anyone keep these Festivum I have a question.

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Snowflake311

Snowflake311

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 24, 2010
1,081
28
81
Lake Tahoe, ca
I had one Festivum but went on vacation and the filter was not running well and I think my blue acara helped stress the Festivum out so he died when I was gone.

The one that passed away was active would swim around and was fun. So I got another one same size 2" the Nasty blue acara has been moved. Well this new fish is boring all he does is hangs at the top and does nothing. Fins out look good but boring. So I thought it was lonely. I got another that is like my old one this one swims around explors and is fun. The 2 don't bother eachother .

What is wrong with my boring Festivum are some just like this? He is still new only 6 days since I got him. There are no fish in the tank that bother him.

How do yours act?
Do some just take a long time to adjust?
 
i think they prolly do better in groups. i have 3 about the same size, 3.5", and one larger about 5". they are very active and always swimming. they will group together and swim from one end of the tank to the other. they will chase each other from time to time and try to punk out other fish 2-3x their size. they're very feisty fish IME
 
Festivums are more of a shoaling cichlid, like angels or discus. You can keep singles or pairs, but it's best if they're in a small group. I always do groups of 6. The males can and do get very nippy, especially as they get bigger.

It's possible that you got a sickly one. Is it eating?
 
No I fear it is sickly. It will not eat it acts like it wants to but never takes a bite like it's too scared. My new one eat after only a few mins of being in the new tank.. The boring one has been at the shop for 3 weeks till I got it. I will give it more time to adjust. I'm scared it's just a weak one. I gave them frozen blood worms and it still did not eat.
 
I tried the wc for a few days. He died last night. There was something wrong with him he was sickly but looked fine I don't get it. Maybe the stress of being in an over stocked tank at the lfs for so long then being moved to my tank he just was too stressed out.

He did not eat, Would breath heavy, never moved. All my other fish are fine I should have known he was too easy to catch at the shop that was a sign he was sick.

My other one if fine and happy I might go back to the shop where I got the healthy one and get thus guy a friend.
 
It could have had any number of things. Most LFS (and I say most, I don't want to paint them all with the same broad brush, some are very good) do not quarantine. Fish can fall victim to disease and parasites from the stress of being shipped and moved around a lot. Though he looked fine on the outside, there could have been internal problems like intestinal flagellates (hexamita) or something similar. This happens pretty easily to stressed cichlids. LFS discus often end up with this.

Luckily your other festivum is active and eating. Hopefully he'll continue to do well for you.
 
Yup. That one had something. I'm sad I could not help him I should have started treatment but did not know where to start. These little fish have grown on me. They are fun differant fish. I might even say one of my top 5 fav cichlid.
 
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