...Yes, she said her ph is currently 6.8, I’m guessing this is due to the fact that the water coming out from her tap is similar to this... and since these fry were not only born but also raised in those conditions, I’ll just keep mine similar to this...
That's really interesting. The ability of a species to adapt to different water conditions is largely genetic. For example, the jewel cichlids (which really ought to be in their own genus, distinct from
Hemichromis) are basically a riverine assemblage that have evolved to occupy many different ecological niches, and tolerate many different water chemistries. The Turkana Jewel is a case in point. This adaptability ('phenotypic plasticity') is no doubt central to the ability of fry 'born and raised' in an alien water chemistry to adapt to it.
Not all fishes can do that. Malawian and Tanganyikan cichlids have evolved in lakes whose chemistry is remarkably stable, and these fishes have very limited abilities to adapt to different water chemistries, whether they were raised in those alien chemistries or not. This is one reason that these fishes were so difficult to keep in captivity when they were first imported.
At some point in the future, I would like to acquire some young Turkana Jewels, and raise them in conditions that more closely approximate those of Lake Turkana (
a. k. a. Lake Rudolf). It would be really interesting to see if there are any obvious differences between those fishes and others raised under more 'normal' aquarium conditions.
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