Suggestions For Growing Up N. Venustus For Potential Breeding?

[punman]

I can get some young 1.5 inch Venustus. I am experienced with 20 years Tropheus, Frontosa, Cyps, Blue Dolphins, etc. Have not had this fish before. Am thinking of ending up with a small breeding group. Say one male, two or three females. No other species of fish in the tank. A few questions:
1) How many should I start with to likely end up with 1M, 2 or 3 F?
2) At what length would they likely be sexable?
3) Could 3 or 4 adult venustus be housed in a 90 gallon?

 

[duanes]

My experience has been with N livingstoni, which I expect would be similar.
I started with 4 around 1.5" juvies and ended up with 2 miles and 2 females.

I grew them out in a 55, but moved them to a 6 ft tank as they they started to mature.
The males started showing the typical blue male coloration at around 4 to 5"

By 6 " mature males were totally blue, while females remained mottled.
I found in a 6 ft tank 2 males could coexist, I was using young Oreochromis tanganicae as a sort of dither/target species.

 

[punman]

You were lucky to get two of each, you could have ended up with 4 of the same gender!
I thought if I started with maybe 6 I'd be likely to have at least 2 Females and I could sell off the extra males.

 

[punman]

Duanes, how long to get from 1.5 inches to 6 inches?

 

[ziyaadb]

Oh wow!! I never knew livingstoni got blue

 

[punman]

So I went with seven venustus in November with an average length of 2.5 inches. They are in a 90 gallon tank. As they grow I will find out the male/female ratios and we will go from there.

 

[electroshadow]

With your 20-year fishy resume, seems like you're set for a cool journey. I'd say kick off with around 6, gives you some room for pair-ups. Gender ID game usually starts at 3-4 inches, watch for those color pops. A 90-gallon tank should snugly host 3-4 adults, just toss in some cozy hideouts for their chill zones.

 

[duanes]

Duanes, how long to get from 1.5 inches to 6 inches?

Sorry about the year long answer lag.
I checked dates on the photos.
They were 1 inch + in March of 2014.
by the same month (Mar) of 2015 the males were totally blue, so 5+ inches.
I consider that fairly fast growth, and attribute it to every other day, 30% to 40% water changes.

 

[punman]

That does sound like pretty speedy growth. Given that mine started out at 2.5 inches in November, maybe by early summer genders may become apparent.

 

[phreeflow]

Post some pics