So I purchased seven Festae fry over a year ago, and I ended up seperating them around the four inch mark, getting rid of four. Of the three that are left, I have a male and female that seem to be deformed. They seem to be growing with an arched or humped back that is very thick in front of the dorsal. I have one other female that is perfectly shaped and colored. I understand that there could be weak genes involved, but since 2/3 of my fish are this way is there a chance it could be something I've done?
The deformed male is about 7 inches, deformed female is about 4 inches, perfect female about 6 inches. They are currently in a 75gallon. I have the glass panes and stand ready to build a 180gal(3'x4'), but I'm not sure I want to keep Festae cichlids that I'm not willing to breed. I do 75% water changes once a week. I feed a variety of foods. I am experienced at breeding discus, rams, and a few others, so I have a firm grasp on aquarium husbandry.
I will post pictures if necessary, I wanted to see if you guys have ever heard of anything like this. I read something about a high protein diet may cause something like this, but there were no pictures of the deformities, so I couldn't be sure.
Thanks for any input.
The deformed male is about 7 inches, deformed female is about 4 inches, perfect female about 6 inches. They are currently in a 75gallon. I have the glass panes and stand ready to build a 180gal(3'x4'), but I'm not sure I want to keep Festae cichlids that I'm not willing to breed. I do 75% water changes once a week. I feed a variety of foods. I am experienced at breeding discus, rams, and a few others, so I have a firm grasp on aquarium husbandry.
I will post pictures if necessary, I wanted to see if you guys have ever heard of anything like this. I read something about a high protein diet may cause something like this, but there were no pictures of the deformities, so I couldn't be sure.
Thanks for any input.
