Flowerpower's Festaelog

[flowerpower]

Hey guys, I've just acquired a bunch of festae that I'm going to grow out and try to spawn. This will be my second attempt with this species so hopefully my previous experience with them will increase my chances of success this time.
Here is a photo of 3/5 of my old group. They came from TUIC at 2.5" and out of seven I gave 2 to a friend and kept 3 males, 2 females. At the time that I let them go they were between 6-10". I never put them alone and never spawned them.

But enough about the past. On to the new bunch.....

 

[flowerpower]

1st up is a group of 14 that I recieved from Cichluvr (cichlidsoftheamericas.com) as wild from Rio Tumbes, Peru. 18 actually but 4 belong to a friend. They're only 1"......... Looking good though!

I've got them in a 110 with some Cubans and 1 G. Red Bahia for now. 150 is next when they are an honest 2.5". Hopefully they'll
be okay until then.

For what it's worth, here's a photo of mature Rio Tumbes festae that someone else posted in another thread (NOT MY PIC):

It will be interesting to see how mine turn out in comparison.

 

[flowerpower]

2nd up are two f1 specimens that I recieved from Ira Harris (Wishlist). They were bred by Jason (Freshwaterpredators) and the male and 'female?' are 5.5" & 4" respectively. Needless to say, these are incredible fish from an incredible line. I've included an excessive amount of pictures because they're constantly changing and SO tricky to sex for me.


Male? on 9/4/11

on 9/6/11

Female? on 9/6/11

Any second opinions on the sex of these guys?
Thanks for looking!

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Looking good Ed, good luck on your growouts!! they will be very nice and fun to watch as for the larger ones, youre 100% correct on the male, the other one has a different face and body structure but just by the pics i cant be sure. just watch their behavior between eachother to give you a better idea until she colors up if it is a girl.

 

[barracuda123]

some beauties on here!

 

[flowerpower]

Looking good Ed, good luck on your growouts!! they will be very nice and fun to watch as for the larger ones, youre 100% correct on the male, the other one has a different face and body structure but just by the pics i cant be sure. just watch their behavior between eachother to give you a better idea until she colors up if it is a girl.

Thanks Jason! I've been keeping a very close eye on them and can say that they at least have a tolerant awareness of one another. The smaller one is constantly venturing over into the males personal space and he seems far more concerned with dominating his other tankmates that her. At the end of the day it was no more than a gut feeling that made me pic this fish for him. I still have some serious doubts though.

some beauties on here!

Thanks cuda!

 

[AcsFoolMike]

Beautiful festae! I agree with Jason on both the male (bingo) and potential female (not too sure). Good luck with growing them out and developing some pairs.

 

[Anubisscott]

Man those are gourgous. I am going to have to break down and buy some eventually. Without a doubt one of the most gourgous species in the cichlid world.

 

[balton777]

Great thread, you have some super nice fish. GL with your project.

 

[JK47]

Wow, cool project Ed. Good luck! Nice job tracking them down from so many different sources. Question since I am doing the same thing. Are hyou planning on keeping the first pair that forms? I ask because I don't plan on keeping the most dominant pair, I am going to sell those off and try and keep the sub-dominant pair. Better chance of a tolerant male being the thought process I am going with. I'm curious on your plans.