# best food for demasoni



## Seamus Wick (Dec 11, 2011)

i have a group of 13 demasoni and was wondering what type of food is best since i heard that they were herbivores. 
Im feeding them cichlid flakes.
the flakes have some sort of tiny bones in it and one just died of bloat, so im probably not feeding them a healthy diet.  
what types of food would you recommend?


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## Sub-Mariner (Dec 7, 2011)

NLS, greatest stuff on earth! opcorn:


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

Seamus Wick said:


> i have a group of 13 demasoni and was wondering what type of food is best since i heard that they were herbivores.
> Im feeding them cichlid flakes.
> the flakes have some sort of tiny bones in it and one just died of bloat, so im probably not feeding them a healthy diet.
> what types of food would you recommend?


Never heard of flakes having bones in them .

Could it be you are feeding them too much?

New Life Spectrum 1mm, Baby Sized Dainichi, Hikari Excel, etc. - any of the higher quality pellets will work great and have less waste in the tank than flakes.

Bloat usually manifests when fish are stressed. Aggression, over feeding, and/or poor water quality being far and away the most frequent causes.

Are you doing 25%+ weekly water changes? How often/much are you feeding? What size of tank & other tank mates? How long has the tank been set up? What are the water parameters?

Answers will offer clues and a much better picture as to what is going on.

If it is indeed bloat, and not just typical 'lil demon aggression, you may very well want to treat the tank with Metro if you lose another fish (to non-aggression) in the next few weeks.

We are here to help if you want it.

Good Luck.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

Seamus Wick said:


> i have a group of 13 demasoni and was wondering what type of food is best since i heard that they were herbivores.
> Im feeding them cichlid flakes.
> the flakes have some sort of tiny bones in it and one just died of bloat, so im probably not feeding them a healthy diet.
> what types of food would you recommend?


Its likely your food did not contribute to the death, but the stress the demasoni inflict on each other as a group.


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## Seamus Wick (Dec 11, 2011)

thanks
i do 30% water weekly changes
2 times a day for feeding
55 gallon tank-no other tank mates for now
tank has been set up for three months
nitrite and ammonia are at 0
nitrate is at 5-10
ph is 8.6


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

Once a day should be plenty for feeding, try only half as much as you are feeding now, less is generally more.

Fish are cold blooded, so they really do need a lot less food than you think, esp. if you think bloat may be an issue in the tank.

Everything else looks spot on.

Good Luck.


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## Seamus Wick (Dec 11, 2011)

thanks, also can i give them some kind of vegetables such as broccoli?
if so, do i boil them?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the tank? Any one individual getting chased more than the others? Don't forget to remove victim males promptly...IME it's the key to success with demasoni.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

Better to remove victim males than perp males? I'm not disputing, just trying to understand the logic.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've always done the victim males...easier to catch if nothing else. Also they need to be removed to heal up and go back to the fish store because they will not survive in the tank.

Unless you have a whacko male that kills everything...the dominant male is just doing what he is supposed to do and if you remove him, #2 will do the same.

If my victim male was my favorite and for breeding purposes I wanted to keep him, then I would try and remove all the other males and just keep him. That would only last 60 days before I would have a batch of fry and more males maturing. :thumb:


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## rDORO85 (Sep 13, 2012)

Sub-Mariner said:


> NLS, greatest stuff on earth! opcorn:


This... had the same question about demasonis, they, along with my other cichlids love NLS


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