I picked up a 5 inch male red festae two weeks ago and am having a hard time getting him to eat pellets. He will eat live gammerus shrimp but seems to be very finicky when I put pellets in his tank. I have tried NLS, cichlid staple and cichlid gold. He also will not eat fresh krill. What have you tried to get your festae eating better. Do you think I should try deworming him? My water in the area is naturally alkaline. Does anyone else keep festae in alkaline water? Right now my tank is currently 82 degrees. What temperature do you guys normally keep your festae at?
Red festae questions
- Thread starter Psuedofire
- Start date
I have festae in alkaline water (pH 7.6-8.00, alkalinity @ 100mg/L, hardness @ 250 mg/L), and the rivers they come from west of the Andes are not soft like the Amazon, so alkaline is fine.
I agree with triz316 that festae can be finicky.
I have a female that was very choosy until I put a bunch of greedy Tilapines (Sarotherodon linnelli) in her tank as dithers, she's now the first one at the surface, eating anything I drop in.
The Tilapines are too fast for her to do damage to, and always hungry.
This pic of the female was taken before the linnelli were added, note the sunken belly.
These are the linnelli I added.
I'll try to get a new pic of the female festae tomorrow.
I agree with triz316 that festae can be finicky.
I have a female that was very choosy until I put a bunch of greedy Tilapines (Sarotherodon linnelli) in her tank as dithers, she's now the first one at the surface, eating anything I drop in.
The Tilapines are too fast for her to do damage to, and always hungry.
This pic of the female was taken before the linnelli were added, note the sunken belly.
These are the linnelli I added.
I'll try to get a new pic of the female festae tomorrow.
The only reason I ask is because when I got my female she ate the first night I put her in the tank and has ate very well since. Maybe I will try starving him for a while then trying pellets again. My ph is actually at 9.1 from the tap. That seems a little high but maybe I can acclimate him to it since my female seems to be doing fine in that high of alkalinity. I may have to try some dithers. I might go with convicts just cause they are cheap and can take a beating. I will post pictures sometime when they both color up a bit more.
What are some other foods do you guys feed? I will be starting them on night crawlers as soon as they start popping out of the ground.
What are some other foods do you guys feed? I will be starting them on night crawlers as soon as they start popping out of the ground.
I feed HBH Super soft Spirulina, HBH shrimp pellets and a vitamin enriched koi growth pellet.
Males can intimidate females into starvation, beside dithers to distract the male, you may find a divider is needed.
I find dividers obnoxious, but at times, a necessary evil, and leave a space for females to move back and forth.
Males can intimidate females into starvation, beside dithers to distract the male, you may find a divider is needed.
I find dividers obnoxious, but at times, a necessary evil, and leave a space for females to move back and forth.
Nice looking pair! I already do have them devided. The only problem is that the male is only slightly larger than the female so the love door really does not work with this pair. I have been taking it out every once in a while to get let them get used to each other a bit. Usually they end up lip locking for a while and then the male eventually gets the upper hand and pushes the female up to the top of the tank. I may try breeding them through my divider with a clay pot and a strong current. I noticed your female does not have bars. Is she always like that or is that just one of the many color phases she does through? I love how quick the female can switch color! It's like a chameleon!
In my expirience Festae seem to have minor hexamita issues due to stress of transport. Try treating food with Epsom salt or internal parasite treatment
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
How would I be able to treat the food with Epsom? Would just treating the whole tank with Epsom be better? I have dealt with hex in the past and used clout but that seemed kinda hard on the fish. What would you recommend?
Here's the same female as above (as promised) with the linnelli as dither/target tank mates. She is much more robust, although without the male in the tank, her color has darkened a bit, and the light bulbs are wimpy.
