Nimbochromis Venustus

[knight]

ok i have a male and female Nimbochromis Venustus, what i really want to know is can i keep these with Malawi mbuna? or do they neep to be kept with the same species i.e malawi hap. any imformation would be great as i intend to get my first lot of Malawi mbuna tomorrow and really wanted to keep the n. venustus. many thanks.

 

[dthoffsett]

It's not a good idea to mix hap and mbuan in general, haps need a meaty diet, while mbuna need lots of vegetable matter, in fact, if fed a meaty diet mbuna can develop bloat. Also, when the haps are small, the mbuna will bully and can kill them, but when the haps grow up, the tables tend to turn and your mbuna start going missing.

Also, I hope you are aware (and forgive me if you are), n.venustus need a tank of at least 125 gallons or more, and they are also harem breeders, so you should have several females to each male.

 

[knight]

thanks for the info, and iam aware of there size as well, but i went to my lfs to get my first few mubuna and it turns out the guy was after a some n.venustus for his personal tank so i did a trade with him my male and female n. venustus for 5 mubuna, worked out best for both of us.

 

[dthoffsett]

Sounds like a great trade.