA/SA cichlids. Pictures are another story......differences are not so obvious like they are when viewing the fish in person. There is a claim in a recent thread that males and females can be distinguished by the amount of irridiohores (bright blue spots) on the tail fin; males having significantly more. And while there is some truth to that, as males often do have more bright blue spots on the fins, it's not 100%, that's for sure, as the female of my current pair has more bright blue spots through out her tail, then my male does!

I think you would be best to get a group of female (say 3) and let your male choose, rather then a forced pairing. If you have difficulty sexing them at a store.....watch them for some time as quite often there will already be a pair formed in the dealer's tank; female more then likely being the smaller of the 2.