Red terror growouts

Kayden

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2018
158
252
87
21
Arkansas
Maybe this is obvious, but
View attachment 1545574
Above, is the size habitat a male festae (or any largish cichlid) might patrole in its daily routine,
driving away any other male, or unreceptove female away. Including a female he just spawned with, if space seems at a premium.
So when we place a male festae in a 6 or 8 ft tank, while it may seem like a substancial amount of water to a human,
to an adult festae, it is merely a puddle.
So precaucions must be made, to assure safety (especilly for a smaller female) in such a small space.
Many experienced breeders provide incomplete dividers just for this purpose. https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/festae/2nd round/.highres/052_zps510addc2.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

Tbh I was suprised at how well they were all cohabitating and pretty much expected it to happen any day, just not while they had fry lol!! That’s why I had the tanks up just in case. Love the divider idea, however as Leroy is the pet in the main room. The wife likes the idea a little less. I’m sure I’ll figure something out.


Very sorry to hear.. It can be challenging, but also extremely rewarding if / when you're able to figure it out.. fortunately, it seems you have enough tanks to move them around until you get a combo that works.. maybe some targets could help.. I've used amatitlania and cryptoheros species w/ some success.. but gotta also keep an eye on them as they'll try to breed with anything.. GL 🤞
definitley something I have considered. Need to up my amount of dithers as well. The tank had almost no decoration so I’m soaking some root balls I cut up this last storm to provide hiding too.
majen I try to reintroduce them I will do all 4 and let the big female and Leroy pair up naturally again. And remove the smaller ones when they breed.
was thinking about a group of some west Andes geophagine species perhaps? Or maybe some crenicichla To act as a target species.

want to do my best to keep it as South American as possible. Really hard mixing continents.
 

troublesum

Dovii
MFK Member
Dec 28, 2007
531
458
102
Astoria, NY
Once a Festae gets aggressive its a wrap might as well keep it solo i have a 8in female F1 who is a complete killer she is now in a 125 solo as she has killed over 8 fish. the sad thing IME they are not very personable they don't bang the glass or glass surf beautiful fish i just wish they would interact a little bit more. it would be a little easier for me to keep her i even did the divider she just hurt herself trying to go thru it she then got the bright idea to try and jump over it broke my glass lid lost half her scales just relentless fish
 

Kayden

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2018
158
252
87
21
Arkansas
Once a Festae gets aggressive its a wrap might as well keep it solo i have a 8in female F1 who is a complete killer she is now in a 125 solo as she has killed over 8 fish. the sad thing IME they are not very personable they don't bang the glass or glass surf beautiful fish i just wish they would interact a little bit more. it would be a little easier for me to keep her i even did the divider she just hurt herself trying to go thru it she then got the bright idea to try and jump over it broke my glass lid lost half her scales just relentless fish
He hasn’t killed the silver dollars or bala shark he’s in the tank with, so I still have hope. We will see though!
 

bkfamus

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2020
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definitley something I have considered. Need to up my amount of dithers as well. The tank had almost no decoration so I’m soaking some root balls I cut up this last storm to provide hiding too.
majen I try to reintroduce them I will do all 4 and let the big female and Leroy pair up naturally again. And remove the smaller ones when they breed.
was thinking about a group of some west Andes geophagine species perhaps? Or maybe some crenicichla To act as a target species.

want to do my best to keep it as South American as possible. Really hard mixing continents.
i hear you re: sticking SA.. I tried geophagus steindachneri w/ my stals when growing out.. but ultimately had to remove them as the dominant stals took over.. maybe can work if they're bigger.. I never kept pikes so I have no insight into them, but sounds like a good option..

re: dithers, SDs gave worked well for me.. Triportheus and Tetragonopterus have also worked well for me.. others have been hit or miss.. although i have some large colombian tetras and SDs currently with my stals...
 

Foamhead

Feeder Fish
Apr 16, 2023
1
0
6
29
Once a Festae gets aggressive its a wrap might as well keep it solo i have a 8in female F1 who is a complete killer she is now in a 125 solo as she has killed over 8 fish. the sad thing IME they are not very personable they don't bang the glass or glass surf beautiful fish i just wish they would interact a little bit more. it would be a little easier for me to keep her i even did the divider she just hurt herself trying to go thru it she then got the bright idea to try and jump over it broke my glass lid lost half her scales just relentless fish
Hey still have female red terror for sale ??
 

Kayden

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2018
158
252
87
21
Arkansas
Big boy Leroy showing off for our guests at a party we had Tuesday. Never seen his spangling this bright before!

IMG_7175.jpeg
 

Kayden

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2018
158
252
87
21
Arkansas
Don’t tell Leroy I said this, but he’s a pretty boy 😅😂
I’ll show him your comment when I get home LOL!!! He really is tho, the females are gorgeous in their own way. But the combination of greens, blues, and reds the males have has to be my favorite look of any cichlid. I’ve been working on his skittishness too and he’s finally starting to come into his own personality. Gonna buy a bunch of scraping material, and make an egg crate barrier to try reintroducing the female. Fingers crossed for me!
 
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