Festae
- Thread starter jhutch
- Start date
honestly if you keep them in optimal conditions the only real way to keep them from breeding is to raise them in different tanks and then they might not get along as adults.
I don't have the most experience in breeding, but I don't think you would stunt fish from breeding them. I can see slowing the growth because they would spend more time tending to their fry than eating, but I can't see it stunting them. But that's just my opinion, mine spawned a few weeks ago and they're still puttin on the pounds
I don't have the most experience in breeding, but I don't think you would stunt fish from breeding them. I can see slowing the growth because they would spend more time tending to their fry than eating, but I can't see it stunting them. But that's just my opinion, mine spawned a few weeks ago and they're still puttin on the pounds
I wouldn't say they'll get stunted from breeding, but the females will definitely slow down to a near halt from it. Males aren't as heavily affected, and in some cases it can actually cause them to get growth spurts from the hormones they start to get due to instincts kicking in.
Just my two cents. I've never personally bred festae, I've read into it a lot - but pretty much squashed the option when I found that A. They're very hard to find out here in California and B. You need a huge tank to breed them in. Even moreso than other cichlids, because adult males are known for snapping on the females.
Similar to what you see in midas, they're just wife beaters.
It is common in all young cichlids for the females to be in charge, so having females kill males when they're only at pre-adult size is understandable. If you've bred a lot of cichlids you'll notice that, while females have it down pat most of the time from the first spawn, males often don't have a clue as to what they're doing until the 5th or 6th spawn.
This is especially so in South American cichlids, in my experience.
Just my two cents. I've never personally bred festae, I've read into it a lot - but pretty much squashed the option when I found that A. They're very hard to find out here in California and B. You need a huge tank to breed them in. Even moreso than other cichlids, because adult males are known for snapping on the females.
Similar to what you see in midas, they're just wife beaters.
It is common in all young cichlids for the females to be in charge, so having females kill males when they're only at pre-adult size is understandable. If you've bred a lot of cichlids you'll notice that, while females have it down pat most of the time from the first spawn, males often don't have a clue as to what they're doing until the 5th or 6th spawn.
This is especially so in South American cichlids, in my experience.
dirtyblacksocks;2225391; said:
Males don't get twice as big as females but you are right about mine not being full grown. The males were bigger but she could take them.
I have bred my wild festae pair twice in the past. They did it in a 180 gallon and a 60 gallon tank. They were male 5" female 3.5". Super slow growers. And take your time when sexing them. Although its easy to see the diff when larger, there is that 3-4" phase in which many people (even from MFK) mistake one for the other. My male was more aggro than my female, but I bred them without a divider. I would not advise this. It took almost a year and a half to get from 1" to 7". Some wild festae are not alway brighter colored than some tank raised, but I too prefer F0. I guess it helps when selling off their f1 fry. Hope this helps.
I have 2 little ones about 2" in a 70 gallon with some more fish of the same size and they pick on each other constantly. Good luck with the larger ones.
Thanks for all the info and help. I do research new fish but find it is more helpful to hear other personal experiences.
