# demasoni holding



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

it looks like i have demasoni holding..her mouth is slightly swollen but drops farther than the rest and she was very active and aggressive but now fins tucked in and hiding. I just barely found out as I write this it was sort of an accident so im not sure how long shes been holding. i need to know about how long they hold until they spit? she is still quite small just a lil over an inch so i want to careful. also i know eggspots arent usually a gender factoring difference with monomorphic fish but i read that only male demasoni carry them is this true?


----------



## Joea (May 25, 2004)

Malawi cichlids typically hold anywhere from 21 to 28 days. It can vary with water temperature, higher temperatures often mean shorter holding periods. If she's that young and this is her first time holding, there's a good chance she won't keep them full-term.

I've had females with egg spots and males without.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Yea i've read that is there anything i can do to help her keep them full-time? and so the egg spots aren't proof 4 anything huh


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

The egg spots are not a reliable source for sexing. They're just there.

I don't think there is anything you can do to help her keep them to full term (besides stripping the eggs and tumbling them). It's best to just wait and see...patience is the key. Good luck! :thumb:


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

so even if i placed her in her own tank it wouldn't help?? and since the demasoni are dwarfs does this mean that they take less time to hold than bigger mbuna? also say she doesn't hold full term how long does it take until she spawns again?


----------



## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

i know you cant "rely" on the egg spots, but in my demasoni ONLY the males have the egg spot, and its only 1 egg spot. its kinda kool


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

You can put her in her own tank to keep her from being harassed...but as far as her holding them or swallowing them, it just comes down to her experience. I bet there probably are some circumstances that affect whether she successfully holds them or not, but I'm not aware of what they are.

As stated above, they will hold them around the 21-28 day range. Mine seem to go about 4-6 weeks before they spawn again.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Oh okay thanks i appreciate it.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

will the male sit and protect the holding female from other tankmates?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

No, he will continue trying to breed with her and generally make a pest of himself.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Otay....well i guess i was late to the news of my female Demasoni holding, today I went out to my LFS and bought the floating plastic breeder net along with other things for a new 40gal breeder tank. Anyways we caught her and were able to put her in the net and about an hour ago i found a fry in there swimming freely, she has more in her mouth but hasn't released them, I'm so excited and happy that she held on long term and handle herself really well. It's just crazy because it seems that I did everything just in time you know I'm glad she didn't spit the little too soon. I did have a question though how long would it be before she spits the rest of them?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

She could spit them in and out for another week, IME.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

I woke up today to 4 new Demasoni fry I'm not sure if she has more so I'm going to wait a lil longer to just be on the safe side. They're so small and look dead on like mom even as new borns. They're also really quick seem to already be showing each other who's boss very entertaining. I crushed up some cichlid formula flakes into a powder for them to eat. Is there something else i should feeding them and is this a good number for mom considering her size or should there be more?


----------



## Joea (May 25, 2004)

Young _Ps. demasoni_ often have very small clutches. Four could be all there is, but she may have a few more. If you gently pry open her mouth, you should see if there are any more or not.

What you're feeding is fine, just be sure to keep the amount you feed very small.

Also be aware that adult fish can suck fry through fry nets and breeder boxes. If there are any adult fish in the tank these fry are in, I would consider moving the fry to a tank of their own.


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

Yes, a 10G tank would be a quick and cheap way to give them their own space. If you've got time, read through this post to see how I set up for the fry. Just be warned, once they start breeding, they don't stop. If you plan on saving and growing all the fry, you'll be very busy.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=166850


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Yea, I think one the adult fish got one of them I only have 3 now so I'm going to set up theur own tank today to reduce anymore chances of losing them. The mother doesn't seem to have anymore she's eating well and fighting with others through the breeders net which looks funny haha, but yea idk the fish could suck thorough the box as well thanks for mentioning it. I'll start reading through the post after i post this thanks 4 the help.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Well the 3 fry are doing really good and growing really fast its crazy..I can't wait to get more but I have a few questions.

SuperTurtleman, I read through your post and you mentioned fry piles I wanted to know what they were exactly? Also I see how busy you were do you still have all the Demasoni and were you able to sale them successfully if you did at all?


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

I have another female holding as of 2day now i have a 10 gallon housing the 3 1wk old fry should I leave her in for a while then remover her? Also could she be housed with the fry without any huge problems?


