The breeding tubes can not been seen as of yet. I only have a photo of the male at this time. Will get some of the female as she is beginning to show some really nice color.
Festae look like they might breed
- Thread starter wild bill
- Start date
yeah i've wanted a festae ever since i grew a salvini to super bright colors..also grats on the chance of having them breed for you
Congrats and be prepared to move the other fish.Most likely they will get really agressive after they spawn.
awesome good luck with that project and keep us posted on the progress... im excited for you as well. I have 10 (3" - 4" Festae) arriving tomorrow morning with about 30 other cichlids hoping for a few pairs!!
Here are some photos our our Red terrors taken today. They are really hunting for a spawning site. The female is really turning on her color. The male is looking good also.
After several clutchs of Festae fry I can tell you their are a few times you might need to watch out for. When they do truely pair up they will dig a fry pit maybe 12" round
along side objects - ie; rocks, driftwood, even the glass. She'll strat fanning the males face with her tail, he'll nip and rub along side her. The males forehead will swell slightly. If it's a go - the male will chase the other cichlids to the surface at the very least. She'll lay her eggs on objects, he'll fert at the sametime. I've seen this go on for a few hours. Fert'd eggs will stay brown, bad eggs turn white. Eggs are sensitive, moving them could be fatal. It does take much a few degrees in tempeture or air exposure and done. I never changed water when eggs were present and when they hatched only minimum 20%. After they hatch - the parents go nuts on tankmates beware. However the biggest danger I've come across happens a month later, when the fry leave the nest, the male attacks the female. I've read alot of ppl using dividers at this point, me I just removed the male into a holding tank til the fry were large enuff to be removed. My Festaes would breed 3-4x a year.
along side objects - ie; rocks, driftwood, even the glass. She'll strat fanning the males face with her tail, he'll nip and rub along side her. The males forehead will swell slightly. If it's a go - the male will chase the other cichlids to the surface at the very least. She'll lay her eggs on objects, he'll fert at the sametime. I've seen this go on for a few hours. Fert'd eggs will stay brown, bad eggs turn white. Eggs are sensitive, moving them could be fatal. It does take much a few degrees in tempeture or air exposure and done. I never changed water when eggs were present and when they hatched only minimum 20%. After they hatch - the parents go nuts on tankmates beware. However the biggest danger I've come across happens a month later, when the fry leave the nest, the male attacks the female. I've read alot of ppl using dividers at this point, me I just removed the male into a holding tank til the fry were large enuff to be removed. My Festaes would breed 3-4x a year.
Thanks for the info I knew about the unfertalized eggs but the rest is a big help. Have you ever tried removing the fry as soon as they became freeswimming. I think the male goes nuts like that because he either thinks she is slacking on the care or she has become a threat to the fry I have seen our cons do it too. It must really drive the fish nuts because all of a sudden its like the little guys are on a suicide mission.
wild bill;4817293; said:
No I have not, when first born they eat the egg sacs. I waited about a month til the fry is freely hitting Hikari Micro pellts and Supirulina flake.
