Male festae starting to color up

[RampageRR]

My largest male (about 7") is really starting to color up in the face area in the past week or two. I need a female for him so bad so I can pair them off and clear out most of the other inhabitants.




Barred up a little here. He gets them in much darker at times.

 

[adamsfishes]

Beautiful.

 

[Achilles1763]

Very good looking fish! I am planning on getting a red terror for my 7ft which arrives in a few weeks, should I get a male or female (or is it just luck)? I hear females are more colourful and not so aggressive.. But males are huge and very impressive fish.

 

[smitty03281964]

Not only does your fish have good color. They also have very nice fins.

 

[adamsfishes]

Very good looking fish! I am planning on getting a red terror for my 7ft which arrives in a few weeks, should I get a male or female (or is it just luck)? I hear females are more colourful and not so aggressive.. But males are huge and very impressive fish.

I would vote female. Males are cool but the female festae is probably the best looking cichlid there is.

 

[RampageRR]

Very good looking fish! I am planning on getting a red terror for my 7ft which arrives in a few weeks, should I get a male or female (or is it just luck)? I hear females are more colourful and not so aggressive.. But males are huge and very impressive fish.

Thanks! It depends on what you want out of the fish. Females are a good bit smaller in size - but I don't know if they're necessarily less aggressive. That all depends on the individual fish.

I would also say females don't get as colorful solo as they do when paired up and in breeding dress, so that's another thing to keep in mind. Hard to pick between male/female if keeping solo, but I would definitely say a pair is a fantastic choice.

 

[Achilles1763]

i don't think a pair is a good idea for my tank as its a community, as knowing my luck they will claim the whole tank and destroy everything! What I want is a big,powerful and colourful fish so I think a male is the best option... Hopeful he will look like yours! As its a very impressive specimen.

 

[FastFisher5]

Great looking fish all around. Congratulations

 

[RampageRR]

i don't think a pair is a good idea for my tank as its a community, as knowing my luck they will claim the whole tank and destroy everything! What I want is a big,powerful and colourful fish so I think a male is the best option... Hopeful he will look like yours! As its a very impressive specimen.

Ah, if it's meant to be a community tank then a pair would probably be a bad idea. I have had luck so far with my group of 4 festae together with some salvini and GTs, with a few deaths to some tankmates due to what I believe is the male GT. The male festae have been fairly decent with the others so far, but I am assuming that's only because there are no females in the tank.

If you want a large male to work in a community, I do think growing it from a small size alongside the other tankmates is your best bet. Again, it's always down to the individual fish in question as far as whether or not it works, but so far in my experience, I could see it working out. Good luck!

 

[Fluidsuit]

Thanks! It depends on what you want out of the fish. Females are a good bit smaller in size - but I don't know if they're necessarily less aggressive. That all depends on the individual fish.

I would also say females don't get as colorful solo as they do when paired up and in breeding dress, so that's another thing to keep in mind. Hard to pick between male/female if keeping solo, but I would definitely say a pair is a fantastic choice.

I don't doubt what you're saying about female coloration, however people shouldn't be left with the impression that if there's no males there's no color. That doesn't seem to be always true. In the case of the females I have, if they're angry or hungry they color up quite a bit.