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

here's a few pics of the holding female and some of the fry





































they are about 1week and some days old now sorry for the quality all i have is a cell
phone for now. I have 2 females holding as of 2day they went happy-go-lucky after a WC 
:roll: hahahaha


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

I currently have about 8 Demasoni fry 3 about 3wks old and the other 5 were just spat 2day, I also have another female holding ready to spit anyday now with two more holding in my main tank, my question is around how old can the fry be mixed all 2gether period without being worried about losses??


----------



## Jonz'n (Apr 14, 2004)

Would someone show me the link to stripping the fry? I would greatly appreciate it. I have a Demasoni that I think's holding. She's kind of struggling though. Hasn't been eating and hiding at the top of my tank behind the heater. Sooo, I thought she was holding, but I'm not sure yet.


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

Jonz'n, here's the link to the stripping video.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/stripping.php

Yellow, sorry I missed your questions and posts. Fry piles are basically round, smooth river rocks (somewhere between 1-2 inches in diameter) you pile together somewhere in your tank. That way, the fry can squeeze in between the rocks and stay hidden from the adults in the tank.
I currently have about 70 more fry growing out (all about 4 weeks old) as well as some Yellow Labs.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

So i can mix all the fry around 4 weeks old? because i have the 3 week old in the 10 gal. by themselves


----------



## Jonz'n (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks *Super Turtleman*, I guess that would be a good way to go about it until I get my breeder/fry/hospital tank up and running. I'm probably doing to start breeding the Demasoni's very soon so I need to get the other tanks set up anyway! Thanks again!


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

Yellow, I try to keep the fry seperated until about an inch or so...that's not always possible obviously. You want them to have decent size before putting them with bigger guys.

Here's a pic of my fry pile in the main tank.









This little guy has been hiding in my fry pile quite a while...I just noticed him yesterday. He's probably at least 3 weeks old.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Thanks I appreciate it and you were right they breed like its going out of style hahahaha
I was thinking about how to get rid of excessive males. My second holding female spat 6 fry so that gives me 14 fry so far and I have 2 more females holding. I'm not sure how you were able to strip all of yours I would have had to retire the from it :lol:. But about how long does it take usually for your fry to reach the inch mark and do you use a certain diet to plumb them up or not?


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

Mine are usually close to an inch at about 7-8 weeks. As for their food, I start them out with Hikari First Bites for the first month or so, then I move them to crushed Cichlid Flakes. My adults get NLS and Cichlid Flakes as well.

:fish:


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

my 4 week old fry are gettin huge pretty fast i'll try ro take pics soon and post them.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

Well its been a few months since i posted this thread and I thought I come back to update. Now when I first wrote this I was fairly new to everything if you read through it (you can tell) and was very excited about my first holding Demasoni. Months later everyone's grown up and bigger and my colony won't stop breeding lol (well informed), so i began selling the fry and it has paid off fairly well. Now I've got quite good at it and even built a confidence to try with new fish, so while I been busy with the Dems I have a Yellow Lab female holding and she is the first Lab that has spawned with one of my own males so I'm excited about that. I also just recently upgraded to a 135 gal Im still adding to the tank but it's pretty much up and running and everything is going along fine so Im here with some new pictures and info of the recent.


























Here's one of my females thats been holding for about 3weeks now (Very Mean) LoL


























The same female spat just last night when I last checked she spat 7 and still had a full mouth
who knows how many is really in there??


















This is another female that's been holding since Thanksgiving....has a long way to go.


















These two are my dominate males each one holds their own corner in the tank.


















The holding female Lab, holding about 3 days herself.

Just thought I share my experince I know there's a lot of post like this please bare with me lol but I just had to.


----------



## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

Looks like things are going great for you...congrats. What type of plastic cage is that you have for the holding females? I'm looking at getting some platic ones that clean easier than the mesh netting ones.


----------



## Terrence23 (Oct 2, 2008)

Those look like the same kind of plastic breeder boxes I use:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751023

I like them because they have a plastic grate on the bottom that the fry can hide under so the mom doesn't eat them after spitting. I usually put a few branches from some cheap plastic plants in there too so the female doesn't feel exposed and gives the fry another place to hide. Be sure to get the ones with the plastic cover that goes over the top or the female will probably jump out.


----------



## YeLLowLab60 (May 19, 2008)

yea, that's what I use they're called 4-way breeder box works pretty nice and its a lil more protective in my opinion.


----------

