Festae Growth Suggestions

[JK47]

I am getting allot of comflicting info on growth rates.. The one thing everyone agrees on is it is slow. Anyone have any suggestions regarding feeding, food type etc.. that have yealded above average growth rates?? I'm looking for first hand experience please.

Setup = 125 gallon, FX5 (media bag over intake), 40watt UV.
Stock = x15 fry (1/2") to grow out a single pair. The pair will spend their life in this tank.

 

[Gruff Master]

There are definitely guys on here more qualified to give you advice on Festae than me. But I will share my minimal knowledge anyway. I had a group of six growouts in a 125 all to themselves. After a year of violence I ended up with three, two females and one male. The females were around 5" and the male was 6.5". While they were small I fed them a staple of Cichlid Gold and Brine Shrimp. Once they put on size the Brine Shrimp was more of a mess than a meal. I added Blood Worms, Earthworms, diced fresh market shrimp to their Hikari diet once I dropped the Brine Shrimp from the menu. 50% weekly water changes and hiding places were very helpful. I sold mine when the aggression and sudden death scenarios became too much for me. In a previous thread I think that I mentioned that I would never keep them again. Well...I may have stretched the truth a bit on that comment. They are very beautiful and challenging fish to keep. When time and opportunity arises, I will not hesitate to get another pair of them. I hope I was a little helpful. Good luck to you!

 

[Gatorxxx420]

I've got mine in a 10 gallon, it was about a half an inch when I got it roughly 3 weeks ago, I feed it Xtreme .5 mm pellets, frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp with spirulina once a week (I use a toothpick to scoop out 2-3 bloodworms and a few brine shrimp). I feed 4 pellets per feeding 4 times a day and do 3 gallon water changes every other day on it's tank. it is now just a bit over an inch roughly. Regardless of it's size, it's noticeably bigger in about 3 weeks with feeding it the way I have been and doing the maintenance I've been doing on the tank.

 

[fallin49er]

Justin, you remember my old male? I got him when he was about 2". I fed him frozen spirulina/brine shrimp, and flake food. He grew pretty steady and fairly fast to 10" and then slowed down.

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

It varys from fish to fish and keeper to keeper. But generally if u want faster growth then you need to power feed and do 2-3 WC a week of at least 30%. I have ad both slow and fast results. Power feeding isn't the healthiest fir the fish. But a good diet of pellets, krill, bloodworms is all you really need for diet. When their small 2-3 feedings a day then Down to twice a day once they reach 5". Also keep temps around 80-83 to boost metabolism. Then good WC's and don't forget to clean filters too. This way should ensure you great results wether they grow fast or slow. I've had f1's grow from 1.5" to 8" in 7-8 months. Then I've had wilds at 3" grow to 8" in almost a year. As long as u keep a good schedule they'll be healthy. And I also fast my fish once a week after they reach the 3" mark to help them digest. Good luck and a 125 will be good for them once aggression picks up start slimming down on hiding spots and territories and just keep few lil pots lying around.

 

[HrHagel]

I for one don't share the same experience as some of the other people you have heard from.

My old pair grew just as fast as most other fish. It's far from Oscar growth rates naturally, but still pretty decent.

Also i would recommend against powerfeeding them, as this will typically do more harm than good.
Steady wins the race with these guys imo.

I kept my nitrates at 0 with a max of 5. Which imo is the way to go with any tank.

It was my experience that the more hiding places you provide, the more active they will actually be.

It's really late here, or early actually, lol, so im sorry i havent gone into alot of detail, but feel free to ask anything and ill get right on answering it.

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Yes power feeding is not recommended. But feeding 2-3 times a day when small is fine. The fish won't eat themselves to death so whatevers left would have to be removed.

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Oh yeah at 1/2" try feeding encapsulated brine shrimp I don't feed frozen brine at all due to a bloat result with my istlanums.

 

[JK47]

Awesome info thanks guys! Jason the Umbee in your avatar is amazing.. yours?

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Awesome info thanks guys! Jason the Umbee in your avatar is amazing.. yours?

Thank you, and yes he is mineIll be sending Ira some babies in a couple weeks