Demasoni are some mean MF's

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ck986

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2010
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NJ
I dont know what happened today in my tank, but my two Demasoni cichlids decided to challenge my more dominant fish. The female pecked at my Albino Oscars eye about three times as I was feeding him. I normally get him to go to a corner and then throw him pellets for a minute or two. I am not sure if he got injured, his eye looked ok, but he had trouble getting to some pellets a little later (he missed as he lunged toward them). Then I noticed my Auratus continually chasing both of the Dems and snapping at them (not sure what they did to piss her off). I decided to turn the lights off (in the tank and room) to get them to settle down.

I have an African Cichlid tank with the exception of an Oscar, a tinfoil barb, and two tiny Bala Sharks. The Oscar is the largest fish in the tank. He is about 3.5", but he is wide and tall compared to the little Demasoni. The Dem is probably half the size of the Oscar. The Dems are fairly new about two weeks old (in this tank). I guess they are comfortable now and want to take on the establishment. Do you guys have any idea why they would all of a sudden attach the Oscar? I should have listened to you guys when I read on the site not to mix cichlids. Now I now.

I have a 55G with the following fish

1 2.5" Auratus
1 3.5" Albino Oscar
1 3" Jewel Cichlid
2 1.5" Yellow Labs
2 1.5" Demasoni
1 1.5" Kenyi
1 1" Kenyi
1 3.5" Tinfoil Barb
2 1.5" Bala Sharks
1 2" Red Zebra

I am going to buy a 90G later this spring as I think this tank is going to get a little cramped as they start to grow. I will also probably donate or exchange the bala sharks. I may leave the Oscar in the 55g by itself and move the remaining fish to the 90G.
 
you've got alot of mixing going on man. Africans are small, but they are vicious, especially the auratus and even more so the demasoni.
I'm going to give you some advice, you don't have to use it but you will have some problems with the fish if you dont do some rearranging.

The africans you have should be by themselves. You could put them in the 55 and you could get several more. The ones you have are called mbuna. They are the Auratus, demasoni, kenyi, the red zebra, and yellow labs. These should have a tank to themselves as they are terrible fin nippers. But in a 55 you could get several more with adequate filtration.

The albino oscar is South American, he will get pretty aggresive and if left where he is, he will eat those africans. (If they dont stress him to death before then). Oscars need a varied diet, I feed my oscars 7 different foods. If cared for properly he will get more than 14" maybe up to 16" long. And 55 gallons are 12" wide front to back. A single oscar needs to be in a 75 gallon minimum. Which are 18" wide front to back. These fish grow very fast. He will dwarf everything in a month or two.

The Bala sharks are kind of out of place... Definately shouldnt be with the africans. And they're an asian fish i believe. The oscar will probably eat the bala sharks before theyre large enough to compete. I would think about re-homing them.

The tin foil barbs, Ive seen these with oscars before. So i guess that combo would work but youll probably need a larger tank for that. If the oscar doesnt eat them first. That oscar is going to grow really fast. The barbs definately should not be kept with the africans.

Sorry for how long this post is, just trying to be helpful.

IMO you should get that 90 gallon as soon as you can. Move that Oscar to the 90, you could put another oscar or something in there with him.

Re-home the bala sharks and possibly the tinfoil barbs. But you could try them with the oscar. No guarantees, the oscar might gobble them up.

Then do an African cichlid tank with the 55, Just stick to Lake Malawi species and probably the mbunas as you already have several.
 
Yeah those deamsoni are one of the meanest africans. Its crazy what they can do. So pretty and mean. Just like a woman.
 
The Oscar actually got along with all of the other fish even the Auratus, Red Zebra, and Kenyi. Its just recently that the Demasoni's have become confrontational. I left the lights off today to keep them more relaxed. I will also probably reduce the temp to 75 or 73. Its currently 78.

I knew starting this tank that it would be mostly an African Mbuna tank, with the exception of the Oscar and Tinfoil Barb. I thought I could get away with them as they are both much larger than the Mbuna, I guess not. I will end up moving them as I buy a 90 or 125 later on this spring. I hope they continue to thrive as they have up until now.
 
If you were to leave the oscar in the mix, eventually he will sort things out by himself. ;)

I'm surprised he hasn't gone after the 1" fish yet.
 
This is a prime example of what often happens when you mix Africans with SA and CAs. I've experienced this sort of thing too when mixing mubana's with SAs. African's have a very territorial mindset, and SA's tend to be more relaxed, and prone to swim wherever they feel like going, which seems to make the African's nervous about trespassing issues, and African's lash out by attacking the larger bodied SAs. From a long term perspective, I think it would be best to separate the oscars from the mubanas...the two species will be much happier that way.
 
I got back a few of my fish now have nipped fins, Labs and baby Kenyi. I noticed the Oscar has nipped bottom fins and also saw the female Demasoni attach my Jewel fish's eye. I am going to try and move her to my quarantine tank as she is beating up all my fish.
 
I ended up moving the Oscar to the quarantine tank as I would have had to tear my tank apart to catch the Demasoni. The Oscar was pretty beat up, his eyes were torn up. He has trouble seeing food pellets and misses them often when he lunges toward them. I am hoping they will heal as it only appears to be his outer eye covering that was torn.
 
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