[fish_addiction]

10 dems left-started with 13 (36 Mbuna in tank)​

Add 6 dems	24	75.00%
Do nothing	8	25.00%

 

[fish_addiction]

I added 13 Ps. demasoni sub-adults to my malawi tank on or around January 20th. This addition brought my stocking list up to 41 fish:

13 - Dems
13 - Albino Socolofi
9 - Electric Yellow
5 - Yellow Tail Acei
1 - Dragons Blood Peacock

The Dems were pretty beat up with nipped fins and all, but they recovered quickly. No one species has complete domination in the tank as of yet, and the chemistry and action is prettty good with the Labs being the only fish spawning so far. I have noticed over the last month or so that I can only count 10 dems and 11 socolofi. Some of the fish looked weak from the start, and I guess they were too stressed by their tank mates and didn't make it. I am not worried about the socolofi, as I planned on selling some as they grew, but I was told to start with no less than 12 dems. I have noticed normal chasing and displays of dominance, but all of the dems are in excellent condition with no nipped fins, etc..

My question is now that I only have 10 dems, will the dominate male kill of the others as they mature? The dems are about 2-2.25" at this point. Should I add 6 more and see what happens, or do I have enough left to chance it?

Water Parameters (Weekly 50% W/C's)
Nitrite/Ammo - 0
Nitrate - 5-10 PPM
PH - 8.2
GH - 11-12
KH - 11-12
Temp - 78

Thanks,

Jon

 

[fish_addiction]

Also,

If you are voting, I would appreciate it if you would share your reasoning, especially if it is based on personal experiences.

Thanks,

Jon

 

[bmweiler09]

I think the rule about 12 or more dems mostly applies to a starting number. I think once they have established a colony, the numbers are not so important as long as the dominant male is satisfied with the m:f ratio. If you have Dems easily available, I would pick up some more just to be on the safe side. 41 fish seems like a lot for a 4ft tank though.

Like you said, the issues most likely won't arrive until they start breeding.

 

[fish_addiction]

I think the rule about 12 or more dems mostly applies to a starting number. I think once they have established a colony, the numbers are not so important as long as the dominant male is satisfied with the m:f ratio. If you have Dems easily available, I would pick up some more just to be on the safe side. 41 fish seems like a lot for a 4ft tank though.

Like you said, the issues most likely won't arrive until they start breeding.

Thanks. I have 36 fish now. The bio load is currently ok as I've got a ton of filtration and water movement. As the fish grow, I plan on keeping 6-7 labs, 5-6 Albino Socolofi, 5 Acei and as many dems as necessary.

 

[bmweiler09]

I plan on keeping 6-7 labs, 5-6 Albino Socolofi, 5 Acei and as many dems as necessary.

Ok that sounds like a much better number.

I while back I lost a couple dems which brought my number down to 10, so I took out a couple extra males and traded them at my LFS for 6 more juvies. You could call yours and see if they could do something like that.

 

[fish_addiction]

I plan on keeping 6-7 labs, 5-6 Albino Socolofi, 5 Acei and as many dems as necessary.

Ok that sounds like a much better number.

I while back I lost a couple dems which brought my number down to 10, so I took out a couple extra males and traded them at my LFS for 6 more juvies. You could call yours and see if they could do something like that.

It's so tough to tell which are males, but a few are really colored up. My LFS never has more than a couple dems, and they're asking $15 bucks a piece, so I'll probably end up ordering another half dozen if that's the general consensus. Thanks for the advice, and everyone else please don't quit voting.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Add 6.

 

[fish_addiction]

Well, I spent about 2 hours trying to count them again last night, and I could never count more than 9 . It's weird because I'm not finding any corpses during my weekly water changes. I guess they're finding thier way behind the BG when they're being picked on. It's probably just a matter of time until the dominate guy finishes off the rest. I guess if I had it to do over, I would start with 20.

 

[jaymore1]

When keeping demasoni i think the more u have the better off u will be to start off with.In my opinion starting with 12 is not enough,I would start with more like 20 or so and let them thin them self out which they will do and then ur final number will be 12 to 15.

 

[fish_addiction]

When keeping demasoni i think the more u have the better off u will be to start off with.In my opinion starting with 12 is not enough,I would start with more like 20 or so and let them thin them self out which they will do and then ur final number will be 12 to 15.

I would have to agree at this point. I just noticed your signature says "1 demasoni" :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[jaymore1]

Ya i have 22 in my 55 and 1 in my 75. The 75 is more of a show tank and the 55 is my breeding tank.So far the 1 in the 75 does great by himself i know alot of ppl on here would not recommend that but so far it works for me.

 

[Chunkanese]

letting them thin themselves out i would imagine would be costly. I say add 6. but if your not finding bodies, they may not be dead. Just hiding. Who knows.

 

[fish_addiction]

letting them thin themselves out i would imagine would be costly. I say add 6. but if your not finding bodies, they may not be dead. Just hiding. Who knows.

With all of the filtration and water movement in my tank, dead fish tend to decompose pretty quickly. One of my juvie socolofi got bitten nearly in half by the peacock, and by the time I could get the remains out, the others had pretty much destroyed him. There are a few caves in the BG that certain fish stake out as thier territory and sick fish will hide in. The healthy fish stay with the group out in the light waiting on food, so I'm pretty sure they've perished. I haven't been able to count more than 10 in about 3 weeks, now 9. I would have started with 20, but I thought 13 would be enough given all of the hiding places and tons of other fish.

 

[kabuto]

add 6.
Remove males along the way until you have only 2 dominant dem males.

 

[Glaneon]

1 in my 75. i know alot of ppl on here would not recommend that but so far it works for me.

Actually the rule of thumb around here seems to be 1 or 12+

 

[fish_addiction]

OK, so the four votes for "Do nothing" are not explained. Do you just think it will be interesting to watch my dominate male kill off the rest, or have you had success with a similar situation?

 

[Ahab]

I'd def add at least 6 more! I currently have 19 (was 20) in my 75g with 8 labs and the numbers seem to work very well!!! They've begun the breed like crazy!!! I also have alot of hiding places!!! I mean plenty for all the fish in the tank as well as great filtration! Adding more can only hurt your pocket!!!

 

[Frenzy]

How often do you monitor your nitrates/nitrites? If there is a steady stream of corpses being created you might see some spiking of these readings.

Do you totally move the tank "furniture" when you vac the tank?

 

[fish_addiction]

How often do you monitor your nitrates/nitrites? If there is a steady stream of corpses being created you might see some spiking of these readings.

Do you totally move the tank "furniture" when you vac the tank?

6 small fish since january dead (2 albino socolofi), I wouldn't call this a steady stream of corpses. The 2 socolofi didn't last 2 weeks, and they were the weakest of the bunch when I added them several months ago.

I test my water parameters weekly. I haven't had any ammonia or nitrite since the tank was cycled last year; nitrates stay below 10 ppm with 50% water changes every 7-10 days. I also have an undergravel jet system with some extra powerheads to move water from behind the BG and keep the sand clean, so I don't really have to vacuum the tank just stir it all up and it get sucked into the intake. The system has about 130 gallons of total volume with the 40G sump, so it would take a pretty large chunk of dead fish to register on the nitrite scale.