Care
The Turkana Jewel Cichlid is known only from Lake Turkana (formerly Lake Rudolf) in Kenya, where it lives in hard, alkaline water.
Unlike most of the red jewel cichlid group, this is a small and moderately aggressive fish which can be kept alongside a range of tankmates that prefer swimming in the open water. To ensure they're able to spawn without damaging any companions, they should be kept in spacious aquaria with plenty of visual barriers amongst the decor. Provide a sandy substrate along with plenty of nooks and crannies formed from pebbles, rocks, pieces of slate, flowerpots turned on their sides, and tangles of driftwood - ensuring that lines of sight are broken up. Areas of dense planting will be appreciated, as will the cover provided by floating plants. Filtration should be efficient and frequent partial water changes should be carried out to keep nitrate levels at a minimum, as these fish are only a few generations away from their wild kin. Jewel Cichlids are best maintained in pairs, but picking out a male and a female will not guarantee they are compatible, and the stronger fish may kill off the weaker individual in small aquaria. It is better to purchase a group of youngsters and allow a natural pair to form.
Feeding
All of the red jewels respond well to colour enhancing flake, which helps maximise their natural pigmentation. This can be suplemented with micropellets and small frozen foods such as mosquito larvae, bloodworm, vitamin/spirulina-enriched brineshrimp, and Mysis shrimp.
Breeding
Jewel Cichlids are pair-bonded substrate spawners. The water should be alkaline with the temperature set towards the higher end of the preferred range, and there should be plenty of flat rocks such as slate for the female to deposit her eggs on to. Once a pair has formed, compatibility is reinforced by having suitable tankmates to provide a focus for territorial aggression. As spawning approaches, the pair will select a spawning site and clean it thoroughly. Spawning occurs in much the same manner as many other cichlid species, with the female depositing a line of eggs on the cleaned spawning site, then moving away to be replaced by the male who fertilises them. The female takes care of the eggs, whilst the male fiercely guards the perimeter. Once the eggs hatch, the entire brood will be moved into a pre-dug pit near to the spawning site, and may be moved again to other pits before they become free-swimming (usually a further 4-6 days). At this point, they can be offered baby brineshrimp (Artemia nauplii) or microworm. The parent fish will continue to care for the young for 4 weeks or so, after which point the fry should be moved to another aquarium as the parents are quite likely to spawn again.
