Wow, how big was your Venustus?I lost a venutus a few weeks back. Found him in the bottom of the tank with mouth gaping open and a mbuna stuck in his throat. Granted it was a smaller fish probably about .5 to .75 inch.
It does have decent amount of red but when I turn the light bright to take the picture, it colored turn, as soon as I dim the light, it started colored up again. I do hope, it’s a male.It has a pretty good sized pointed anal fin, a male trait. At about 3" my Fusco turned sort of red, then its face slowly began to turn blue. Full color by 4.5".
My scape is designed more likeThe Morning a lot of rocks with open swimming area above the hardscape.
The Haps don't particularly take advantage of the caves but do dash through the gaps and crevaces. Your group of new Haps would probably appreciate more hiding spots during the acclimation period.
I've seen those XL non scaped Hap tanks on YouTube. Kind of boring if you ask me. IMO cichlids need environmental stimulus such as rocks & substrate in order to demonstrate natural behavior.
A 6 inch christyi will surprise you with what they can bite. Mine is about 7" and he takes down multiple 3" fathead minnows without hesitation. I would say a 3" and very round fish should be fine. A round peacock vs a long skinny mbuna would make the difference between another tankmate vs a possible meal to your hawk. At 3.5 inches most fish start to get enough length and width to not be eaten.what size fish is safe with 6 inch predator haps? Say a 6 inch Christyi and Malawi Gar, is something 2.5 inch safe or the fish needs to be at least 3-4 inch?
My new fish all came in today and in the tank now with light off.A 6 inch christyi will surprise you with what they can bite. Mine is about 7" and he takes down multiple 3" fathead minnows without hesitation. I would say a 3" and very round fish should be fine. A round peacock vs a long skinny mbuna would make the difference between another tankmate vs a possible meal to your hawk. At 3.5 inches most fish start to get enough length and width to not be eaten.
I've never had a fish get lodged in another fishes mouth but I try to keep any smaller feeding fish with spines out of the tank.
My OB peacock tends to do the same thing. My longterm solution was to put in a 14 inch Asian upside down catfish to disrupt his territory. A big syndontis or pleco works great for that too. I even have a monster JD in my tank to keep down territorial claims. My venustsus is also great for cruising in and putting him in his place. Any big fish that likes slowely move around and isn't afraid of a peacock will help prevent territory claims.My new fish all came in today and in the tank now with light off.
They are a little larger than what I am expected but not by too much.
The Christyi is about 4.5, Malawi Gar about 5.5, and few other 5.5 one also. A little worry if they will eat the few 3 inch fish I have in there.
Also, my German Red decided to take up 1/3 of the right side of the tank and chase everyone away. No demage and the chase stops exactly at 1/3 of the tank, then he goes back to his corner. So all my fish are at the left 2/3 of the tank.
Maybe just give them a couple of days?
The funny thing is his side is totally empty, just sand. I tried adding rocks there, removing, moving the drift wood there, but it’s almost like he measured it, just that 1/3 of the tank on the right regardless if there’s things there or not.My OB peacock tends to do the same thing. My longterm solution was to put in a 14 inch Asian upside down catfish to disrupt his territory. A big syndontis or pleco works great for that too. I even have a monster JD in my tank to keep down territorial claims. My venustsus is also great for cruising in and putting him in his place. Any big fish that likes slowely move around and isn't afraid of a peacock will help prevent territory claims.
Moving around the rocks will take his ego down for a week or two until everyone else settles in and starts to fight back. Your christyi will keep him in check once he grows a few inches but until then you may need to move rocks every other week.