RD.

Not exactly a DIY topic, but close enough, eh? The OB Peacock in the following pics was fed New Life Spectrum with Naturose Astaxanthin for approx 8 weeks. I no longer own this freak of nature, but I thought I'd share the before & after results. Pretty impressive for only 8 weeks of this mix. Here's some additional information, and some before & after photos of an Auloncara rubescens "Ruby Red", supplemented with NatuRose® Astaxanthin. No NLS pellets, just astaxanthin. (same pic shown below) http://www.cyanotech.com/pdfs/axbul54.pdf Here's another good read. http://www.lib.noaa.gov/japan/aquaculture/...eport28/Ako.pdf Here's a before & after pic of a male Rubenscens fed a generous amount of Naturose astaxanthin. If you're looking for a 'natural' way to enhance your fishes color, especially orange/red, IMO New Life Spectrum pellets lightly dusted in Naturose Astaxanthin is the best combo out there.

Stick it in the bathtub & you've got yourself a jacuzzi!

Here's how my AC 500's are set up. I use one large sponge, three thin blue/white filter pads (sandwiched together) made by Marineland, topped off with an AC media bag full of Bio-Max rings. I get superb mechanical filtration out of the large sponge, the blue/white filter media helps catch the finer material, and the Bio-Max rings give me top notch biological filtration. The only media that has to be changed every 12-24 months is some of the Bio-Max rings (if/when they get clogged), the other filter material simply gets rinsed once a month in clean treated tap water. My water is always crystal clear & with weekly water changes my nitrates have never exceeded 10 PPM. Not that I would recommend doing this on a heavily stocked tank, but I've cleaned all of the filter media in both filters, on the same day, and never had any sign of ammonia or nitrites. The bio-max rings alone hold enough bacteria to handle the bio load in my tank.

dunl purchased it from Dennis, and this isn't the first time he was screwed over at that store with a fish that turned out to be a hybrid.

Wow, wish I had a green thumb like that. Well done!

Thanks!

That's a handsome fish, Val!

Here's how I currently have my tank set up. I plan on changing the rock work in the near future, just haven't had a chance yet. Here's my dom male lab My young male Red Empress and here's the boss, my 6" Lemon Jake 3 Labidochromis caeruleus, 1 Auloncara jacobfreibergi "Mamelela" Undu Reef, 1 Protomelas taeniolatus "Red Empress", 1 Sciaenochromis fryeri, 1 Cyrtocara moorii , and 1 Ancistrus temminickii "Bristlenose Pleco". 7 - Cichlids 1 - Catfish

Great looking set up.

Great looking tank. FYI - the rock is Limestone, easy to find in the west country, and helps buffer the PH. What size is that tank?

The venustus mature size will be affected by genes, diet, sex, etc, but being a predator once it matures it will most likely attempt to eat any mbuna it can fit in its mouth. Their aggression level (along with all africans) often boils down to the individual personality of the fish. Can it work, yes, will it work in your tank, hard to say? Venustus require a higher protein level than mbuna, so you'll also have some dietary issues if you stock with herbivores. Is it doable, yes, but you'll be fighting the odds. Seeing as you're just starting out with planning a new tank I personally think you'd be better off starting with a mix that has a higher chance of long term success. For the most part mixing haps/peacocks with mbuna isn't a good idea, unless the mbuna are omnivores, and are the less aggressive species such as yellow labs. Same goes for your kenyi. If it's a male you risk the chance of it becoming hyperdominant in your tank & breeding with some of the other mbuna females. They can be nasty little beggers once they mature. This is why I suggested 'groups' of mbunas, and not a bunch of various species.

Wow, you have been busy!

edited to remove large pics ...... 3 Labidochromis caeruleus, 1 Auloncara jacobfreibergi "Mamelela", 1 Protomelas taeniolatus "Red Empress", 1 Sciaenochromis fryeri, 1 Cyrtocara moorii , and 1 Ancistrus temminickii "Bristlenose Pleco". 7 - Cichlids 1 - Catfish

It's a juggling act, that's for sure. I have those fish in a 55 gallon. The jake is a mature 6" male, the lab male is 4", with the females at approx 3", the Red Emp was the runt of the litter & he's just pushing 4" at over a year of age, the fryeri is still a juvie at approx 3", and the C. moorii is just a little 2" juvie. (he was a 'rescued' fish from the LFS) Funny part is, the only aggression I had in this tank was from a breeding group of Rusties, which I just recently removed. I called them the devil fish. Go figure? It's taken me close to a year to get a mix of male haps/peacocks that would work. I've had to part with some beautiful fish as my jake got a hate on for them from the get go. The current stock he tolerates very well, and they all know their place in the tank. Whether it will stay this way long term, I guess only time will tell?

Where's Medicine Hat? Nice to see ya Crusher.

For a starter keeping a venustus (you do realize that they can get up to 10" in an aquarium?) in a 4 ft tank (I'm assuming it's a standard 4ft 90?) along with much smaller Mbuna is going to be a challenge. If you want to go with mbuna I'd remove the venustus. The Mbuna will work better if you have a few 'groups' of species, and having said that I'd up the yellow lab number to 4-6. After that, your selection is wide open. Personally I found the Pseudotropheus elongatus mpanga to be a stunning fish(blue with yellow fins), and the Maylandia estherae would add a nice complementary colored fish. You'd have a colorful mix of yellow,orange, and blue. With proper filtration & rock work your tank could handle 6-8 adults of each species. If you're buying unsexed juvies then perhaps 10 of each, with the option of removing some of the 'extra' males when/if the need arises down the road. But really, it's your tank, take your time & decide what YOU want in there.

Tremclad flat black ......

3 Labidochromis caeruleus, 1 Auloncara jacobfreibergi "Mamelela", 1 Protomelas taeniolatus "Red Empress", 1 Sciaenochromis fryeri, and 1 Cyrtocara moorii. All male tank, except the labs.

Eh!