Demasoni Very Inactive

[BusterB]

hey im new the forums, dunno if theres anything out there already but ya,
my demasoni's are very inactive i have a 55g tank with large center piece drift log with surrounding flat rocks,
all they do is hang out inside the drift log which has about 5 -6 good hiding spots i have 1 aggressive male how spends all his time inside and occasionally will come out to chase the same size female.. in total i have 1 male and 4 females 2 very small half the size of the male and large female and the other is just a little smaller then the larger female. dunno if the log is just enccourraging them to hide and don't know if i should get rid of the log or just keep getting fish. i have 2 electric yellows in there as well causing no problems just cool and curious. all the help would be appreciated.

 

[fatheadminnow]

to TFF!!!!

What are the water stats in Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH?

-FHM

 

[mjzuverink]

welcome! without knowing anything else I would first take out the log, not because It is providing lots of hiding places but because it is most likely greatly decresing your ph in the tank whihc is not what you want with mbunas. I might try adding some more demasoni so that the amount of aggression on each individual decreases and they may not feel the need to always be hiding. I might also try adding more yellow labs to act as dither fish. this will reduce stress in the tank because as the demasoni see more fish swimming in the tank they will feel more comfortable to swim out in the tank. best of luck hope this was helpful

 

[fatheadminnow]

welcome! without knowing anything else I would first take out the log, not because It is providing lots of hiding places but because it is most likely greatly decresing your ph in the tank whihc is not what you want with mbunas. I might try adding some more demasoni so that the amount of aggression on each individual decreases and they may not feel the need to always be hiding. I might also try adding more yellow labs to act as dither fish. this will reduce stress in the tank because as the demasoni see more fish swimming in the tank they will feel more comfortable to swim out in the tank. best of luck hope this was helpful

The drop in pH caused by wood is about <.01 unit. Not very significant.

-FHM

 

[mjzuverink]

well I'm not sure how much it actaully drops the ph, it also acts as a buffer not allowing the ph to be changed easily. besides ph, a log is not exactly the natural environment for these fish whether this makes a difference or not I would go without it

 

[fatheadminnow]

I love wood in my Cichlid tank, I think it makes it look very nice!

-FHM

 

[mjzuverink]

hehe, I do like that alot FHM I wish I could get plants to survive like that in my african tanks. just curious, did you have any trouble gettin rid of tannins after adding the wood?

either way I think wood in a african tank can have its positives and negatives

 

[fatheadminnow]

I boil each piece of wood for 3 days then soak it at tank temp for a week. I still have tannins (which I like) but the amount of tannins is way less.

Click in my sig where it says "Plants and Cichlids." I wrote a pinned article giving ideas of which plant will have the best chance at surviving in a Cichlid tank.

I found the key is to get larger leaf plants, and make sure you have a lot of hiding places on the substrate. Cichlids are "rock-dwellers" therefore they like to be near the bottom of the tank, and providing a lot of caves and stuff; this will make then establish their own territories and not mess around with the plants.

I am also going to get some yellow labs, as these Cichlids are one of the lease aggressive when it comes to mbuna Cichlids.

-FHM

 

[sumtin_crazy]

well I'm not sure how much it actaully drops the ph, it also acts as a buffer not allowing the ph to be changed easily. besides ph, a log is not exactly the natural environment for these fish whether this makes a difference or not I would go without it

you can youtube the lake malawi there is no drift wood at all!! rock is natural for them and if that is the only hiding spot, that is probably the problem they are very teritorial and they all need there own spot for comfort or they will get stressed which sounds like that might be it because thats why the male wont leave that spot ITS THE ONLY 1 there he needs to protect it.. as for a buffer use crushed coral it stablizes ph perfect for african cichlids as they need a high ph from 7.8 to 9.0 depending on the lake and where in they lake they come from....they also like to dig my demasoni digs all day he loves it and if he cant dig cause substrate is to large none of this is natural to them then again comes the stress factor..