Female Festae Bars

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twhittle

twhittle

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Feb 8, 2007
1,810
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Clarkston, Wa
I picked up a 4 inch female feste from a great MFK member. She has some amazing orange/red colors for a 4 inch festae. One question....although her oranges and reads are pretty, she hasn't displayed her bars yet. Is this common and if so, at what length will she start showing her bars? I will post pics in a little bit when I have access to my camera. Thanks.
 
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Normal stress reaction. Her bars should return after she is fully acclimated and comfortable in the tank. You can speed that up with perfect water quality, plenty of hiding places, dither fish and target fish and while she is new, keep the lights low and increase the lighting up to normal over the period of a few days or so. Also, double check the water temperature, make sure it IS what it should be. I won't try to tell you exactly what temp. it should be because there is a lot of disagreement on what temp's. should be for new fish or even if they should be changed for new vs. normal, etc.
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I was curious about this too. My Festae have spawned twice and while the female is a brilliant red and orange with jet black pelvic and dorsal fins, she has very little barring on the body.


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It would be good for the Festae experts to chime in here. I am not expert, but I have seen several pictures of female festae in the last couple years of them in breeding colors, but they lack the bars. In my opinion there is a strain that can produce females with this reduced amount of baring. I have two strains of festae currently. One is suppose to be from Peru and the other from Ecuador. The ones from Peru has what I would consider the typical barring pattern and color, but seem to be a bit more slender bodied. The ones from Ecuador have a stockier build, and the dominant female from the group is showing a similar patern of reduced barring similar to what the OP is describing and similar to the other pictures I have seen posted. Again, in my opinion there are examples of normal breeding size female festae that show this color. Festae are one of those fish that can so drastically change their colors with mood, it is hard to say definitively.
 
I have three 1.5" festae all with bars. One is lighter and two have dark heads with more red in their tails. Can I assume the latter are females?
 
It maybe due to some kind of stress or substrate you are using...my 3.5 inch Ecuador Festaea are baring up real nice...my lfs has 4 and 5 inch feataes with no bars also which is due to being in a new tank...just give it a little time

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Yes, Festæ experts please jump in. I have no idea about regional color variants or domestic morphs in Festæ.
 
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