DeMason, Laif

Laif DeMason has been keeping tropical fish since 1969. Within a year of this beginning, he was breeding angelfish on a regular basis selling the young to local stores. Since then Laif has graduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Miami with degrees in Zoology and Marine Biology. He opened Old World Exotic Fish, Inc. in 1979. Laif operates Old World Exotic Fish, Inc. from Homestead, Florida, where he farm raises African cichlids and receives imports from more than 15 countries. Laif has been to 12 East African countries during his 13 collecting trips there. He has also collected in Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica several times. Laif has been instrumental in opening up new territories for cichlid export from East Africa, mainly the Victorian basin in Uganda, the Tanzanian coast of Lake Malawi, and cichlids from Madagascar. Laif has written for Tropical Fish Hobbyists Magazine, Aquarium Fish Magazine, and Cichlid News. He writes a regular column for Cichlid News entitled “What’s New Around the World?” Laif just appeared on a Natural Geographic Wild episode of Fish Tank Kings in June 2012. Laif was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan and now resides in Homestead, Florida near Miami. Programs: