Is this venustus or Livingstoni?
- Thread starter ZhenZhu
- Start date
ZhenZhu
after a closer look I’m unsure it’s a stonii due to the vertical orientation of the patterns this fish is displaying. I’ll let others chime in as well but I’m not sure now.
I would guess it's a possible male due to the slight blue color under its chin and around the bottom its gills. My guess would be that it's not the dominant fish in the tank so it isn't showing it's true colors yet.
But yes I would agree that this is most likely a hybrid of the 2 species since it is showing traits from both. Not a bad looking one either, definitely love the pattern its got but I could say that about almost any of the nimbochromis species. Looks like it might be leaning more towards the venustus side for appearances wise. Atleast I swear I can see some yellow on the gill plate, along with more of a vertical spotting pattern rather then the livingstonii horizontal stripe/spots pattern.
So if I separate him will it being it's true colors? As you said yes he or she is not the dominant one in the tank..
I would imagine it would improve its color but idk if it would have its breeding color. Here's a couple pics to show what I mean, both pics are of Venustus btw. The first one is of just 2 males that have fully colored up, no breeding colors present. The second pic is of a male that is in breeding dress and as ya can see looks totally different from their original color. While keeping a male by itself may unlock it's true colors, it still won't allow them to go into their breeding dress just due to their being no females present. Granted if I was you, I'd just separate it into its own tank and see how it looks from there. Ya can always try adding in more fish to the tank later but for now I would just focus on getting the hybrid separated from the other fish.
Btw if you do plan on adding more fish in with it at some point, I highly recommend adding multiple at a time instead of just a singular fish. This allows the new ones time to adjust to the tank without being continuously harassed by the tank boss.
Sure will try to separate him for few days or so and see the changes in him.. By the way nice venustus. Am also holding a venustus, same as above in the first pic. You can also see the photos of him in the same thread.
