# Demasoni Color Question



## Nobis911 (Mar 28, 2011)

hey guys so, i have 3 demasonis juvies that i picked up from the fish store last friday... there colors are absolutly faded... and the stripes come out once in a while! 
is this normal? 

most of the time they look like purple fish.... 

could it because i only have 3 demasoni? and there stressed constantly because of the aggression from the other guys? 

or are they just a pair of bad breed?

a little info on tank
3 juvie labs
3 juvie red x red
3 juvie demasoni

also my PH is at 7.6... maybe thats the problem?

i also wanted to say everyone on this forum has been great help. helping me with everything. as i tend to be someone with alot of questions  thanks allot guys, your the best!


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

What size is your tank? You are going to need a lot more demasoni, the only reason i can get away with only 2 is that they are in a 90 gallon with 40 other fish with plenty of rocks. With that small population in your tank, it will be easy for the dominant demasoni to systematically hunt down and kill its rivals. I would suggest either stocking more heavily or simply getting more demasoni.


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## Nobis911 (Mar 28, 2011)

it is 48" long

i have added 6 more demasonis for a total of 9 at the moment

so here are the new numbers
9 demasoni
6 yellow labs
3 red x red zebra

out of the 9... maybe 4 of them have very bright colors... the others are like purple... or some them even look like a faded purple color.


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## dynamite07 (Oct 16, 2010)

I've kept 3 dems in a 25 gallon tank before with 4 Yellow labs. The dominant male Demasoni survived by killing the other 2 dems. What's wierd is I bought the three dems at about 1 inch and all 3 were coloured up purple and looked great. I guess all three could have been males fighting for dominance?

Currently I have 14 Dems about 1 inch each in a 36 x 18 tank. I noticed only 4 of mine are coloured up most of the time. At times only one is really coloured up while the others look purple. I think it has something to do with aggression. I feed mine NLS cichlid 1mm. They are coloured up the most right after they eat. From my past experience with these fish I notice they turn more coloured when they get about 2-3 inches. 

This time with the demasoni isn't like the last time. I'm not sure why there are colour issues this time around. My previous Demasoni never looked as faded as these do at times. I was told by my LFS the colour difference could be due to genetics. For example the more these fish breed the fry can lose colour as they keep breeding. So 4th generation batch would have less colour than 2nd generation. Also I was told that it could be due to the conditions the parents lived in (water conditions and food). I'm not sure how true that is but it seems to make sense. 

All my other fish that I keep are coloured up well and are taken care of similarly (water change, filtration, feeding etc.) so I'm in the same boat as you. I guess we'll see how they pan out as they get older and form a hierarchy. What size are yours? My Ph is 8.0 so PH can't be a factor...


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## Nobis911 (Mar 28, 2011)

my ph is consistent 7.6

and they are all about 1"-1.5" i see the more colored ones circle each other once in a while... i really hope none of them die... lol but im affraid 9 is too little, i might have to get 6 more... lol 

would the labs breed in a tank with 27 fish total in the tank? lol kinda hectic in there.


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## dynamite07 (Oct 16, 2010)

I'm not sure about 9 Dems because you have others in there as well. I'm thinking it should be alright. Keep a close eye on them. As for me, I had 15 to start with this time around and after 2 weeks one of my colourful Dems got killed. I figured 1 male took out another. 
I'm not sure if the labs would still breed. It all depends on how many hiding places and caves you have set up. However it seems like there's alot of room for disturbances if they are trying to breed. Another option might be to divide the tank but then the Dems might have too little space. 
I'd advise you to keep an eye on them for now and once you see breeding behaviour (the fish dance) see if anything interrupts them. If you see too many interruptions it could be because of too little caves and hiding places, or overstocking with other fish. I'd make sure they have enough places to breed right now. I've been told that the more territories you create the better for Dems. I doubt it's different for yellow labs.


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## Nobis911 (Mar 28, 2011)

here is the video i have now...
i just seen two labs do circles with each other... really close to the anas of the other fish...






i think there is plenty of hiding spaces no?


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## dynamite07 (Oct 16, 2010)

To be honest that seems more than good enough for the dems to thirve in. Keep an eye on them and if a fish gets beaten to death the only thing I can think of is to change the rock work by building it higher and less wide. That's only if things get far worse beyond the colour issue now. I don't see why they wouldn't breed in there. Sounds like early signs of breeding behaviour. If you see the dance it's even closer than I'm thinking. Nice tank!


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