INFO - "VENUSTUS"

NAME: Venustus Cichlid

GENUS: Nimbochromis

SPECIES: Venustus

ENDEMIC TO: Lake Malawi - AFRICA

MAX SIZE: 25 cm

WATER PARAMETERS: 24-28C / PH : 7.2 to 8.5

CLASS: Mouth brooding Mbuna

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM: Males and females begin early stages of life as the same colour with the same typical nimbochromis "army" pattern. Dominant males will begin colouring at a mature age into a fish with a brilliant shade of blue across its body. The juvenile army pattern still remains a back ground for the fish and in some colour variants they can attain a banana peel yellow blaze from dorsal to the peak of their mouth. A group of sub-dominant males and mature females is extremely difficult to identify sexes. Males may have egg spots in their anal fins however vent sexing is the most accurate method of differentiation.

TEMPERAMENT: Venustus can be extremely boisterous to their own species. Dominant males at breeding time will harass females and submissive males until they all gather in a corner of the aquarium. Plenty of pots or caves must be available for females to seek refuge.

DIET REQUIREMENTS: Nimbochromis Venustus are piscivores. Their diet in the wild would consist of predominantly insects, small fish and small invertebrates. In captivity they readily take dry foods (sinking pellets, flakes), frozen blood worms/brine shrimp and live foods. Keep in mind to allow them variation by supplementing their regular diet with the occasional live and or frozen foods. Venustus prefer sinking pellets until their confidence in the aquarium is at a level where they will comfortably approach the surface to feed.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

• N.Venustus has two colour variations. The first one is the typical male with the yellow blaze and the second is a male that only possesses the blue colour through the body but lacks the yellow colour through the head region.
• Venustus can be shy fish so housing them with more confident species such as zebras, electric blues and peacocks is recommended.
• Males do prefer caves to defend however swimming and foraging in open space is common.
• Interbreeding with other species of cichlids is not common in this species, but in stating this hybridisation between Venustus and D.Compressiceps has been evident.
• Purchasing batches of juvenile fish is recommended as determining their sex is difficult. Select 2 larger fish from the batch as potential males and at least 4 smaller fish as potential females.
  
• Venustus generally do not begin breeding until they reach 10cm in length or 10-12months of age.
  
• Pairs residing in communal aquariums can successfully spawn however a ratio of one male to one female usually leads to the female losing her mouthful due to excessive stress and harassment from the male.
  
• An adult mouth brooding female may even hold in excess of 70 eggs.
• From spawning date, fry should be free swimming after 14 days depending on water temperature. Eggs in Venustus are relatively smaller than most african cichlids.
  
• Easy to house. Rearing them with high protein diets may lead to health problems.
  
• Raise temperatures and feed live foods to optimise breeding.
• From a scale of 1-10, ten being HARD. Venustus would be rated a 5 to breed in regular aquarium conditions.
  
• N.Venustus is a beautiful fish. In proportion to their size their aggression is very manageable hence will not cause problems whilst coinciding with other african cichlid species.
  

photos courtesy of plecos.com and boulenger-aquaworlds.netfirms