A stunningly red, jewel-speckled West African cichlid that turns fiery crimson when breeding. Hardy and easy to keep but notoriously aggressive, it is a substrate-spawner best given its own tank.
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Medium cichlid; adults reach about 4-6 in (10-15 cm).
Lifespan
5–8 years
Social needs
pair
Native region
West Africa (coastal river systems from Guinea to Liberia and beyond)
Origin
Old World
Climate
🌴 Tropical
Water type
💧 Freshwater
Family
Cichlidae
Genus
Hemichromis
Part of the African Cichlids
Hardy, vividly colored cichlids from Africa's Rift Lakes (Malawi, Tanganyika, Victoria) and beyond, kept in hard, alkaline, rock-built aquariums. Many are territorial mouthbrooders best housed in robust species-appropriate groups rather than mixed communities.
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Photo coming soon
Minimum
Pair tank
55 gal / 208 L long
Hemichromis bimaculatus reaches 5–6 in and is aggressive, especially when breeding. 55-gal long minimum for a bonded pair, with sand, smooth rockwork, driftwood, and strong filtration. Pairs only.
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Display pair tank
75 gal / 284 L long
75-gal long for a pair with tough tankmates and lots of visual breaks, sand, rockwork, and strong filtration. Stunning ruby-red colour with iridescent spangles.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
West African biotope
125 gal+ / 473 L+ biotope
West African biotope with sand, driftwood, rockwork, and a pair plus compatible tankmates. Excellent parental display and full breeding colour.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Photo coming soon
Egg
Fish eggs are small, translucent spheres, often laid in clutches on plants, substrate, or in a nest — or carried/brooded by a parent in livebearing and mouth-brooding species. A dark eye spot and the curled embryo become visible inside as development progresses.
Photo coming soon
Fry
Newly hatched fry are tiny and semi-transparent, frequently still carrying a yolk sac that fuels them before they feed freely. They lack full fin structure and adult coloration, staying near cover until they can swim and forage on their own.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile
Juveniles look like miniature adults but with developing fins and muted or different markings; many species shift pattern and color as they mature. Growth is rapid at this stage given clean water and steady feeding.
Adult
Adults show the species' full size, finnage, and mature coloration, and are sexually mature. Many fish develop sex-specific differences in size, color, or fin shape, which can intensify during breeding.
Color & pattern variants
Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.
A pair needs a minimum of about 30 gallons (114 L), with more space strongly recommended because of their aggression, especially when breeding. Unlike Rift Lake cichlids they come from West African rivers, so they prefer softer, more neutral water: temperature 72-82 F (22-28 C), pH around 6.5-7.5, and soft to moderately hard water, though they are adaptable.
Provide rockwork, driftwood, caves, and flat stones to serve as territory boundaries and spawning surfaces, along with robust or fast-growing plants since the fish dig, especially around breeding. Moderate flow and moderate lighting suit them; broken sightlines help reduce conflict in any shared setup.
Substrate
Use sand or fine gravel, which suits their digging and pit-building behavior around spawning sites. Provide flat stones or smooth slate as spawning surfaces on top of the substrate.
Equipment & setup
A robust filter (canister or strong hang-on-back) handles their bioload and any uneaten food, with a reliable heater and moderate flow. Secure rockwork and hardy plantings tolerate their digging; no CO2 or special lighting is required.
Diet
An opportunistic carnivore and omnivore that readily takes most foods. Offer a quality cichlid pellet or flake as a staple plus frozen or live bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, and the occasional treat. A varied diet with some color-enhancing and meaty foods keeps their red coloration vivid; feed moderate portions once or twice daily and avoid overfeeding.
Behavior & temperament
Beautiful but genuinely aggressive and territorial, particularly a bonded breeding pair, which will attack almost anything that approaches their fry - so they are not community-safe in most setups. Best kept as a single species pair in their own tank; in a very large tank with other tough cichlids, conflict is still common. They are biparental substrate-spawners with strong, dedicated brood care.
Health
Hardy and disease-resistant when kept well, but susceptible to ich, hole-in-the-head, and bacterial infections under stress or poor water quality. The biggest practical 'health' risk is injury from fighting, so managing aggression and providing escape routes matters. Clean, stable water with regular partial changes, a varied diet, and adequate space and cover are the best preventives.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Expect a compatible pair to spawn readily on a cleaned flat rock and guard the fry intensely - a divider or dither fish strategy helps if you keep them in a community, but a dedicated pair tank is safest. Their deepening red color is the clearest sign a pair is in breeding condition.
