Demasoni Fry

My Demasoni, 1 male, 5 female are regularly producing fry. I see them only at feeding times.
It is a typical rocky 40 gallon cichlid tank, and I just cannot catch them for moving to safety in a private tank I have ready.
Are there any good techniques to net these wee guys? They get eaten eventually right now.

 

I find it easiest to stick the net at the opening of whatever crevice you think they are in and stick your fingers into the back of the cave to scare them out and into the net. Chasing them with a net doesn't often work too well, it's much easier to herd them into a waiting net either with your hand or another net. Another option is if they aren't getting eaten and are getting their share of food then leave them be. Otherwise you'll have to tear the rock piles down to really get them all.

If you want to raise them separately in the future then I suggest you keep track of when females start holding so you can pull females out and strip the fry after 2.5 weeks.

 

Thinking of stripping is scary for me. Will try the net solution. It looks to be possible where they are hanging out.
Thank you.

 

Good luck with the little guys, they are quick buggers!

Stripping fry is actually very easy. I use a small bucket or a specimen container and either a tooth pick or preferably a closed safety fin or paper clip to hold the female's mouth open. Rarely doesn't anything bad happen, if it does then it's only just one or two fry that get hurt but 2 dying out of the 30+ isn't a big deal IMO. My females go straight back to eating minutes after having their fry stripped. Youtube has good videos on it if you ever want to give it a go.

 

Can you be strip at any time that a female is holding? I will give it a try in future. I appreciate the helpful responses..

 

You can strip whenever but unless you want to tumble the eggs/wiggler fry it’s better to strip them when they are free swimming or close to it. Normal incubation time is about 3 weeks so 2.5 weeks should be good.

Sometimes, when I don’t want to raise the fry I’ll strip the female and feed the eggs/fry back to the adults. Sounds mean but ehh.

 

Failed the net trick first try, lol. The male insisted on hanging near the net. No fry showed..

 

Update:
I have been unsuccessful capturing the fry.,but 3 Demasoni have survived to about .5 to .75 inch and are swimming visibly.
Next problem will be too many of them, lol

 

Well, all 3 Demasoni fry have survived to the point of leaving cover to feed.
This makes 9 Demasoni in my 37 gallon tank. Never was able to catch any fry.
As they grow, am I ok with 9 in a 37g??

 

One of 3 fry born in my Demasoni tank.

 

If you don't want to strip the fry, you can also put the female in a small holding tank until she releases the fry. Back when I bred Mbuna I often used that method and had a "nursery tank", with usually 2-5 females and fry. When the fry were indefinitely released I simply netted out the females and done.

 

That sounds like a great solution. Will try that next time I see fry. Thank you.

 

Looking Good, thinking about picking up batch. Just depends on the price.

 

I find them easy to work with. Less aggression than my Mbuna tank. Lots of rock/caves and a few plants for cover.
I had 6 in my 37 gal...now 9 with 3 fry.
I'm not sure , but may be too many for tank.
Working on freeing up a 36 community tank.

 

I have heard garden peas can be fed to Demasoni.
How to prepare them....Cook? Mushed or whole? I currently feed cucumber and zucchini.

 

I have heard garden peas can be fed to Demasoni.
How to prepare them....Cook? Mushed or whole? I currently feed cucumber and zucchini.

Some precook (rather blanche) them, some feed them raw but once crushed. I'd not feed them too often, as they are not nutritionally ideal (let's face it, cucumber is worthless at that, but also not a risk if overused). Also they make a worse mess than 3-days-in-the-tank zucchini.

 

Thanks, I will try as an occasional treat, like I do with cukes n zuchini.

 

Thanks, I will try as an occasional treat, like I do with cukes n zuchini.

With any Mbuna:
Cucumbers I would feed 1-2 times a week, Zucchini once a week. Peas maybe once a month.
Any other green veggies (just experiment, worst case they don't eat it) can be offered on one of the other veggie-days instead of the staples. Make sure it's stuff that is organic or usually free or low-pestifungiherbi-orwhatever-cides. I had good experiences with brussel sprouts, cale, lettuces and blanched spinach.
I haven't tried it when I had Mbuna, because it wasn't available here back then, but nowerdays I often see people feed nori-seaweed. Definitely an idea for a once a month-treat.

 

They don't like peas...lol

 

Well, then scratch them from the menu.

 

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