Hemichromis exsul

Lake Turkana, in the far north of Kenya, protruding into Ethiopia, is one of the most unforgiving biotopes on earth. Its water is warm (28-32 degrees celcius) and mineral rich. In fact, it is even saline. It hosts some highly specialized endemic fish species, like the Turkana jewel cichlid, H. exsul. It is also full of hippos and crocodiles. Little has been written about plant life in the lake, but given its water chemistry, it may well be scarce.

H. exsul is common in the lake, according to IUCN, and not threatened.

If you have information about or footage of this fish in the wild, please reach out to us. 

Keeping Turkana jewel cichlids is very rewarding. These fish are exceptionally colourful and active. They are however also really boisterous and easily able to kill each other. I first kept two pairs in a 80cm tank, and this seemed to work, with both pairs breeding, sometimes simultaneously. One pair was dominant though, and occupied about 3/4 of the tank. Breeding occurs every three weeks or so. The fry is numerous yet tiny. The parents (or the other pair of parents!) seem to eat them at night, so separation is needed for a serious yield. These fish eat flakes, pellets, unfrozen food, live food - everything. We keep the temperature high (28 degrees) and the water hard. As all big-lake fish, they require clean water, so good filtration and regular water changes are necessary. 

10 Jan 2023: A note on breeding:

Getting these fish to spawn is easy. They seem to be substrate spawners, but once also covered the vertical filter case in eggs, angel fish style. No conditioning is needed. I feed mixed flakes and unfrozen artemia and keep the water temperature at 28 degrees. The eggs hatch sure enough, apparently all or most of them, but the fry are really tiny and may not take baby brine shrimp. Infusoria or really fine powders are needed to get them through their first week or so. After that, they will eat baby brine shrimp or powder alternatives. We found that the male adult battered the female, so took her out and left him with the fry. This reduced the level of aggression in the tank and he does not bother the fry. After a few weeks, the fry are about 1 cm long, silvery with a black horizontal line along their bodies.

15 April 2023:

Three months later, the fry is still numerous (I had virtually no losses, except once when I had a heater fail and the water temperature had dropped undetectedly to 18 degrees celcius). They are now about 3-4 centimeters and already have the orange hue - though nowhere as vibrant at that of their father, who is still with them in the tank and does not bother them.