Festae Question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
cacichlids said:
^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.
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Thanks.

I had corner overflows in that tank with a 50g sump underneath and used the Hydor Koralia powerheads (1300gph each) for the aquarium aeration and surface agitation...and Ive done away with powerheads and airstones in my current jag setup, using just ac-110s for filtration and agitation and aeration the same way.

That setup is the only one I could get festae to spawn in.
 
i got 5 off aquabid they are small about 1.5in they grew at different rates they hide all the time had to divide them they kill 2 already so far not my fav fish
 
VRWC said:
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:

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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.
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Yes, most of the people that responded were talking about small growouts, which is a fair point. I'm sure the fact that yours were wild caught also has something to do with, but I'd like to get some more responses from members who have grown these fish out to large sizes (10"+) and get their take on this.

It's not that I need a fish that I can pet and hand feed; I have that already with my flowerhorn. I'd just prefer to not devote a whole tank to a pair that's going to be in hiding 90% of the time and run for cover everytime I drop an M&M on the floor.
 
AcsFoolMike said:
I'd like to get some more responses from members who have grown these fish out to large sizes (10"+) and get their take on this.
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I dont think there are any on MFK anymore that have had them that big besides Balton. Either that or they are here and just havent contributed to a single festae thread in the 5 yrs Ive been reading here.


AcsFoolMike said:
and run for cover everytime I drop an M&M on the floor.
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:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL: that was exactly my situation.
 
I would agree with Scott about the majority of them bring skittish when they are larger. I've been able to hand feed most of mine till they hit 5" then they decided against it lol. I've never been able to pet one either like dovii and trimacs. But I've grown out about half dozen males to 10-12" and from 1.5-5" they are very outgoing from 5-9" they would hide most the time when they sensed movement but would come out to investigate after while. From 9-12" they would start turning into glass bangers a lil bit and not flee when I came into the room, they would watch me and continue whatever they were doing. But if I stuck my hand in the tank they would take off unless they were spawning in which I've only had one spawning pair.
But you will have to experience them for your self cause experiences will vary from person to person
 
I think I'm going to stick to growing out what I have for now, or potentially grab a few Trimacs from Rapps to grow out and maybe work for a pair of those bad boys instead.

Thanks for the responses everybody, you managed to sway me till my next festae craving.
 
If you get a pair then they wont hide. I only had problems with them hiding when they were solo males. all my pairs were always out and about like any other pair.
 
AcsFoolMike said:
Had to drag me right back in, huh Jason? :)
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LOL i just didnt want you to think negatively about festae:) you already said you had the petting with a flowerhorn, so why not try festae. But i will tell you this, if your buying them small to grow out and get a pair from a group then youll need alot of patients lol as they tend to grow slow and most arnt very prolific breeders otherwise everyone would have festae and wouldnt be able to sell any fry;) but those that do manage to get a pair and they do breed.... Now that is a sight to behold my friend:) for me there has to be a challenge with things in life or i may not be interested;)
 
I've had many festae up to 12' and I've kept them in communities with other big aggresive cichlids in tanks that were heavily decorated with site breakers and hiding spots up the back and all the way to the top of the tank and they in my experience were never hiders or skiddish. but were never gonna be wet pets like an oscar or midas or trimac more like a parachromis as far as interaction. they will come to the front to investigate and be fed. I have two of the Rio tumbres wild ones that are about 41/4" now (they put on a good inch) and they were more wary in the begining than any festae ive had in the past. but i think if u do alot of water changes they will get use to you pretty quick. mine dont even run for cover with the siphon and moving decorations around for that matter none of my fish do. ooh I have a WC Grammodes pair that hides when ever i go near the tank. only cichlids ive had that do that though.
 
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