Current and previous Festae owners, need some inputs. I wanted to know what triggered the beautiful deep fire red on your female festae? I know I will hear answers such as breeding or when she paired up but I thought I'd see what else people had to say. I have a buddy who had her female turn that beautiful red when she was placed in a SA cichlid community tank and he also had a different female which was 7" who just never colored up nicely even when she was a paired with a male for long time. Was there a certain size that she reached? Did it happen out of no where or was there slight progression? I just want to hear your experience since I personally have never kept Festaes long enough to witness the whole coloring process.
When Did Your Female Festae Color Up For You?
- Thread starter volcomstone
- Start date
With mine it was a gradual progression that started at about 4". She has never paired out and none of the smaller females have their colors yet. Also, as you know, she is the dominant fish in the group. I think that's why she won't pair out with the slightly smaller, subdominant male in the tank with her.
since your female is already starting to show color you'll be happy to know that she will color up unlike some others. she will continue to color up gradually untill you add some tankmates or a male, that will help her change. most females ive had started around 4" and continued changing till 6". IMO i also think it has to do with maturity. say for instance you have growing power in your water
and she grows really fast, it then might be 5-6" before she colors up. if you dont power feed and keep her in small tank then she could color up at 3.5-4". again i think it has to do with maturity and size combination. but you do have a great female and give her time she'll make you happy. also i have that male saved for you. good luck bro. remember that esch fish is their own and grows at their own rate
and she grows really fast, it then might be 5-6" before she colors up. if you dont power feed and keep her in small tank then she could color up at 3.5-4". again i think it has to do with maturity and size combination. but you do have a great female and give her time she'll make you happy. also i have that male saved for you. good luck bro. remember that esch fish is their own and grows at their own rateMine was about 4" when she really colored up.She was in a community CA tank.Shortly after coloring up she paired with my male and bred.
Thanks for your inputs Ed! I hope you get a pair out of your group eventually.flowerpower;4320151; said:
As always, you the man Jason! Thanks again for the inputs. I'm hoping that the male will bring out the beauty in herFreshwaterpredators;4320479; said:since your female is already starting to show color you'll be happy to know that she will color up unlike some others. she will continue to color up gradually untill you add some tankmates or a male, that will help her change. most females ive had started around 4" and continued changing till 6". IMO i also think it has to do with maturity. say for instance you have growing power in your water
Can't waitThanks fishluvr! Would you recommend that I have the female in a community of cichlids to bring out her color quicker? I'm thinking of doing this also when I get the male to hopefully get them to bond/pair easier.fishluvr12;4320567; said:
Thanks fishluvr! Would you recommend that I have the female in a community of cichlids to bring out her color quicker? I'm thinking of doing this also when I get the male to hopefully get them to bond/pair easier.[/QUOTE]
As You know individuals vary but mine have always been more active and less shy in a community.Of course once they are larger and if You have a breeding pair this may not work.I currently have a 10" male and 9" female in a 135gal community. Even with fry it works but some pairs won't tolerate others when spawning.As long as the other fish back down and get out of the way mine let them co-exist.But if anyone challenges the male beats em down.
As You know individuals vary but mine have always been more active and less shy in a community.Of course once they are larger and if You have a breeding pair this may not work.I currently have a 10" male and 9" female in a 135gal community. Even with fry it works but some pairs won't tolerate others when spawning.As long as the other fish back down and get out of the way mine let them co-exist.But if anyone challenges the male beats em down.
As others have said, once mine got about 4" or so, they started developing from the yellow-ish color to the orange coloring.