Where can I get a real deal Festae??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
*update*

Of the three, 2 are female and 1 is male. The male and one female has seemed to pair up and have began moving all the sand from underneath the large stump in the middle of the tank.

The alpha female is displaying the typical breeding colors, while the male is still an off yellow with a green hue, bright red fins, and turquoise spangling all over. The male is quickly growing the nuchal hump and is slightly larger than the two females.

The second female is almost black all of the time and has become the blunt of a lot of aggression from both the male and other female. I am already making arrangements to move her from the tank before she gets killed.

For the first time since I got them, they are finally comfortable in my presence. This was the only good picture I could get...they don't stay still for long!

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Your right down the road from me, i found a place in Lockport that has half a dozen or so of these at maybe 4-5 inches. I see im alittle late thou. There definately my next purchase. It looks like you got some beauties!
 
buying them as wild caught from tfd is like buying them wild caught from petsmart. there a large wholesaler there not fish experts like rapps and such or even close to it. i dont even think there listed as wild caught. id never give 17.50 for them at that size for wholesale price. all my opinion
 
fishguts;4065075; said:
buying them as wild caught from tfd is like buying them wild caught from petsmart. there a large wholesaler there not fish experts like rapps and such or even close to it. i dont even think there listed as wild caught. id never give 17.50 for them at that size for wholesale price. all my opinion

I've heard all of the horror stories about TFD before ordering, but I had quite a pleasant experience. The rep I spoke with was polite and knowledgeable. Even though FedEx roughed up my package, the fish all arrived as planned and are healthy and growing very quickly.

When I spoke with them on the phone, I specifically asked about them being wild caught as they are listed as such on the aquabid auctions. They said they had gotten an entire brood of young fry right from the source. I suppose they could had lied to me, but why bother? Even at $17.50 per fish, that is still nearly half the price that Rapps charges for F1s WHEN he has the in stock. I waited for months for him to have them, and it hasn't happened yet.

Wild caught or not, I am very pleased with my purchase.

Vass- check your inbox.
 
they could be wild caught but thats why alot of members on here say they dont believe fish are w/c unless they come from a reputable dealer known to specialize in w/c and f1. when i talked with them about making arrangements to buy fish off me and i said they would be f1 fish that i would be selling them they told me they didnt give a rats arse as they are suppliers to lfs and lfs dont care either. myself i dont care if i bought non w/c fish. i do know they do not know what to look for in festae to determine male and female because i had to tell them signs as what to look for. im not saying tfd is bad to buy from because im not going to downgrade them all im saying is there just not known for correctly labling fish and not known to try to carry w/c or f1. they have also never had festae up until they got that batch and they use to have 2 sizes. smaller ones for 7.50 i believe. they sold those ones and now just have the bigger ones. just a little info id share with you. one reason i think they may be w/c is the price there asking. a fish store will never pay that because at a buying price of 17.50 they would have to sell it for 45.00 as fish stores typically raise the price 3-4 times what they pay.
 
My male's display colors are a lot different most of the time. Generally his head is red with an olive color body with blue pearls. My females have the bright yellow body, dark eyes, and bright red tail and dorsal.
 
why would the red terrors be the only fish out of the hundreds listed on the website as w/c. Wouldn't you list others as wild caught to. He says he usully only makes on average a $1.50 per fish. Joe is semi retired and is in the buisness because he loves what he's doing.
 
vaypourus;3951471; said:
Thanks for the link....I'll keep that in mind. I just wish they didn't have a $200 min. order....I just need one fish :(

I just bought $34 worth of fish from TFD. If you ask Joe to do you a favor I bet he will help you out. It worked for me.
 
I have been getting a lot of color variation from these fish over the past couple of days. I think they are still maturing, but they def. change color depending on the mood.

The male has anywhere from a light tan to blueish to yellow body color, and his head goes from a brown to a deep maroon.

The females both go into different modes of coloration; yesterday the non alpha female was in breeding color. Today she is again almost black all over.

Pretty spectacular.
 
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