# A Single Demasoni



## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

Hi

Yesterday my girlfriend and I took a drive to Big Als in Mississauga Ontario.
I dont know if i am allowed to bash LFS on this forum so i wont...just in case.
Anyway, we saw in their African Cichlid show tank a nice sized Demasoni who seemed to be the only Demasoni in the tank. My GF was really impressed by it and would like me to get one for my 80G main tank.
I do not keep an all Male tank, i try to keep 3-4 females for every male as much as possible.
right now this is what i have:

Red Empress 1m 1f
Yellow Lab 14 ( my guess is 50%f, 50%M)
Acei 6 (no clue on ratio unfortunatley)
L. Pearlmutt 1 M
S. Fryeri 1 M

would a single Demasoni work with this mix? I have never kept them so i cannot go by experience.

thanks
M


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## F8LBITEva (Nov 9, 2007)

Yes *** kept a single Demasoni before and he did well. The fish's true nature is to be in groups so I gave him to my friend with a Dem colony.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

I have a single Demasoni (sex unknown) and a single Ps. Acei Ngara (male) with 6 Yellow Labs in a 38 gallon. Too small, I know, but at least all my beginner's mistakes are still alive.
I've moved a few different Mbuna in and out of the tank since it started in January trying to strike a good balance. When I only had three Labs my Demasoni was a real bugger, chasing everyone all the time. Now that I have 6 Labs he's happy just protecting one pile of rocks. But for the record, as soon as we finish renovating our home I'm moving the whole lot into a 90 or greater...and getting more Demasonis and Aceis. I don't feel great about having singletons; my early purchases were informed by lack of knowledge and lack of patience.

So I'm not saying you should...but you could.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

so it would seem that there is a chance that the Demasoni can stress out some of the others in the tank...right now it is very well balanced.


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

Going by what ridley25 said, you should have enough labs that the dem wouldn't be a problem. I've read alot of people keep just one just fine but you can't keep 2. If you see it stressing out the other fish you can take it back to the LFS or give it to someone.

I guess I should have ask what size tank you have first  Maybe you already have to many fish.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I don't get why keeping a single mbuna in tank with groups of mbuna doesn't result in hybrids. If the Demasoni is a female wouldn't it be harassed by the male-heavy tank? And if the Demasoni is a male, wouldn't he try to breed with the labs and acei?


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

> I don't get why keeping a single mbuna in tank with groups of mbuna doesn't result in hybrids. If the Demasoni is a female wouldn't it be harassed by the male-heavy tank? And if the Demasoni is a male, wouldn't he try to breed with the labs and acei?


I have to be honest: I don't know the sex of any of my Labs. I used to have 1m 2f Tropheops sp. Red Fin in my tank, and the two females were holding every couple of weeks. The fry that survived were pure Tropheops. My Acei has been vented as a male, but the rest are a mystery. Neither the Demasoni nor any of the Labs have ever held eggs.



> so it would seem that there is a chance that the Demasoni can stress out some of the others in the tank...right now it is very well balanced.


I think (and that's all I can do - I'm new at this) that with the Demasoni having the most aggressive temperament of my three Mbuna varieties, he just needed to have enough cichlids to bully so as to lower the amount of bullying each cichlid received.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

thanks for the advice

i most probably will not chance it because i have a good balance of aggression right now.

instead, i will look into Afra Cobue or White Top Hara.

i have kept Cobue and they are stunning, are the Hara's even nicer? never seen any in person.


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