New here - My Festae Cichlid Journal

[mrfestae]

Hi Everyone,

A bit about myself: Been keeping fish for 3 years now. I have done the planted tank thing with a bunch of different community type fish. Decided to switch things up and find a big ol wet pet to connect with.

I choose to try festae cichlid for this as I always admire this fish on youtube. My goal is to keep a solo male but I wouldn't be opposed to keeping a pair if I can do it without having to worry too much about the male beating her up constantly.

I bought 8 very young festae fry (.75-1"). I have them currently growing out in a 90g with plans for a 180g or 220g once needed. Hope to get lots of great advice on here and share the progress along the way. I have no experience with fish this big so this should be very very exciting

Would love to hear what the more experience fish keepers have to offer in terms of care tips / grow out advice. I will post some pictures in a few days once my light comes in from shipping (old light died on me as soon as I got these little guys).

That is all for now,

~ mrfestae

 

[V227]

I'm also a big fan of Red Terrors, and kept a group of 6 in an aggressive community tank for two years. Started with juveniles in a 65 gal. Then expanded to a 120 gal. I found that out of the group, only one male and one female actually colored up. Both quickly outgrew the others.
I kept a beautiful male RIvulatus, GT, with the RT's. He was larger, and more aggressive. The GT's bad attitude actually kept peace amongst the Red Terrors. They evidently were too worried about the GT to fight each other.
You don't necessarily have to make a wet pet out of Red Terrors if you have a big tank. Don't believe everything you read about their potential huge size and uncontrollable aggression.
My largest male and female only reached approx. 9" inches. Tankmates included Silver Dollars, Plecos and various Mbuna used as Dithers. The Mbuna were a big mistake, and I rehomed them. I lost all my Festae to an Oodinium outbreak, introduced into the tank by a quarantined Texas Cichlid. Since then I've gone another direction, keeping Red Texas, Firemouths, and a very docile Flowerhorn.
Might consider adding a few larger, juvenile Firemouths to your tank to help dilute the baby Festae aggression. The Firemouths can take aggression and also dish it out without harming anything. Introduce some BN Plecos and maybe some Synodontis catfish or tough Botia Loaches like the Red Tail or Tiger. No Cory cats. They would eventually be eaten. Be sure to hardscape your tank to break up the line of sight and allowing for numerous hiding places.

 

[Alepop1211]

Always grow out a group to get a pair, it might save you a fish.

 

[Alepop1211]

Good luck with then aggression always triumphs in the end though

 

[mrfestae]

Here are the first pictures of my group. They have been in the tank just a week but already showing some good potential!

 

[mrfestae]

A few more shots. They are about 1" and very active, so don't judgey photos too hard

 

[V227]

Looks like you scored a good batch, and your aquascape looks very nice. Check the dorsal fins. The females will have a black marking in their dorsal. The males typically don't. Pictured was my best female. Check out the dorsal fin.

 

[Barliman]

Festaes are gorgeous, the only large cichlid I'm really tempted to keep. If you haven't already, you might want to check out Mbuna Marcus' videos on YouTube: he has several on a breeding pair of festae he keeps: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Fmyn8vZ1MWbM3W3mSTAbw

 

[mrfestae]

These are his fry

 

[mrfestae]

What age will I have a chance to sex these at? OR size?

 

[V227]

As noted, female Festae usually have a black blotchy mark in their dorsal fin.