Nimbochromis Venustus

[cyradis4]

Hi!

I picked him up at the Aquafest2007 Auction, really cheap. :cool0019: He colored up real nice since yesterday (he looked like a silver fish, no black marking at all). At the moment, he's in a 15L (I know, he will be moved to a larger tank just as soon as I get one set up). He's one of those ambush fish (according to Back to Nature 2nd edition), :scared0016: who lays down on the sand and lays in wait for baby fish to come by. My guy is BIG. He seems at least 6 inches or so (I think, I haven't taken a ruler to him yet). I know after Ad Konings talk, I thought those ambush fish were really really cool. (We got him because no one bid on him, and he was the one that had to be re-bagged. We thought he was just a big silver fish :spanka: ).

My question is this: Is there anything special I need to do for him? At the moment, his water is prepped the same way I do for my Mbunas. I fed him New Life Spectrum Cichlid pellets (the same as my Mbuna get).

Also, I have a pair of very aggressive Labeotropheus Trewavasae (at least I think they are). I THINK he will NOT go with them. What do you guys think? I'd like your reasons, whys or why nots. And if so, what kinda setup would I need to keep him with those Trewavasae? He's a really neat fish (and if I'd known what he was going to look like I might have gotten more).

Later!
Amanda.

 

[Charlutz]

Any idea if it's a male or female? IME the males get much larger. It should be safe to keep it with the mbuna until it gets to the point where it could swallow them. They are aggressive, but otherwise very easy to care for. They will eat absolutely everything and grow very very fast.

 

[maddog10]

I have seen one that was just a little over 12" long. They are pretty aggressive and if it fits in its mouth, it will be eaten.

 

[Tim]

IMHO, I wouldn't keep any Nimbochromis species with Mbuna. Nimbochromis should be fed a high protein diet for them to show their best colors and to grow properly. If you introduce females and want them to breed, a good diet is important. A well rounded mix of live foods, like worms, brine shrimp and maybe a quality dry food like NLS would be best for him. Mbuna wouldn't appreciate a diet like this. As far as eating your other fish, I think he would tend to only predate on fry and fish under a couple of inches as long as he was being properly fed.
Tim

 

[Sonny Disposition]

IMHO, I wouldn't keep any Nimbochromis species with Mbuna. Nimbochromis should be fed a high protein diet for them to show their best colors and to grow properly. If you introduce females and want them to breed, a good diet is important. A well rounded mix of live foods, like worms, brine shrimp and maybe a quality dry food like NLS would be best for him. Mbuna wouldn't appreciate a diet like this. As far as eating your other fish, I think he would tend to only predate on fry and fish under a couple of inches as long as he was being properly fed.
Tim[/b]

I got curious and googled Nimbochromis. I wouldn't become complacent in waiting to get them a bigger tank. Looking at the photos of them with open mouths reminds me of largemouth bass and green sunfish-- native predators. These fish are used to swallowing other fish for a living. Again, I've found out the hard way that their mouths can stretch a lot more than you would think and they can swallow fish that you think would be too large for them. Largemouth bass, in particular, can swallow fish that are nearly their own size, and will digest their prey in stages. They swim around for a day or so with a caudal fin sticking out of their mouths, until they digest the first half of the fish.

I wouldn't be surprised if these larged mouth haplochromines couldn't perform similar tricks with your mbuna.


Bob

 

[cyradis4]

Which is why I asked.....

I'm hoping to get him into a 75 within a month or so, but definitely a 40B in the near future.

Cool info on the bass! I didn't know they did that....

Amanda.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Which is why I asked.....

I'm hoping to get him into a 75 within a month or so, but definitely a 40B in the near future.

Cool info on the bass! I didn't know they did that....

Amanda.[/b]

Well, as long as I'm straying off topic...I brought home this neat little green sunfish once and put him in with some minnows I had collected here and there. After awhile I noticed that I had fewer minnows than usual, and couldn't figure out why. It wasn't until I saw the green yawn that I figured out what was happening. When his mouth was closed, it didn't really look that big. But when he opened it, it was really easy to figure out where the minnows went! The rosy red only cost about 10 cents. It was rought to see him go, though, as I had waited a few months for him to grow large and show spawning tubercles.

It would be even more painful to see a $10-20 Labidochromis disappear down some predators gaping yaw!

Bob

 

[SubMariner]

Amanda, the male Venustus is a gorgeous fish, especially when he is paired up with a female. Some of the males get a yellow strip head and turn silver like as they mature and they look Awesome.

They eat like there is no tomorrow and will grow soooooo fast. I recently lost my male when I traveled to South America because I had him in a tank which was divided to protect him from a Flower horn until I got back. Unfortunately, my Flower horn broke through the divider and killed my Male V.

I was so upset...... Sad to say the least, but I went and bought another one and he is doing fine. That was a good choice on your part to pick up the Venustus. I thought you were going to buy up all the Angels in the Auction at one point. :lol:

By the way, it was nice talking to you on Saturday and thanx for taking the time to go over your discus and angel fish at the show.

 

[cyradis4]

Nice to meet you!

Now only if I can put name to face and memory and link it to screen name.... I talked to a lot of people about my Angels and Discus! They are, after all, one of my favorite subjects.

The Venustus was just one of those things.... But he is awesome so far! Dad will probably want to get him a pair of girlfriends at some point. But we need to get more tanks set up before we do. I know that after we got him home, and he started to color up, and I told him that I thought there was another just like him in the auction dad said he would have liked to get the other one. But then he said, "Well, we would still have just thought he was a silver fish!"

And as for Angels, well, there were some nice ones that will nick well with my current stock! Not to mention giving me an idea for a genetics color experiment. There were a couple of other Angels that I was interested in too, but didn't get.

Later!
Amanda.

 

[SubMariner]

Well there is nice picture of me on my Profile thingy. It's an old picture...I was a blonde then :lol: I was wearing a Baseball cap at the show...remember?

Actually, I am the proud owner of The People's Choice Award Winner from Aquafest!

Do you remember me now? Oh well....

 

[cyradis4]

Yup! Now I got you. But the hair color deff threw me.....

Amanda.