scared demasoni

[benvardag]

i recently purchased two demasoni's, i cant sex them as of now because they are still juv. anway, i have a 40 gallon tank with 2 kenyi, 3 afra, 1 blue dolphin, and 2 demasoni. i know it is a little overstocked but i am upgrading to a 90 soon. one of the demasoni is acting completely normal, swimming around, eating regularly, and general good demeanor. but the other constantly is hiding in small crevaces where you can hardly see him. it doesnt eat and doesnt leave whatever spot he is in. at closer inspection i noticed that it has some discoloration near the eyes/gills. i cant tell if he was attacked, if it is part of his color, or if its ich. basically, i just dont know what i should do with him. should i put him in a hospital tank? or should i just let nature take its course. its kind of upsetting because it is such a beautiful fish and i would like to see more of it, and would not want it to perish due to inferior size and nutrition intake. any recommendations?

[benvardag]

the demasoni just died, it started swimming verically and falling to the bottom of the tank. i tried to save it but it didnt work out. it also looked like it was suffering from fin rot, or maybe it was just being attacked

[wobble]

Was he being picked on by the other demasoni? Normally, it is best to keep only one demasoni or many (12-15+) in a tank. They are extremely aggressive towards each other. Usually, if you have less that 12-15, you will end up with just one.

You didn't mention how large your others were. The kenyi can be extremely aggressive when they get larger. If you added smaller fish in your established tank (yes, the tank is too small), you are asking for trouble.