Current Growouts
- Thread starter DAF590
- Start date
FRY PIC
Out of 4 fry (festae) that I have, one has always been bigger. Im assuming its gaining it color first due to dominance in the tank. This one has grown the fastest, but 2 of the others aren't far behind. Still very small - posting to keep track of growth rates and if any one wants to guess the sex, please share. My female on this thread was still fairly bigger than these have grown yet when I first got her, Could be too small still? -Thanks for looking and any feedback
Out of 4 fry (festae) that I have, one has always been bigger. Im assuming its gaining it color first due to dominance in the tank. This one has grown the fastest, but 2 of the others aren't far behind. Still very small - posting to keep track of growth rates and if any one wants to guess the sex, please share. My female on this thread was still fairly bigger than these have grown yet when I first got her, Could be too small still? -Thanks for looking and any feedback
Only been a month but I figured I would check on my growouts anyway.
A lot of activity in the tank, these guys have great personalities already! I just cant wait until they get more size to be thrown in with the queen in a 180 gal.
The two "Lifes of the Party" in the front of theee images, also the bigger/dominate fish, have a lot more activity and aggression. I am seeing flaring gills from these small fish daily. The smaller fish is starting to come up with nipped fins so I may be getting ready to move things soon.
My main question/concern though, is how small can fish pair up? Ive had a pair of juvenile jack dempseys pair up that were only about 3 inches or so years back, which I thought was faily small. in a 55 gal. I dont have much breeding experience other than that. Could the two bigger in these pics be pairing up?
A lot of activity in the tank, these guys have great personalities already! I just cant wait until they get more size to be thrown in with the queen in a 180 gal.
The two "Lifes of the Party" in the front of theee images, also the bigger/dominate fish, have a lot more activity and aggression. I am seeing flaring gills from these small fish daily. The smaller fish is starting to come up with nipped fins so I may be getting ready to move things soon.
My main question/concern though, is how small can fish pair up? Ive had a pair of juvenile jack dempseys pair up that were only about 3 inches or so years back, which I thought was faily small. in a 55 gal. I dont have much breeding experience other than that. Could the two bigger in these pics be pairing up?
I think they are still a tad too young to know for sure, but out of 4 you should most likely luck out with a male. Sometimes the world is against us though and we still end up with a sorority lol.
In the first pic from two posts before this one, in reference to the festae on the right, the vertical bars seem to go up into the dorsal fin which suggests male. But if you look at the lack of spangles on the tail fin of this same fish, they seem to be dwindling down which is suggestive to being female.
In my opinion, from what I have seen happen, the spangles start to dwindle off before the female dorsal blotch shows. So if I had to guess I would say this one is female, however it is still to young to know for certain.
I once traded a female festae for what I thought was a male festae of the same size. This guy (or girl i should say) was bullying a lot of the similar sized cichlids in the tank, and was probably somewhere in the middle when it came to pecking order because there were fish twice its size as well. Anyways, this festae was bright yellow and still had some decent amount of spangles with the vertical bars going into the dorsal with no blotch. I took this guy home and within 3 months proceeded to watch him darken to a deep red, lose nearly every single spangle, and lastly develop the female dorsal blotch. It was like watching a sex change unfold before my very eyes, which was disappointing because i already had 3 females (not including the one i traded for).
With all this being said, you seem to have some nice quality festae on your hands. The original female you have has nice coloration and a nice body profile (a nice smooth muzzle with a full body). You will LOVE this fish even more when u see her light up in the presence of a male. And the other group you have doesnt have much color yet but they will, and they also have a nice body profile as well.
You're well on your way to a nice pair of festae IMO. If you are worried about the size difference between your future male and present female, consider using a divider in the females tank to allow the male to grow without her harassing him. My female was 6 inches when I divided a 4 inch male from her. After about 6 months (maybe even a little sooner) the male was an inch bigger than the female.
Good luck and keep us updated, i really like lengthy growth threads like this 1!
In the first pic from two posts before this one, in reference to the festae on the right, the vertical bars seem to go up into the dorsal fin which suggests male. But if you look at the lack of spangles on the tail fin of this same fish, they seem to be dwindling down which is suggestive to being female.
In my opinion, from what I have seen happen, the spangles start to dwindle off before the female dorsal blotch shows. So if I had to guess I would say this one is female, however it is still to young to know for certain.
I once traded a female festae for what I thought was a male festae of the same size. This guy (or girl i should say) was bullying a lot of the similar sized cichlids in the tank, and was probably somewhere in the middle when it came to pecking order because there were fish twice its size as well. Anyways, this festae was bright yellow and still had some decent amount of spangles with the vertical bars going into the dorsal with no blotch. I took this guy home and within 3 months proceeded to watch him darken to a deep red, lose nearly every single spangle, and lastly develop the female dorsal blotch. It was like watching a sex change unfold before my very eyes, which was disappointing because i already had 3 females (not including the one i traded for).
With all this being said, you seem to have some nice quality festae on your hands. The original female you have has nice coloration and a nice body profile (a nice smooth muzzle with a full body). You will LOVE this fish even more when u see her light up in the presence of a male. And the other group you have doesnt have much color yet but they will, and they also have a nice body profile as well.
You're well on your way to a nice pair of festae IMO. If you are worried about the size difference between your future male and present female, consider using a divider in the females tank to allow the male to grow without her harassing him. My female was 6 inches when I divided a 4 inch male from her. After about 6 months (maybe even a little sooner) the male was an inch bigger than the female.
Good luck and keep us updated, i really like lengthy growth threads like this 1!
Minor growth update on the biggest festae in my fry bunch and also a pic of my big girl GiGi in her new tank. She has seemed to hit a spurt in the 6 footer!
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RTM Growout - Red Tiger Mota
I found one of these some months ago after I picked up some fry. It was rather big and getting arround my home rigged divder disturbing the fry so i took him home to my brothers growout tank, and I got to see him for the first time this weekend. What a stud!(assuming male?)
I found one of these some months ago after I picked up some fry. It was rather big and getting arround my home rigged divder disturbing the fry so i took him home to my brothers growout tank, and I got to see him for the first time this weekend. What a stud!(assuming male?)
Man, Im afraid you are going to be right lol . Biggest little one looks to be turning into a female. Arrggghhhhhh I may be getting out of the festae game as I am too impatient for another growout game.
