Washed out festae. Thoughts?
- Thread starter eyespot
- Start date
I got a female festae from a friend of mine about a year ago and as she's gotten older her coloration has faded to a drab purplish gray and beige. It started to get worse after my male jag died but that was several weeks ago. She's healthy aside from some slight gill curl that popped up after I had to aggressively treat a parasite outbreak but that was cleared up months ago. Is it stress? Poor breeding? Is it possible she's a hybrid? All of my other fish are doing well and look good and the water quality is good (I do 50% water changes every 4 or 5 days on her 195 gallon) and she's on a high quality varied diet. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Last edited:
Might be an aging thing? My one goldfish also spontaneously started changing colour at 2 years old after i put it outside, i am not quite sure about how it happening with a large cichlid...
She looks healthy to me, just not in breeding dress. Maybe the lack of the male jags presence. Now she has no reason to color up. Are there any male Festae in the tank?
I think she looks like a normal female without a male around (or when not in breeding dress, as covetous said.
Without a male in the tank, my females looked like this.
But with a male she liked, same female below
Without a male in the tank, my females looked like this.
But with a male she liked, same female below
You learn something every day! I've never had a female festae that wasn't in a community with male cichlids so I never realized they didn't always have the intense coloration. Not to mention I don't recall ever seeing a picture of one that wasn't colored up for breeding mode and I've been looking at pictures of these guys in books and on the internet for decades. Thanks for the help guys! Looks like I need to get her a boyfriend 
.
.
Many cichlids only color up seasonally for spawning, and even then only if a suitable mate is found. Otherwise they could become easy prey with all the bright coloration.
Take beanii as an e.g
below a normal color female
now a female in spawning does
and I'm sure you've seen the pics of Nosferatu labridens yellow, where in spawning dress they are as yellow as canaries, or as bright as the Malawan Labidochromis caeruleus. But their normal color is like the one below
Take beanii as an e.g
below a normal color female
now a female in spawning does
and I'm sure you've seen the pics of Nosferatu labridens yellow, where in spawning dress they are as yellow as canaries, or as bright as the Malawan Labidochromis caeruleus. But their normal color is like the one below
