# demasoni color



## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

Okay, i asked a few people before, and remember DJRansome did mention dems color up fully at birth. Mine has been in the tank for 6 or 7 weeks now, and the coloration hasn't gotten very impressive except for 3~4 dominant fishes of the 16 i got.
I tried to look around, and i finally found other demasoni that looks like mine:





My dull fishes are worse than the dullest fish in that video and the other half look like those in the vid. The most dominant 3 fishes, and my holding female are excellent, but others are so dull color.

I want them to look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM53_uHI ... re=related

My tank sand is pool sand, and i use brown~grey color river rocks. I don't have a background as the tank is viewable from both sides so I can't put on a black background which some people have suggested.

lil_flame if you are reading this its time to post your pictures bro!


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

seriously have some patience, they will darken in time


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

lol. dammit. i'm impatient!


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

To specifiy, the dems can color up dark from a young age. But, as I have raised them, its an off and on thing when young. I have a lot of juvies in my 40g growing out ranging from a little over 1'' to about 1.75''. Sometimes when I go over to the tank, theres a few DARK colored dems, while most are lighter. Sometimes, most if not all are full dark coloration. My main 55g tank, these guys are at 3'' and above. They have been in the tank for a while and not one is the color u have. They are ALL dark and look great. So, at a smaller size, they can be dark or light depending on mood. When older and comfortable, u will have them all color up... so, again, patience is key, especially when keeping mbuna


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## lil_flame33 (Mar 20, 2010)

kabuto said:


> lil_flame if you are reading this its time to post your pictures bro!


ROFL! I didn't know i was so popular! ......

u want pics, I got pics.
Mine are starting to color up too... theres a couple that are still light colored.... 
Ignore the labs... theyre going back to LFS, soon.... I'm not happy with their quality at ALL!

It's been a few days and they've brightened up some.. so theyre a bit more blue.... i tried to get some new pics... but theyre in the hiding mood... and my holding lady, is hiding in view.... but i cant see her with the camera cause of the shadow of the rock she's trying to hide under..... They're usually really active after a water change so they'll probably get one tomorrow morning.... 
i do need to invest in a better camera lol.... i'm using my iphone.... so sorryy if theyre blurred...


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## shaguars7 (Apr 12, 2009)

i know i am supposed to be ignoring the yellow labs.....but are those yellow labs??lol..lol


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

Well, they look to be lab crossed with zebra to me since I dont happen to see any black in the dorsal... tough luck on that purchase, sorry lil flame.


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

lol. nice. I can see at least in 2 pictures you got a nicely colored up dem.

Yea.... those labs don't look very labby to me. return them!


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## walleye (Aug 20, 2007)

If the labs are small. Don't worry about the black yet. Line breeding to clean colors effects the black stripes. My Labs have no bearding and nice color. The fry take a while to fully color up. You should really look closer at head shape and body to see if they're a cross breed. Your labs look fine, you can see the start of black lines in the fins. Demasoni will intimidate them a little and will slow them from showing good color.


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

good yellows should show nice black bar even at 1 inch.
His look at least 1 inch and the lack of black is clearly either a lower quality lab or a mixed lab (which can 100% have the shape of a yellow lab)

such as this hybrid: (stolen from another thread)


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## lil_flame33 (Mar 20, 2010)

Theyres white on some of their bellies and only 2 of them are even showing faint lines. One of thm is even developing silver cheeks. They're def going back!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Although my labs can show black fins when spit, they are also pretty good at turning the black off almost completely. But if you look closely you can still see the demarcation where the black pigment is on all the fins.

Actually back to the original question, same idea with demasoni. They are spit fully colored. But a batch of fry will have a wide range of coloration depending on pecking order (or fear factor). So it's not like you get 12 fry with adult coloration day one. But they all appear to be capable of turning on the full color at will.

Even among adults, the alpha males are the most brilliant. The majority of the remainder of the fish are close to that color. But there are alway six or so that are more washed out.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

Like I said, while young, they can def be full color. I have found that when older, the colors stay. Even if I have a subdom male being harassed, he is still solid black and blue. It may be a bit duller, but the color is there. As for the alpha, boy oh boy, my alpha almost glows neon black and blue. So, in closing, u will get some color, some washed out till they are a bit older. U have no control over the pecking order except to remove overly aggressive males.


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

okay. after asking about dem coloration for at least 2 ~ 3 times i think i'm quite satisfied. lol.
I'll just have to be patient.


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## lil_flame33 (Mar 20, 2010)

Being patient = very sucky!

I'm not patient either!


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

This hobby forces you to be patient if u want good results, lol


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

i'm pretty sure Mbuna has a reputation of being popular for impatient fish keepers! 
breed like rabbits & many colors up nicely from day 1!


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

I know the threads a little old, but just curious if your dems colored up any better kabuto?


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

haha. yes they did. Turns out its got nothing to do with patients! lol.

On another thread, I talked about how I solved my aggression issue by rearranging my rocks from 3 separate piles of rock into one long pile stretching the entire tank.

With the change in rock arrangement, the dems IMMEDIATELY colored up. 
Within 12 hours, every fish except 2~3 had nice dark bar and blue color. 
The 2~3 faded color ones are now still as faded during normal circumstances.
One of them turned out to be a female. While she was holding, she turned on full coloration, looks as brilliant as my #2 or #3 male. So yes they all have the capability to turn up their color when the time is right.

At the time I created this thread, they they were all between 0.8 to 1.5 inch. Now 2~3 of the males have grown to 2.5 inch. very fast. The females who have held are still about 1.5 inch or less. I have one or two runts which are still very tiny.

for the record, i've got 4 holding occurrences. 3 have held to full term. 1 silly fish spit her eggs during feeding time. NLS too hard to resist she says. :lol:


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