Where can I get a real deal Festae??

[vaypourus]

I separated the second female from the tank. The fish are still very skittish, but are no longer afraid of me. Like my jags, these fish definitely recognize me and will come to greet me. They hide if somebody else walks over to the tank or if I go to the tank with company.

Here's a pic of the male checking me out. He has grown nearly an inch in length since I ordered them and is starting to get a bit of a nuchal hump. He also has a gorgeous blue hue in the face (doesn't show in photos), and gets stripes when I'm not around.

The female has put on about 1/2" in length and a ton of girth. She has a fat belly...hoping for a spawn soon. Her colors are spectacular, but her black stripes fade to blue when she sees me, hence the reason I haven't been able to get a photo. Hoping they will completely warm up to me soon.

 

[vass69]

Hey man the female I bought from you just layer a ton of eggs!!!!

 

[vaypourus]

Hey man the female I bought from you just layer a ton of eggs!!!!

You serious?!?! Damn! Bring that one back...you took the wrong one!

Lets see some pics!

 

[vass69]

I will later this weekend, i found them then i had to leave. Family emergency... i will be back in buffalo sunday... i hope everything stays sane in that tank....

 

[bomillyiam]

there is a simple solution to being sure you're getting festae. ask for current pics. I too thought about purchasing those festae from TFD. Called and spoke to him when they weren't moving and he had about 100. i asked him to send me current photos because the one on Aquabid was several months old and only depicted what they looked like when he first got them and the fish in the photo was obviously in distress. So I wanted to see what they looked like after having time to settle in. He said the photos were a good representation of of what they looked like. He offered to reduce the cost if I bought 20 or more, but he was very adamant about not sending current photos. i asked if one of his young workers could take a snapshot of their holding tank with their cell phone and send it to me, how much trouble is that? still he refused. So he made me feel like he might not have the real thing, or that he didn't want to bother. He's got a large operation, and he wasn't concerned with losing my business. He did turn out to have true festae and eventually sold them all, but they were there a long time.

 

[fishguts]

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.

well dont believe what you hear. i know 2 people who sold him fish. a local breeder and myself. wanted to pay next to nothing for the fish and charge much more while we tried to encourage him to just double our price so he could pass it off to the lfs for a lower price then to the consumer for faster turnover rate but he would pay (not going to say) then ask 3-4 times the price. i asure you that a 1.50 per fish is wrong. that was off topic but i thought id give you a little insight. well hes all out of festae now. looks like ill have to take care of that.