Id have guessed that from the pics.
My male was definitely less skittish than the female, but still...if you moved faster than molasses going uphill, they freaked the hell out, banging the sides and everything.
Festae Question
- Thread starter AcsFoolMike
- Start date
Id have guessed that from the pics.
My male was definitely less skittish than the female, but still...if you moved faster than molasses going uphill, they freaked the hell out, banging the sides and everything.
I've heard about "skittish" festae hiding all day before, but that couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to my grow-outs... they are one of the most interactive fish I've ever owned, no joke. At 1.5" they are not afraid of my hand and come up to the surface for food, they don't hide when I'm cleaning or doing WCs or anything... it's amazing. They also "kiss" the glass when I come close lol...
All 6 of them do exactly this all the time (not that psycho but you get the point
)
[YT]BbNpEP_wYjA[/YT]
I'll try to record a video when I'm feeding em later today...
P.S: they're horribly aggressive to each other and like to nip larger fish a lot... I found one yesterday viciously biting the eyes and the tail of a larger oto catfish.
All 6 of them do exactly this all the time (not that psycho but you get the point
)[YT]BbNpEP_wYjA[/YT]
I'll try to record a video when I'm feeding em later today...
P.S: they're horribly aggressive to each other and like to nip larger fish a lot... I found one yesterday viciously biting the eyes and the tail of a larger oto catfish.
Thats EXACTLY what they acted like. I had the same issues with balas in the past.
I've heard about "skittish" festae hiding all day before, but that couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to my grow-outs... they are one of the most interactive fish I've ever owned, no joke. At 1.5" they are not afraid of my hand and come up to the surface for food, they don't hide when I'm cleaning or doing WCs or anything... it's amazing. They also "kiss" the glass when I come close lol...
All 6 of them do exactly this all the time (not that psycho but you get the point
They look great. That one reminds me of one wild female I got from snook21, pictured below. She was the meanest fish Ive ever had and if she saw movement within 20-30ft of her tank, she hit the glass trying to break it. The only outgoing festae Ive ever had.
She was about 8" when this was taken and you can see the male in the background a little. He killed her about a month after I put her in there, out of nowhere. They were a perfect match, so I thought.
Sounds like most people have good things to say in terms of owner responsiveness. I wonder why you've had different results VRWC. What size tank did you have yours in and did they have any tankmates?
Btw, it's really throwing me off that your avatar isn't moving.
Btw, it's really throwing me off that your avatar isn't moving.
I have some growout and they are always active swimming around and as soon as they see me they come to the front of the tank to beg for food. also when I get close to the tank they come around to check me out. So I'll say they are pretty interactive with their owners.
Not to discount anyones experiences, but everyone contributing in this discussion (for the most part) but Balton has 1-3" fish (and Im sure some with bigger ones will chime in). As we all know, there is absolutely no way of judging the outgoing-ness of a fish at that size, so I wouldnt say thats an indicator of anything. Fish that small dont know much about self preservation, just like an infant doesnt. Its estimated that only 1% of a spawn make it to be a juvenile and less to an adult.
Id also say that if you read all the experiences from large festae owners who have posted their fish/experiences online, 85-95% have the same experiences Ive had...and their posts will attest to that. They are (or usually always have been) just skittish fish....and nowhere near the personality of Oscars, Trimacs or Midas/ Labiatus. Not saying they should be, just saying youll more than likely never get one to let you pet it, hand feed it..like REALLY hand feed it, not stick in fingers and have him take food so fast you cant tell if he got it or not or sit there and follow you around the room like the aforementioned fish. Now, Balton says his male is interactive, so maybe they will get that way above 10". I dont know, but I havent kept one to that size or read of others with them that act as such at bigger sizes.
Now,was my experience because there were way less farm bred/tank raised festae over the past 10 yrs than there are now and that the wild caught aspect has anything to do with their personalities? Id say so, but Im no Ichthyologist or animal husbandry expert so I couldnt say with any knowledge behind that, only common sense.
Ive kept them in communities , in differing sizes, in 75g, 125g, 180g & 265g's. Had them from fry to 10", singles, pairs and the last pair I had spawned a lot then one day the male just killed the female.
My last pair also had the 265g to themselves which I think was part of the problem. They had too many places to hide. This was their tank:
about the avatar..haha. I was gonna animate this one but Ive just been busy with work and trying to finagle things to try and get a new paludarium going, if I can.
^woah... looks incredible. I've been thinking about removing my airstones (bubble wall) lately... it looks so much better without them... but I'm scared there won't be enough aeration.
