# Demasoni colony + Haps/peacocks in a 110; doable?



## encinitas20 (Jan 27, 2009)

Hello,
I've just set up a new 110 gal tank, after being out of the hobby for 5 or so years. I'm hoping to have a few 1m/2f trio's of haps and peacocks, and a colony of 10 or so yellow labs, plus 12-15 demasoni's. If the demasoni colony is this big, do any of you see a problem with them bullying the other fish in the tank, given its size? Its sand bottom, with two major rock piles on either end of the tank.
Thank-you for any input.


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## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

From what I've read, Dems and Peacocks don't mix well. The peacocks colors will be muted due to the aggressiveness of the dems. I think there might be some fin nipping as well, but I haven't tried it myself.


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## BenHugs (Jan 13, 2007)

It might work for you, but you might also be setting yourself up for some trouble. I have a 255g mixed Hap/Peacock tank with a few mbuna and one of them is a demasoni. The demasoni fights with the other mbuna and I'm sure if he wasn't competing with them his attention would turn to the other tank mates. I think the large open water spaces in my tank help keep the haps and the mbuna separate.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

The Dems will also beat the haps to food.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I wouldn't, but others would, LOL.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Since the main reason we don't keep haps / peacocks with mbuna is due to the aggression of the mbuna and the stress on the peacocks / haps, demasoni would not be a good choice to attempt this with. Their aggression is conspecific, but it can be pretty intense, and will stress the milder mannered haps and peacocks out. Stressed fish don't look their best, and they also turn into sick fish...

And, keeping males and females of most peacocks and haps in the same tank will lead to crossbreeding. So if distributing fry is of any interest at all to you, haps and peacocks should be kept in single species tanks, for the most part.


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

As has been said, dems are too aggressive in my opinion. If you really like those colors cyanerhabedos are similar (if horizontally stripped instead) and are not as aggressive.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Why not just do a male peacock/hap show tank with labs and p. acei? You've got a nice large tank and could do many of the larger haps, including Red Empress, Taiwan Reef, etc. You can also do a group of labs and acei in such a tank without upsetting anyone. You'll get fry from those two groups, but if you have synodontis multipunctatus (which I highly recommend) you'll have built in fry control so it won't get out of hand.


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## encinitas20 (Jan 27, 2009)

Thank-you all,
I've decided to opt out of the demasoni choice, based on what you have said. I'm looking at just the yellow labs now, and possibly 10 or so Rusty's, if I can get a hold of some. Being in New Zealand, malawis are pretty hard to come by here. For example, as far as I know there are no acei's or soulosi's in the country yet. Yes, I'm aware of crossbreeding issues, but am trying to avoid this by having only one species of peacock, and keeping the haps pretty different ie trios of venustus, C. azureus, S. fryeri and some dolphins.
Thanks for all of your input, you have probably saved me a good deal of money and wasted efforts.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

encinitas20 said:


> Thanks for all of your input, you have probably saved me a good deal of money and wasted efforts.


 =D> =D> =D>

You are very welcome, and I wanted to commend you for actually realizing why we advised you against that selection and acknowledging it! :thumb:

The yellow labs would be fine with some peacocks and haps.

Rusties can go either way...Should you be lucky and get a high female ratio, you might have a peaceful group. They are no where near as aggressive as most mbuna, but I've found that when you wind up with alot of males, they will show more aggression than you would expect from the. You might try a trio of peacocks in with these two species and see how it will work, it's just not something I would attempt with demasoni!


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