# Jalo Reef and Demasoni?



## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

So, my 2 55g and my 40g mbuna tanks are running pretty great, have been for prob a year now... The stock list is in my sig... As of today, I relocated the remaining 2 male afra nkhata bays to my lfs, so the final #s on those guys are 1:3 with some fry growing up already... In my 2 55g tanks, I have my barred fish set. Demasoni in the top and afra nkhata bays in the bottom...In my 40g, I have 4(1:3) Jalo Reefs, that I have grown out for the last 6-8 months. They are mature, with the male fully colored and a female holding already.

My issue is, I use the 40g for 1'' fry as well... I would like to take the fry and put them in another tank just for growouts, and put the Jalo Reefs into one of the 55g's.... The Nkhata bay one is out, as they are both afra's and the females are somewhat similar. I could tell the difference, but the males might not, lol.... So, this leaves the demasoni tank... Yes, 4 species is normally reserved for at least a 75g, but I am considering moving my yellow labs as I only have 3 anyway... My concerns with putting the Jalo Reefs and Dems together are obvious... They are both darkly barred fish... I do like to tinker with the rules a bit, sometimes it works out, sometimes not... My thoughts about the combo are that the jalo reefs have solid yellow dorsals and the coloring on them is almost a purplish white, so there is def a distinction between the 2 species... My Dems never bother anyone but their own kind, so maybe it is possible to mix them? I know its against the norm, but has anyone tried this combo? If so, what kind of luck did u have?


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

I would give it a shot - at least you know what _could_ happen and have the ability to change it later if it doesn't work out.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

See, thats what I am thinking...I have dems in there with the jalo reefs(40g), but those are growouts and only about an inch... I just got rid of 3 that were in there that were around 1.5 inches with no issues. I also have mbamba(1'') who are striped... Hmmm, I may give this a shot...if so, i will report what happens


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## Mugen-Malawi (Apr 2, 2004)

I think the jalos should be able to hold their own since they are more on the aggressive side. Although before adding them to the dem tank, I would do a serious aqua scape to ensure that your male jalo would be able to claim a territory as his own. opcorn:


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

well, I took the plunge today.... I pulled 80 percent of my rocks out of my 55g, snagged the jalos from my 40g and added the 4 of them into the tank, after I stripped my holding jalo female (she had 21, which is insane with it being her 2nd hold) I did a full rearrange of the rocks, with most on the right side and there being plenty of sight breaks and some height. The left side i rearranged and made smaller since my male albino socolofi claims the far left corner. No need to go crazy over there when he patrols that small area...

Upon release, there wasnt much interest as I sprinkled a little food and was just starting to rearrange their layout.... The males all paid no mind, including my male dem(he's not very aggressive at all) a couple female dems were interested, but not in a bad way....

I will update this over time and check back in with whether it worked out, or I had to remove anyone... Should be an interesting experiment...


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

3 days in and they couldnt care less...The Jalo male is not colored yet tho.. Once he colors up, I should find out if any problems will arise


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

Good news so far.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

The last few days the Jalo male has settled in. He is coloring for his females. The only one who cared was the male albino socolofi because he colored near his area. But, no issues with any of my demasoni....I will update prob every few months or if something happens...


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

Good to hear. :thumb:


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

Update time... I had lost my male dem a few days after posting last, due to some kind of weird growth issue he had been having... The juvy dems in my tank have grown into almost adult size. There are 2 males that have been vying for top spot for the last 2 months. No losses, but these 2 dems are much more aggressive than my previous dem....there have been a few minor spats with the jalo male, but nothing out of the ordinary...Although, with the heightened aggression from the 2 males, the jalo male has not shown much color, except on occasion. I'm gonna give it a bit more time, but, right now, the jalo's may be moved just for the fact that he wont color... No real aggression issues tho between the 2 blue barred species...

for reference, my nkhata bay male in my other 55g has not been keeping full color with the msobo and red zebras, so i dont think its a blue barred issue, more a confidence issue from these guys


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

Interesting observation, I've had cobue's in with my dem's and my cobue male doesn't color up fully *ever*. But last week I pulled him and 1 of him girls into a grow-out tank with some of their young who are approaching 2". Wanted to see if he'd color up in there, with a little competition from his young son and no other species to spook him.

Result - no go. Nothing more dramatic than what he shows in his main tank.

I've been thinking of getting some Jalo Reef's as well and replacing the cobues with them.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

I think the coloration is more about the aggression in the tank. The afras tend to be smaller, so it may have something to do with them not fully coloring..Dont get me wrong, both jalo and the nkhata bays do show full coloration at times, but not always. The nkhata bays show color way more than my jalos... I have read that cobue wont color up fully unless they feel really comfortable and are top dog in the tank, so your situation makes sense. Although, I would give the male cobue some time in the new tank to color, maybe a month or so for his comfort level before u decide to get rid of them...


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

Oh, I definitely wont' get rid of the cobue, just consider moving them to a different tank.

I wonder if white-top hara's will be any more tolerant of the demasoni. This is my wife's tank and her favorite cyno's are cobue, white-tops and jalo reef.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

update on this is the Jalo reef male fully colors about 90 percent of the time and i dont see any issues with the demasoni at all. pretty cool to have this working out.


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## xxbenjamminxx (Jan 22, 2011)

Good to hear! I just added a group of Jalos to my mix and so far they arent even looking at one another. Both Dom Males will swim side by side in the current and the Jalos color is looking very nice already!


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

xxbenjamminxx said:


> Good to hear! I just added a group of Jalos to my mix and so far they arent even looking at one another. Both Dom Males will swim side by side in the current and the Jalos color is looking very nice already!


Glad to hear it! Def keep a watchful eye, as the 2 species did have an occasional spat in he beginning. My jalo took a while to gain confidence, but now that he has, it was worth the wait. Good luck to u!


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