Venustus compatiblity?

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It's not everyone's opinion, but most of my Malawi tanks have mbuna and haps/peacocks in them. You just need to have a feel for aggression.

It all depends on which mbuna you put with the venustus.

Put in a small one and they'll end up an adult venustus' lunch (saulosi, demasoni, afra)

Put in a larger, more aggressive one and they'll terrorize the hap (crabro, elongatus tropheops, larger zebras)

They'd be fine with middle-of-the-road mbuna imo. Something like red zebras, acei or yellow labs would be perfect, so long as they aren't so small to start out to be lunch.
 
I agree, I have one in with my Mbuna, I was worried at first... but the Venustus is actually pretty mellow... But also realize that the Venustus does reach 10 - 12" full grown... make sure if you intend to keep it that long, its going to need a pretty nice sized tank. Its also an open water swimmer, so with the mbuna, make sure you leave swimming room for the venustus. Mine demonstrates that by the book... as he stays in the front of the tank where the rocks are in the back.

Just make sure nothing is bite size for it and you'll be A-OK
 
I have had good luck with Placidochromis milomo and mbuna. This Hap dominates then mbuna in my tank, It is 7 in long and very fast. Nobody messes with him.
 
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