Demasoni bloat and feed

[SLS_23]

Hello I have a problem in my tank that my demasoni are not thriving. Other fish do. My biggest males have died. I want to ask is feeding Hikari Vibra Bites and Aquatic nature excel colours safe for demasoni? I use this feeding because I have super red firefish in the same tank and otherwise they would turn orange.

 

[Milingu]

I would always feed demasoni with food containing at least 7% or better more spirulina algea. The type of fiber in spirulina has positiv effects on the good gut bacteria. Which is necessary for more sensitive Aufwuchs feeder like demasoni because they otherwise cannot deal with the rich artificial food provided in captivity.

Besides the food issues demasoni can be very sensitive to stress. Conspecific and with other species. I would only keep them with other Mbuna and only in a big enough tank. Not under 150cm.

 

[duanes]

Agree with the above.
When I had my self replicating de masoni colony, I always fed with food with the highest algal content ( spirilina, and even foods aimed at marine grazer species), and chose those vegetarian foods with the lowest animal protein content I could find.


And did every other day, smaller scale water changes (30 to 40%), as opposed to less frequent ones that allowed even the slightest nitrate consentration to buildup.
I found any nitrate concentration of even 5 ppm or above caused noticeable stress within the multiple generational single species colony

 

[RD.]

Bloat - Causes - Cures - and BIG Myths | MonsterFishKeepers.com


HTH

 

[SLS_23]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I will probably get a separate aquarium for them due to the food requirements so I don't have to keep them with Fire fish

 

[RD.]

IMO & IME diet is only an issue, if the fish are fed in excess, not from the ingredients in the pellets/flake. I suggest you read the thread I linked to in my previous post. STRESS = bloat conditions in Mbuna but seldom comes in the form of dietary stress. Good luck

 

[SLS_23]

IMO & IME diet is only an issue, if the fish are fed in excess, not from the ingredients in the pellets/flake. I suggest you read the thread I linked to in my previous post. STRESS = bloat conditions in Mbuna but seldom comes in the form of dietary stress. Good luck

Thank you for your reply. I read the article and still decided to create a separate tank for C.demasoni where they will live better.

 

[RD.]

Probably a good idea. Some species are not meant to be mixed.