Red terrors

[pumbus]

as you know i was going to get a pair of red tiger motas but i'm also looking into red terros,so he also has some wild caught red terrors(festas not uro's)so i'm thinking of getting one of them,which would be a better idea,male or female,the females look nicer but the males are meaner,and how big will they actually get in an aquarium,and if i got females could i get 2 for a 75G,but if not if i went with one could i have it with anything,like a pleco or convict or pretty much anything,

i what sort of stuff should i feed one,to bring out there colour,and what type of water peramiters do they like,and would i be able to have live plants,also what type of decor do they like

thanks in advance

 

[Jason_S]

if you're keeping one solo (which you should do with a 75 gallon tank due to their potential size and aggression) then I'd go with a male. females will not display their brilliant colors if there is no reason to and being the only fish in the tank they would have no reason to show those colors. I'd say no to the live plants unless you went with some that were incredibly sturdy and attached to either wood or rocks but even then they may get shredded a little bit. festae are omnivores and actually eat a decent amount of vegetable matter in the wild from what I've read on them. you may be able to keep a small pleco with a male but it will ultimately depend on the male's attitude. if you have lots of hiding spots and provide plenty of time with the lights off then say a bristlenose pleco may be ok. it will stay small enough that if you have some pvc pipes or something of similar size for it to retreat to during the daytime then it can come out at night while the festae is asleep.

to bring out the best colors in a festae I'd feed as much as I could with high amounts of astaxathin (sp?) in it. Hikari cichlid gold and almost any types of frozen or freeze dried krill or other types of shrimp will help develop the colors of a festae, but like I said earlier they are omnivores so I'd throw in some veggie matter every now and then too. the festae pair I used to have were actually quite fond of small live crayfish too so you might consider that as a treat for when it's bigger.

 

[pumbus]

thanks for the info,the males also look nice so i'l go for one of them,how aggressive are they actually,are they glass bangers like a trimac or are they relatively calm unless other fish arrive in his tank

 

[Jason_S]

they only charged at me when they were guarding fry. otherwise they weren't quite as personable as some other aggressive species but they'd still (the male especially) would come out to see me in case I dropped some food in the tank for him. now to other fish though they were incredibly aggressive. if they decided they didnt' like a fish in the tank then within an hour it'd be dead. I usually didn't know there was a problem until there was a dead fish. they definitely pack quite a punch once they get bigger.

and by the way, the male I had was gorgeous. the only reason they don't get the recognition they deserve is because of the awesome coloration of females. if females were drab then the males would be recognized for their beauty much more than they are now.

 

[Dargath78]

I think my male looks awesome. Feed him everything, worms, mealworms, krill, but his staple is omega one cichlid pellets and veggie flakes. I have black sand and now have a black background and I think that makes his colors look so good. Also I am probably in the minority here but I prefer how the males look.

 

[pumbus]

the males defintly look awsome,it's just that the females have SICK colour,so the males don't get recognetion,thanks for the help guys,the order is being sent on sunday

 

[pumbus]

can you feed them carrots,cause i heard that that will bring out the red in them,also what other stuff can i feed them to bring out the colour,and what backround and substrait will also look good with them

 

[clevy]

I concur. The females are awesome looking, but the males have beautiful coloration as well. I have even seen a pic of a male that was all dark Emerald green with a yellow face. I think it was an article in TFH from the 90's? Beautiful fish!