Jewel cichlid
The original jewel cichlid, greener-bodied than its Congo relative and speckled rather than evenly red, and a considerably more difficult tankmate than its size suggests. It is the fish behind most of the stories about jewel cichlids emptying a community tank.
Quick profile
- Scientific name
- Hemichromis bimaculatus
- Adult size
- 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in)
- Lifespan
- 5–8 years
- Temperature
- 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
- pH
- 6.5–7.8
- Hardness
- 5–15 °dGH
- Minimum tank
- 200 L (53 US gal)
- Minimum length
- 100 cm
- Swimming zone
- All levels
- Social
- Pair
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Overall confidence
- moderate confidence
What keeping this species involves
Physically undemanding and behaviourally difficult. Hardy, adaptable, easy to feed, easy to breed, and reliably destructive to a community tank once it starts.
Shaded streams, swamps and river margins with dense cover, in soft to moderately hard water depending on the drainage.
Identity and names
- Common name
- Jewel cichlid
- Scientific name
- Hemichromis bimaculatus
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Order
- Cichliformes
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Also sold as
- Hemichromis bimaculatus, two spotted jewel, green jewel cichlid
Name ambiguity
The name Hemichromis bimaculatus has been applied across several closely related West African species and much aquarium stock cannot be assigned to one of them with confidence. The catalogue publishes the name the trade uses and flags the complex rather than implying a determination the fish in the shop tank does not support.
Adult size and growth
12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in)
Typical lifespan in an aquarium: 5–8 years. Almost every animal sold in a shop is a juvenile, so the tank has to suit the size in the first line rather than the size in the bag.
Shape, which is what the compatibility engine reads instead of length alone: deep-bodied with a moderate. Assigned from what is typical of Cichlidae, not examined for this species.
Water and tank requirements
Larger and more aggressive than the Congo jewel, and a spawning pair claims a correspondingly larger area. The footprint has to leave somewhere outside it.
Temperature (°C)
Scale: 0 to 36 °C.
pH (pH)
Scale: 4 to 9.5 pH.
Hardness (°dGH)
Scale: 0 to 30 °dGH.
Why these ranges: West African coastal drainages vary considerably in hardness, and this species is found across that variation. The wide band is a real tolerance rather than an averaged uncertainty.
Where these figures come from
Habitat class
Lowland floodplain
Seasonally inundated flat country — várzea, chaco, swamp margin — where the water body changes size, depth and chemistry through the year.
The habitat's defining feature is change, so a single band describes it badly. Species from here are generally tolerant of a wide range and intolerant of nothing much — which makes them easy to keep and easy to keep wrongly.
- Conductivity
- 40–300 µS/cm
- Flow
- still
- Dissolved oxygen
- low
- Seasonality
- strong
These are figures for the KIND of water body, not measurements of this species. They are AquariumHQ’s summary of the general limnology and are given wide because the water is.
- TemperatureReasoned on this record
- This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
- pHReasoned on this record
- This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
- General hardnessReasoned on this record
- This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
| Requirement | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 22–28 °C (72–82 °F) | Stability matters more than hitting an exact figure. |
| pH | 6.5–7.8 | A stable pH outside the ideal band is usually better than an unstable one inside it. |
| General hardness | 5–15 °dGH | Check your supplier's published figure before choosing species. |
| Minimum volume | 200 L (53 US gal) | A floor, not a recommendation. |
| Minimum footprint | 100 cm long × 40 cm deep | Larger and more aggressive than the Congo jewel, and a spawning pair claims a correspondingly larger area. The footprint has to leave somewhere outside it. |
| Water flow | low | Match the outflow to this rather than to the filter's rating. |
| Lid required | Recommended | Reduces evaporation and prevents accidents. |
| Structure | Wood, rock and robust planting, with flat surfaces for spawning. Anything delicate will be moved. |
Behaviour
- Excavates pits in the substrate and rearranges anything movable, particularly before spawning.
- Drives tankmates away from a claimed area continuously rather than in bursts, so the pressure on the other fish is constant.
Telling males from females
Females generally show more extensive blue spangling and become deeper red in breeding condition; males are longer-finned. Neither difference is reliable outside breeding.
Feeding
Takes insects, crustaceans and whatever fish it can catch. It accepts prepared food without hesitation and does not thereby stop hunting.
- Diet type
- Carnivore
- Staples
- Frozen bloodworm, Sinking cichlid pellets, Frozen krill, Earthworm
Breeding
- Strategy
- Adhesive eggs on a cleaned flat surface, guarded aggressively by both parents
- Difficulty
- incidental
- Parental care
- guarding
Tankmates and compatibility
Assessments are derived from stored traits by the compatibility engine, with the reasoning shown. A verdict is a statement about probability, not a guarantee — individual temperament can override it.
| Towards | Risk | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Small fish | near-certain | Anything that fits in the mouth is at risk once this species reaches adult size. |
| Adult dwarf shrimp | near-certain | Cover reduces losses but rarely prevents them where the risk is high. |
| Shrimplets | near-certain | Determines whether a shrimp colony can grow rather than merely persist. |
| Snails | low | Applies to snails you wanted as well as snails you did not. |
| Long or trailing fins | occasional | Fin damage is an entry point for secondary infection. |
| Plants | uproots | Tough species such as Anubias and Java fern survive most grazers. |
Assessed pairings
Any pair in the catalogue can be assessed with the compatibility checker.
Welfare considerations
Points where the way this species is commonly sold or kept differs from what it actually needs.
- Established outside its native range in warm regions, including parts of the United States, where aquarium releases are the recorded route.
- Regularly sold to beginners on colour and price. Nothing in the shop tank of two-centimetre juveniles indicates what a pair does at twelve centimetres, and shops rarely say.
