I was wondering if there is any information that anyone here can give me on p.demasoni. I just got 3 and I was wondering if there is any special advice I would find very helpful or your own personal opinions and experience with these fish. Thank you in advance for your posts and help.
Info on P.demasoni!!!!!
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Toirtis
God of primitive fishes
Keep like other mbuna, and stay away from any foods with meat products in them....any/too much animal protein will cause potentially fatal bloat in these fish.
I should probably also mention that they are one of the more aggressive mbuna.
I should probably also mention that they are one of the more aggressive mbuna.
travis simonson
Aquarium Advice Addict
The males are very territorial and require ample space to prevent weaker conspecific males from being killed from aggression. I would not recommend keeping these fish in tanks smaller than a 55G because of their aggressive tendencies. When given plenty of space the aggression moderates considerably.
tetrin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
i agree with travis, and the fact that they are hard to sex (monomorphic) doesn't help matters either.
if you are keeping them in the 30g, the labs might face elimination. so, your best bet would be
-to convert it into a demasoni species tank with 12+ demasoni (don' worry about the 'inch per gallon rule'). a 30g demasoni species tank is feasible but please be prepared to pull out the extra male in case you have two. if you have 3+ the agrression would be dispersed.
-return two of them and keep only one.
but with either of the choices, you need to provide ample hiding spaces.
please don't be fooled if the 3 guys go along nicely for the time being. these guys grow fast and hit maturity pretty quickly (i think around 1"+). and then you would have the possibility of a bloodbath.
that being said, you may have three females and things might turn out ok for you. i just tried to lay out the possibilities for you
.
if you are keeping them in the 30g, the labs might face elimination. so, your best bet would be
-to convert it into a demasoni species tank with 12+ demasoni (don' worry about the 'inch per gallon rule'). a 30g demasoni species tank is feasible but please be prepared to pull out the extra male in case you have two. if you have 3+ the agrression would be dispersed.
-return two of them and keep only one.
but with either of the choices, you need to provide ample hiding spaces.
please don't be fooled if the 3 guys go along nicely for the time being. these guys grow fast and hit maturity pretty quickly (i think around 1"+). and then you would have the possibility of a bloodbath.
that being said, you may have three females and things might turn out ok for you. i just tried to lay out the possibilities for you
.The three I have are two females and one male. I received them froma friend who has bred p.demasoni's for quite some time. With what you said already, I was thinking of putting one of the females in my tank with the two labs. Would that be o.k.?
tetrin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
i guess you could try putting the whole trio in the 30g. one female will definitely be acceptable (though there is nothing carved in stone when it comes to these guys).
but personally, i'd feel more comfortable if you could go to your friend and ask him/her to pick out 2-3 more females. otherwise the male might stress out the two lone females in its eagerness to breed.
but personally, i'd feel more comfortable if you could go to your friend and ask him/her to pick out 2-3 more females. otherwise the male might stress out the two lone females in its eagerness to breed.
I c thanks for your help, I am just going to wait a few more days to make the females and the male settle down in the tank that they are in now before I introduce the female I think is least aggressive into my yellow lab tank. What is funny though is that the person we received them from had them with yellow labs and we have receieved some yellow lab fry with them that are not even an inch and yet the male does nothing to them. That is sort of weird, but whatever, thank you all for your advice and for posting.
tetrin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
you are welcome.
the worst part of keeping ARLC is not knowing what they will do next. all seem to be getting along fine, then one fine morning someone decides he/she (usually its the males ) can't tolerate a certain someone.
i had a peacock with my juvi labs. all were getting along fine until two days ago, when the peacock suddenly decided the labs were a threat. it established the entire bottom of my 29g as its battle ground and started driving the labs out of its 'territory'. so i ended up pulling him out of the tank temporarily. as you mentioned , they are indeed weird.
the worst part of keeping ARLC is not knowing what they will do next. all seem to be getting along fine, then one fine morning someone decides he/she (usually its the males ) can't tolerate a certain someone.
i had a peacock with my juvi labs. all were getting along fine until two days ago, when the peacock suddenly decided the labs were a threat. it established the entire bottom of my 29g as its battle ground and started driving the labs out of its 'territory'. so i ended up pulling him out of the tank temporarily. as you mentioned , they are indeed weird.
tetrin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
i don't think so (though i'm yet to keep these fish).
i think any cichlid would be slightly shy when added to a new environment. give her some time (about 3-4 days). i'm certain she's going to come out.
i think any cichlid would be slightly shy when added to a new environment. give her some time (about 3-4 days). i'm certain she's going to come out.
