Festae water parameters - experiences please?

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arvicanthis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2007
79
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london, England
Hi All,

So I have tried 11 times to search for this on the forum, but get nowhere. I get an error message. I looked through the stickied CA & SA Cichlid caresheets, there is a "red terror" listed but no water parameters.

So sorry to ask, but what are the optimum parameters for rearing young wild festae? and would anyone like to use this thread to share their experiences of rearing, breeding and keeping this species.

Best regards,

G
 
There are abundant threads about Festae and their care on this forum. Search the threads pertaining to Festae and not Red Terrors. You'll get more valuable info on Festae that way. There are also several members that post threads about the Festae that they keep and breed. Try searching threads by Freshwaterpredators, Umbeeking, JK47, and Mel O. There are many more but these four should get you started. I currently have Festae and have had this group since April. I feed them a high quality pellet as a staple. My Ph stays around 7.5 and I have seen no problems with this Ph. My largest is just over 7". I would also suggest raising a group of 5-6 or more juvenile Festae if you're trying to get more than one to adulthood. They can be very aggressive towards each other and some losses may occur because of this. With this current group and those in the past, I have found that growing them out in adequate tank space with plenty of water changes is a must. Keeping a group of juveniles in a small growout tank limits their growth and adds to their aggression IMO. But I am far from being one of the Festae pros on this site. I haven't had a successful breeding pair to date. But look up some of the guys that I mentioned and you will find plenty of useful info. Here are a couple more links:http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?160496-CA-SA-Profile-thread&p=2377433&viewfull=1#post2377433 http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=festae&source=web&cd=12&ved=0CHQQFjAL&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mchportal.com%2Ffishkeeping-mainmenu-60%2Fstock-the-inhabitants-mainmenu-79%2Fbreeding-hints-and-tips-mainmenu-83%2F421-keeping-and-breeding-the-ex-cichlasoma-festae.html&ei=RbNYT_3ROoHz0gGQ6sGiDw&usg=AFQjCNEma_75tSTmD26oyj--JnpYhCcCcA&cad=rja
 
Hi Gruff,

Thanks for sharing your info, i would search for these members, but the search functionality doesn't work for me i dont get the wrong results, i just get an error message. I have tried the search term "festae" but to no avail. basically I can't search, hence the post.
I will keep looking.

Thanks again for your post.

G
 
My Festae are from a F0 father and a F1 mother. There are some wild ones available from time to time by vendors and other members. You may want to ask a moderator for assistance if you can't use the search function. It could be something simple to fix. If you run across the names of the people that I mentioned, click on their names and you will be taken to their page where you can access their threads and posts. Good luck. I hope you find more help soon.
 
Hi Gruff,

Thanks for the info, I just found the "festae" page in the stickied list i mentioned earlier. would you say yours were quite hardy or delicate as juveniles?
I have an option to buy a group of 1-2" wild juvies from a reputable seller so I think I will start there.

atb,

G
 
I raised 4 festae from fry to maturity. They all were very hardy. I kept mine at 78 degree water.
 
arvicanthis said:
Hi Gruff,

Thanks for sharing your info, i would search for these members, but the search functionality doesn't work for me i dont get the wrong results, i just get an error message. I have tried the search term "festae" but to no avail. basically I can't search, hence the post.
I will keep looking.

Thanks again for your post.

G
Click to expand...

The site installed a new and enhanced search function last night, that is why you were receiving this error message. You should be good to go searching now. I do keep a breeding pair of festae, my perams are: 125 gallons, pH 7.6, 76 degrees, nitrate <10ppm (I have a drip system that changes roughly 70% per week continuously). I agree with Gruff that they need a lot of space if you want to keep a pair long term, which I will so I just bought them a 250 gallon 6'x3' which should be more than enough for life. Not everyone would or needs to get a tank this size, it's just my personal preference to have large tanks for pairs. I am new to breeding festae so take my comments for what it's worth. Good luck!

Gruff Master said:
My Festae are from a F0 father and a F1 mother. There are some wild ones available from time to time by vendors and other members. You may want to ask a moderator for assistance if you can't use the search function. It could be something simple to fix. If you run across the names of the people that I mentioned, click on their names and you will be taken to their page where you can access their threads and posts. Good luck. I hope you find more help soon.
Click to expand...

As mentioned above it was a site upgrade specifically for the search function so it should be all wrapped up now :)
 
JK47 & White15 thanks for your comments, I have a group of six 1-2" fry on order now, so we shall see how they progress. Thanks for clearing up the search issue and your water perameter input, respectively.

Best regs,

G
 
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