Couple of festivum ?'s

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CTU2fan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2007
3,123
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Port Orange, FL
I've had these before, but I always had them singly. I rarely see them for sale and when my LFS had a couple last year I grabbed both. Well they're maybe 18 months old now, about 4", and they're constantly chasing each other as well as my S. jurupari. I'm wondering if they're like geos, uaru, things like that in that they're better in a group? If so I'll try to get a few more.

Also what's the best way to tell the 2 species apart, so I know what kind to get?
 
peathenster;3803895; said:
I have four, and they chase :( so it's going to take a much larger group if it works at all...but very cool fish I should say :D

Yeah I was thinking that might be the case. At least if I get a larger group it will spread it out some, right now there's definitely a chaser/chasee thing going, and the chasee can't seem to keep his ventral fin extensions. I was considering adding some angelfish but I'm thinking I'll just add more festivums and see if I can spread the aggression out. I had a really big one when I was younger, they're not rare but I guess they aren't all that popular because my LFS never seems to get any in.

blackghostuk;3803942; said:
There are 6 species. There's a key to ID half-way down this page...

http://www.francecichlid.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=234&Itemid=30

Thanks. I'm not sure the translator I found was 100% correct but it appears I have M. acora. I seem to remember reading that the most common imports are acora and festivus, but mine have the shorter middle bar which seems to indicate M. acora. Now, to find some more...
 
I would not add angelfish. My experience with Mesonauta seems to differ from what I've read elsewhere on this forum, but I've raised out two wild groups and they've both been particularly aggressive and nippy. They love to attack other fish from above. When my severums, angels, uaru, or chocolate cichlid are eating and they swim under the festivums, the festivums dart from above and attack them on their face/forehead/hard dorsal rays. All of my larger fish show scars from them.

They have pretty much destroyed the dorsal fins on my Peruvian angels. I thought they might mellow out as they grew, but they've actually gotten worse.

Both groups have contained 6 fish, and though that does help take stress off a single fish, it doesn't really curb the aggression. The six of them still chase and dart at one another all day.

I was also told that wild festivums were difficult to spawn, but I got pairs from each of the groups and the fry were extremely easy to raise (along the same lines as angel fry).

My suggestion is a large tank with tankmates who can push back. For instance, my male festivums are in the 4 - 5" range now, and when I added a big male green severum (7") to the 150g tank earlier this week he was immediately attacked by the festivums who ripped up his dorsal and caudal fins. He's mending now but the festivums didn't hesitate; they went right for him.
 
Wow, that is different from what you usually hear about them. Currently mine are in the 4" range and both appear to be male. They go at each other pretty regularly, and they will chase the jurupari but they don't nip at them. It's mainly one of them, he's claimed a rock cave and whenever the other festivum or one of the jurupari pass he darts out at them. I have a couple of ~9" severums in there and while they'll occasionally rush at the severums, the sevs stand their ground and the festivums veer off. It's interesting to see, as if the sevs are calling their bluff.

I think I'll skip the angels though, it doesn't seem like they'll work with this group. I'd read about it working, but it seems risky.
 
Obviously every fish varies in aggression, they certainly aren't known to be that aggresive, I have 2 festivums and 2 Angels in the same tank, and apart from odd chase from the Angels I have no aggresion at all, I think if you have a back up option then you could easily try adding the Angels.
 
n-e-w-land;3805951; said:
Obviously every fish varies in aggression, they certainly aren't known to be that aggresive, I have 2 festivums and 2 Angels in the same tank, and apart from odd chase from the Angels I have no aggresion at all, I think if you have a back up option then you could easily try adding the Angels.

Yeah, that's the only way I'd try it at this point. Right now I don't really have anything though, the used 75G I was using for a growout cracked, if something else turns up I'll set it up and then maybe experiment with a group of angels. In that case probably the festivums, severums, and bichir would go in one tank and I'd add the angels to my jurupari group along with a cory school or something. Just waiting for something cheap to pop up on craigslist.
 
I see you're in Port Orange... I'm in Palm Coast. What LFS did you go to? If you wait a bit, I may have a ton of festivum fry that you could just have. :D
 
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