Festae Growout ....

[Teke left]

So I have a group of Festae that I'm growing out the biggest being around 6 inches. The question is I can't truly tell if I have a pair!?!! I have 6.. 3 are bright 3 are dull, the bright 3 is 1 male & 2 females ... so I'm guessing the question is should I remove the dull 3 & let the bright ones continue to hopefully pair or just leAve them all in for now? I notice that the bright 3 show each other more attention than the other 3.. but not enough for me to feel they are truly bonded? Any suggestions??? I have a pic & a Vid thanks in advance!!

 

[duanes]

You have a pair, the large one without bands guarding the flower pot is the alpha male, and brightest one with bands, and the dark area in the dorsal is the female part of the pair.
There are a couple more males, and probably 2 more females in the tank.
The pair look about to spawn, so it may be time to think about removing the others, or at least, dividing them away from the flower pot area.

 

[BIG-G]

I agree, I the two brightest male and female have paired. The others will suffer once there is a spawn.
If you have another tank you could move the others and you will probably get another pair if there is another male in the group.
They will not pair in the tank with the dominant pair , unless the tank is big enough for them to set up their own territory.

 

[Teke left]

Thanks for the reply! But when you guys say brightest are y'all talking about the smaller female .. or the larger one? The both females seem to vibe with him.. & I have another tank with a jack Dempsey & a green Texas .. I don't know if that would end well either

 

[BIG-G]

In the vid it's the smaller female that seems to have his attention. At one point he chases the larger female away. It would be my guess that he is pairing with the smaller and the larger female has just colored up because she happens to be the more dominate .

 

[BIG-G]

I have seen groups of festae that have a dominant fish that will color up the others will try to stay submissive for lack of a better word by muting their colors. As soon as I removed the dominant fish the next dominant would color up. I mean within hours.

 

[duanes]

In the video, the dominant female faces the camera for a long time, and the male allows her to stay close to the flower pot, he keeps chasing all others away, she is the brightest and her dorsal has the most striking colors (signs she may be ready to spawn.

 

[Teke left]

Ok that's what I figured.. but the smaller female actually isn't quite as bright as the bigger one .. but after reading your post it did seem for him to go a little easier on her than the rest .. but at the same time he lets the bigger bright one go in & out the pot .. the smaller one stays near the pot but I haven't seen her go in .. the other 3.. don't get near it .. which is what causes a little more confusion on which he is paired with.. but the bigger female & male are siblings the smaller is from a different source .. i have 3 from one source & 3 from another .. what I believe to be 3 males & 3 females ...i would love to have a pair that weren't related .. then 2 more pair both being siblings then see who has the best fry that would be cool.. but I only have 2 tanks ..

 

[BIG-G]

If you are still uncertain which female he prefers just keep watching at it will become apparent fairly soon. You will need to step in and either divide the tank or take the others out. It may be time to invest in another tank if you intend on keeping all of these.

The best situation would be to give the pair their own aquarium, you may need to divide the tank just for the male and female after the spawn the male can get pretty rough on the female. If she has nowhere to run to it could end badly.

 

[duanes]

I would add 1 caveat about removing all others to a new aquarium.
Sometimes taking all others out completely turns the hormonal spike that cichlids get during pre spawning into aggression against the one female that is left, and breaks the pair bond.
This hormonal spike is natures way of heightening the aggressive tendencies needed to ward off spawn predators, and is why I suggested dividing the tank, if possible.
The other(s) on the opposite side of the divider (if the tank is large enough to accommodate division) provide focus for the alpha males aggression, away from the female.
Just leaving one individual male on the opposite side of the divider can sometimes be enough to keep the spawning female and her eggs and fry alive, you may not need to remove all.