what are my Festae doing???

[Teke left]

This is a video from about 4 months ago




Now ....:

Hi there old thred looking for new advice, so i recently separated my Festae & kept the pair in the tank & moved the other 2 females to a separate tank, & gave the other male away, I separated them because the pair were beating up on one female pretty bad, so I figured it was time, after I moved them & did it WC in the same process, the pair were ok that day .. the next day the male was chasing the female around the tank but not really nipping at her , the next morning I could tell she was a little ripped up so I put in a divider, kept it there for about 2 days then I removed it then when they came back into contact with each other they both were doing some sort of tail twitching thing, but then they were back to normal back surveying the tank together as usual, they were fine for about 2 days then he went to chasing her around again so I put in a divider again this time with a hole big enough for her to pass through , I never seen her pass through it & go to his side .. in another day or two I removed it & they did the twitching thing again, then a few days later he was harassing her so I divided AGAIN,, but she still wouldn't go to the other side so today I removed it ..AGAIN.. & all is fine for now back doing the twitching thing , so my question is do you think I should leave the divider out & let it play out a little more or keep doing with I'm doing , I posted a video of the twitching could it perhaps be a prespawn? Any advice will be appreciated ,

 

[jeaninel]

I haven't owned Festae yet (one day!) but my vieja do the head shaking thing in pre-spawn. Your pair is young and it may take some time for them to finally do the deed but I suspect it will happen. Hopefully other Festae owners will chime in with more advice. I would probably have some sort of hide or divider in there that the female would be able to escape to if she really needed to. Good luck with them, they are beautiful fish!

 

[duanes]

Yes, that is pre-spawning behavior.
And I agree with Jeaniel that having a place with an entrance that only the female can get into and not the male, is a good idea.
Once the spawn has taken place (if the tank is small, less than 100 gallons) it may be advisable to remove the male.
In a small tank with nothing for the male to take his heightened, spawning hormones out on, it is possible he may attack and kill the female, and the eggs or fry.
Especially if this is the pairs first spawn

 

[BIG-G]

Yep you got some festae on the way looks like. You have already been given good advice.
The way I have mine setup is with a divider that only the female can get through with the breeding pot on the male's side.
That way she can come and go but he can't follow. This works very well if there is a size difference. If not then just have plenty of places she can back into and defend herself if need be.
For the most part festae get along okay during spawning. Its after the fry become free swimming when there can be some trouble.
But every fish is a little different and yours may get along fine. Good luck with them.

 

[duanes]

I like to notch out an area where the thin female fits, but blocks the male.
And G is right you may luck out and have a totally compatible pair, but to be sure, you'll need to watch like a hawk in case things go south.