# 55g of Demasoni Only?



## JLJ2018 (May 31, 2004)

I've kept a bazillion different fish over 25+ years, fresh and salt both. I'd say hands down that demasoni are my favorite of anything I've ever kept. I have some room for a 55g in my living room and I'm thinking of doing just a demasoni tank in there.

However, it's been years since I've kept demasoni and need a refresher. I remember that I need lots of rock work and space, which I think a 55 would accomodate. How many would you put in there?

Also, is there a light that's on the market now that would really showcase them better than others? I would think something with actinic since they have such beautiful blues.

I think my main challenge is going to be finding rock for the tank. Are you guys still putting egg crate in the bottom for tanks that have extensive rock work?

Sorry for the noob questions... just been out of the fish world for a few years and need to get caught up.


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## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

look dude, id buy 15 or 20, they breed like rabbits and in no time you'll have 50+ in there....


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## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

I agree.


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## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

BTW, I think I would add some Yellow Labs...they just go great together (nice contrast in colors). Plenty of rocks usually help, but you could try having less rocks too. It's up to you and, of course, how the fish react. I'm not sure about the light...I use the standard lights my tanks come with. Also, yes, you can still use the egg crate.


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## Sprungster (Mar 17, 2008)

I wouldn't put too many rocks since you might end up not seeing them...you should strike some balance between providing them with rocks so they feel well in their environment and making sure that you can actually see them.

They are quite prolific once they start breeding but I prefer keeping a solid breeding group rather than letting them reproduce and losing track of "the core group". Therefore, I remove the fry and raise them in another tank.

You are right about the actinic light, it will bring out their blue color but you have to make sure that you have the right bulbs ratio so the actinic light won't make your water look blue. The actinic light alone would make it look a bit unnatural so I combine it with a daylight bulb, having said that -it is also a matter of taste.


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## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

heck, I'd thow some acei's in there too... my demasoni stayed hidden in the rockwork until the day I threw some acei's in... they became curious of this new fish that would swim in the open water and many of the demasoni would come out then... I noticed a huge difference in my demasoni/lab tank after I put the acei's in. As far as how many, I'm unsure of that... I probably went overboard - Mine are not full grown yet (but getting there) I have two Whisper 60's on the back, but my Penguine bio wheel 400's have been ordered... at least one whisper on that tank will be replaced very soon.


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

As far as bulbs, it's hard to say because it's such a matter of taste. but, some options I've used that I think would highlight blue colors without being obnoxious would be:

Hagen Aquaglo
Coralife 50/50

If you want to spring for it, I've also had good luck with coralife's T5 twin bulb fixtures. The saltwater package contains a daylight bulb and actinic bulb.

labs and acei would work fine with demasoni, but sometimes it's just really cool seeing a species only tank!

With a 4 ft. 55 gallon tank, you could have a reasonable rock pile and still some open space roughlly in the center or off to the side.

Good luck!


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## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

gherlevi said:


> labs and acei would work fine with demasoni, but sometimes it's just really cool seeing a species only tank!


That is true, The Demasoni has such a cool blue and great stripes... I think they would look pretty cool in a species only tank... Whatever you do, try to post some pics... thanks.


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## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

id love to see a demasoni and crabro tank


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I had a 55G set up for awhile as a single species demasoni tank, and I loved it. I'm a bit of a "minimalist" when it comes to rocks, though.

I had 20 adults initially, but when I sold the entire group, I stopped counting at 75!

50/50 daylight/actinic blue were my favourite bulbs with these guys.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

This is interesting - I have been thinking of doing a demasoni only (with synos) also in my 55g. Keep us updated on how it goes. I currently have a bunch of yellow labs and some other mbuna in with my demasoni and I would like to try out a demasoni only tank as I am not real thrilled with the yellow labs.

Color Max bulbs make the demasoni look stunning, but are not very bright bulbs - I have them combined with daylight bulbs. I would like to try out some 50/50 bulbs.


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## football mom (Feb 19, 2006)

My Dem tribe is in a 55 gallon with 3 rock-piles, left, right, and center.

Here is a pic, although I am not a good photographer.


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

One option I'm considering for a 4' tank is a demasoni / red zebra combo (bluexred, but only one male). I think orange could also make a striking contrast to the demasoni as an alternative to yellow labs.


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## shumway (Jul 12, 2006)

Afishionado said:


> One option I'm considering for a 4' tank is a demasoni / red zebra combo (bluexred, but only one male). I think orange could also make a striking contrast to the demasoni as an alternative to yellow labs.


The demasoni / red zebra combo is what i did too and i love the look :thumb:


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## Sprungster (Mar 17, 2008)

I got them mixed with a small group of Saulosi.

I know that they might create hybrids but at the moment they are ignoring one another and given that my Saulosi are too young it is difficult to tell what would happen in a few months time.

I plan on keeping only the Saulosi females in order to make sure that I don't get any hybrdis (if I spot a holding saulosi I'll know she mated with a male demasoni).

Its a good combo since the Saulosi bring the Demasoni out of their hideouts and they are smaller than the acei/red zebra so you can keep them in smaller tanks.


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## gaqua (Apr 11, 2008)

I saw a Demasoni / Msobo Deep tank and it was beautiful. The orange/yellow of the female Msobos is so much more rich than the yellow labs are, and the male Msobos was black/light blue but not in vertical stripes, more of a splotchy/lengthwise pattern. Plus they were almost 2x the size of the Demasoni.

The tank was a 55 and it had probably 12-15 Demasoni and 7 Msobo Deep (5F/2M)

He mentioned that once he put his Multipunctatus in there, he has had no spawning going on. I wonder if they are causing the problem for him?


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