| kujaku color change
Last weekend I purchased a small (~5") kujaku that had a completely orange/red head. Within a matter or days the color began to fade. I have another larger kujaku that has been in the pond for 3 weeks that hasn't changed at all. A showa that I have has shown sumi fading, but not any change in its hi. I check the water quality very often and have found (with a comprehensive Tetra kit) very low ammonia, nitrate, and nitrate. The pH is around 7.8 and seems to be stable. The KH is 4 (admittedly low, but I'm working on raising it). I don't have at test kit for GH, but I know that my well water is quite hard. I have a water softener installed but have bypassed this since putting a pond in 4 years ago. My bet is that it is the hardness of the water. In general would it be better to slowly change over the pond to soft water, as far as the coloration of the fish is concerned? |