Description
Rubricatochromis exsul (Formerly Hemichromis exsul) is a somewhat rare cichlid from Lake Turkana in Kenya. While most jewel cichlids of the genus Rubricatochromis reach about 6" and are known for their downright nasty attitude, this species is both small for the genus and relatively peaceful by comparison. Reaching about 4" max, these are still a semi-aggressive cichlid, but pair well with robust tankmates such as larger tetras and danios, rainbowfish, loaches, and even other cichlids if given enough space and structure in the tank. Of course, when spawning their attitude gets a little worse; still, given a tank with lots of space to get away and hide, even a mated pair can be kept with other fishes. Adult Turkana jewels are a peach to brilliant red colour, with metallic blue and black in the fins.
These are subadults around 1.5-2", that are still developing their adult red colouration. They are still too young to sex, sorry!