Problems to watch for
Most problems in a tank containing this species are general rather than species-specific. Start with the troubleshooting index and work from the observation rather than from a guess at the cause.
What AquariumHQ does not yet hold
Species-level disease susceptibility is modelled in the graph and is not yet populated. Health pages will not be published until each condition has veterinary sourcing, because health content written without evidence is the most harmful thing this product could publish. The gap is recorded in the coverage report.
Where it comes from
- Native range
- West Africa — coastal rivers and streams from Guinea to Nigeria
- Habitat
- Shaded streams, swamps and river margins with dense cover, in soft to moderately hard water depending on the drainage.
What the checklists say
17 distribution statements retrieved from GBIF checklists. Establishment means is reproduced from the source where it states one, and left unstated where it does not — a record of presence is not a record of origin.
| Status | Places | What this means |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | 11 | A checklist states the species arrived here with human help. That is not a statement that it is established, harmful or illegal. |
| Recorded as present, establishment means not stated | 6 | The source records the species as present and does not say whether it is native or introduced. AquariumHQ does not fill that in. |
No checklist AquariumHQ holds positively calls this species native anywhere, so the native range above rests on AquariumHQ’s own reading of the literature rather than on a cited checklist.
Legal status and responsible practice
Restriction note
Established from aquarium releases in several warm-climate regions. Where local rules restrict the release or disposal of ornamental fish, they apply to this species; check the jurisdiction rather than assuming.
Never release aquarium life into the wild
Aquarium animals, plants, and aquarium water must never be released into ponds, rivers, canals, drains or the sea — not even in a country where the species is sold freely. Released fish and invertebrates establish populations that displace native species, and released plants and water carry pathogens, parasites and fragments capable of spreading without any animal at all. If you can no longer keep an animal, rehome it through an aquarium society, a retailer that accepts returns, or another keeper.
- Rehome through a local aquarium society, a specialist retailer or another keeper.
- Unwanted plants go in household waste or a hot compost heap, never in a watercourse or a garden pond.
- Never empty a bucket of tank water into a drain that discharges to open water.
- If an animal is beyond rehoming, ask an aquatic veterinarian about humane euthanasia rather than releasing it.
Legal status is recorded from the sources named and was correct on the verification date shown. Rules change, and sub-national rules often differ from national ones. Check the current position with the relevant authority before acquiring, selling or moving any animal or plant.
Evidence
Every stored value with the kind of support behind it and where to check it. Evidence type and confidence are separate axes: an editorial position held confidently and a measurement held tentatively are different things.
| Claim | Value | Evidence type | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scientific name | Hemichromis bimaculatus | Observed / measured | high confidence | Catalogue of Life; GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
| native range | West Africa — coastal rivers and streams from Guinea to Nigeria | Observed / measured | moderate confidence | GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
| adult size | 12–15 cm | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| lifespan | 5–8 years | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| temperature | 22–28 °C | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| ph | 6.5–7.8 pH | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| general hardness | 5–15 °dGH | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| minimum tank volume | ≥ 200 L | AquariumHQ editorial position | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| minimum tank length | ≥ 100 cm | AquariumHQ editorial position | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
Last reviewed 2026-08-10. Values labelled as an aquarium-literature consensus are AquariumHQ editorial positions rather than measurements — see how evidence is handled.
Why we say this
What each figure on this page rests on, and how far that is from being independently established.
Every figure on this page has a provenance. Open any claim to see what AquariumHQ holds for it, which sources say what, and what a claim of that kind actually needs. Different claims need different evidence: an accepted scientific name is settled by one authority, while a legal restriction needs a current primary instrument. A single source is often the right answer rather than a thin one.
scientific nameAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableBased on a verified authoritative source.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: accepted scientific name and classification — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. Checked against gbif on 2026-08-29. One authoritative backbone is what this class requires.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
native rangeAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableBased on a verified authoritative source.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: where the species occurs — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. 17 distribution statements held from GBIF checklists — introduced in 11 country. Establishment means is reproduced from the source, never inferred from occurrence.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
adult sizeChecked — this source does not publish itAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
A source was opened and checked for this, and does not publish it.
Checked and not published. NAS holds no profile for Hemichromis bimaculatus. It holds one for Hemichromis letourneuxi, which is a congener also sold as the jewel cichlid and gives 12 cm SL. Recording that figure against this record would have attributed one species' measurement to another, so nothing was taken.
What this kind of claim needs: size a well-kept specimen reaches — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Look elsewhere. This source has been exhausted for this claim.
lifespanAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
temperatureAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
phAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
general hardnessAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
minimum tank volumeAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: minimum tank size — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No authority publishes this. AquariumHQ derives it, and the derivation is recorded with its inputs and assumptions.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
minimum tank lengthAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: minimum tank size — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No authority publishes this. AquariumHQ derives it, and the derivation is recorded with its inputs and assumptions.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
Guides relevant to this species
Chosen from this record's own traits rather than listed on every page.
- Predator and prey sizeIt takes fish that fit in its mouth, and its mouth grows with it.
- Territorial behaviourIt defends ground, and the shape of what it defends decides the tank more than the volume does.
- Native, introduced and invasiveThis record carries an invasive or legal note, and those are five separate claims that are easy to read as one.
- Scientific and trade namesThe trade name for this animal covers more than one species.
- Wild conditions and aquarium recommendationsThe water band on this page is an AquariumHQ position with a stated reason, not a measurement of a river.
- How to read a compatibility verdictThis animal is recorded as nipping fins, which is one of the few compatibility factors with real reports behind it.
Group size and social behaviour
Pairs bond strongly and defend hard. A group of juveniles grown on together will pair off and the unpaired fish then have to leave, which is the usual way of obtaining a pair and requires somewhere for the surplus to go.