I've read that these guys are Super Predatory. Have you had any problems?

venustus NO WAY...friendly giant's not that agressive at all...thats my opinion...nice fish thoe brett

nope not at all, I have even fed mine live crickets on occasion but he does not hunt my small fish.

my bad its not your haha n/m

Whoa.. books lie man!! they all lie !! says " will prey on smaller fish" what a lie!! :)

Llloy I think that most nooks are referring to the Livingstoni which is quite similar to the Venustus

Brett, was this venustus in one of the gift shops in sort of a circular tank? If so I saw it a pic of it about a year and a half ago (it was about 7" back then, and the second largest fish in the tank). There was also a HUGE BB zebra in there with it (9" easy, the largest mbuna I've ever seen). Looks like the venustus surpassed it.

I meant to write, I took a pic of it and posted here back then. As far as them being predatory, I would say definately yes. A large (7"+) venustus is a major threat to any small fish (~2") added to the tank. In the wild these fish prey on mbuna juvies. 2.5"-3" is risky but might work if they were added first and the venustus was small and later grew up among them. Brett, how small are the "small" fish with your venustus?

Venustus are capable of being very aggressive, it just depends on what other fish are in the tank with it and how it falls in the 'pecking order'. When dominant or aggressive they lose their blotched pattern and become a solid copper-green (but retain the blue head). In the photo above it's obvious that the venustus occupies a subordinate position in the tank due to distinct blotches. One of the smaller mbuna's definately rules that tank.

kay bee the small fish in the tank are around 1 1/2" some of them up to 3" i bought our big guy as a juvenile though, he is one of the oldest members of our tank. As far a as the venustus in tampa...yes this is in the gift shop. lol and it was taken about 8 mos ago...that big boy wass easily a foot long or more at the time.

They are mean when they are small when they get more mature they calm down.