carpediem;943220; said:
Thanks a lot. That's some great information. It would be great if they were both females, since that's what I wanted in the first place.
How can I help my terrors become red?
- Thread starter Optimist
- Start date
Thanks a lot. That's some great information. It would be great if they were both females, since that's what I wanted in the first place.
Your fish look extremely stressed. Id separtate them so they are either in thier own tank or at least put a divider in the tank. The top dorsals still look dark which is a female trait but there is alot of spangling on thier fins which is a male trait. Im keeping my fingers crossed for you but if they havent colored up by now its not looking good. I still think the one might be female but it should have colored up before the 5" mark if it was. These fish look alot smaller than 5", they look closer to 3". If they are that long I would suggest to bump up their food and bulk them up a little and it might help in the process. Try some color enhancing food like Krill. I have heard of some putting a mirror up to the tank to get them to color up. Next time you order some purchase 8 or more, being you have better odds of getting a female from the group. You've either got an extremley stressed female or they are both males. Figure out a way to make those fish more comfortable. Put in some hiding places, keep the tanks lights off, put in dark substrait and a dark background.
Piranhanut;943344; said:
Pirahnanut, you have been really helpful with all my festae updates. I can see what you mean by saying that they are stressed. I know that my tank is pretty bare. In no means do I plan to keep it this way. I've been looking to add in some driftwood, rocks, and plants, but I've been busy with school until now. I'm going to start aquascaping as soon as possible. The fact that the festae are wild caught probably doesn't help either. Until recently, I couldn't even get near the tank, let alone shove a camera in their face, without them loosing all color and hiding behind the heaters. They do seem to color up when I view them from afar. I will definitely try seperating the two, although they get along fairly well as it is. I have noticed that the one that seems to be a female displays dominant behavior.
The dominant factor is a big one for getting them to colour early. But no matter what, they will in time. Krill and shrimp are the best foods i've found for colour enhancing. I also feed pellet, blood and earthworms, nightcrawlers, beefheart etc and don't be affraid to offer some vegi matter as they are omnivorous. They look like two girls to me also.
I don't think the festae are the least bit scared of the pikes. They are extremely docile...As far as pikes go. They haven't shown the least bit of aggression, even towards each other. They are 9 inches, and share a tank with a 3 inch green terror. As far as the sand, I would agree that it contributes to light coloration, but I have seen a couple festae tanks with light sand and the festae still look beautiful. I think they should gain some more color once I add in some driftwood, rocks, and plants.
All of the wild caught festae I have ever handled have looked just like those fish when I first got them. You need to give them hiding places and get them comfortable enough with their surroundings to eat. In my experience, even the most shy of wild caught festae find frozen thawed krill to be irresistable. Get them to start taking some. Keep offering slow sinking small cichlid pellets. They'll take them eventually. In the meantime, you'll have to keep the water clean given that they probably won't eat many of the pellets.
They'll come around. Give them the right environment, clean water, and offer the right food.
They'll come around. Give them the right environment, clean water, and offer the right food.
I meant separating them from the Pikes. Keep them with each other and add something into the tank for them to pick on so they don't to each other. I just lost my smallest female the other day to my bigger female. I'm guessing because I took the dominant male out of the tank a few weeks back who kept everything in order. These fish are a lot smaller than yours so you should be past that danger point when thinning the heard. In a few more months those fish will be begging for food and will be past the shy mark. At this time you will finally see their true coloring. My little F2 killer female is still hiding when I turn on the light or come into the room as well. My F0's never did this. I think it all depends on the personality of the fish. My little male was like this as well untill I put him into my 120g with my four other F0's and now hes just one of the guys.
