red terrors

[cichlidkid]

ok yay I finally got one. she Is soo cute! I will post pics soon. Rapps says you can get females with spangling on the body but you will never get black allong the doral of a male. She is young, still arround 3 inches and pretty scrawny. Does anyone know at what size/age they start really showing color? right now there is prety much just 7 black splotches on her sides but when she is pissed you can start to see really faint blueish black barrs. she has a bit of spangling, who knows maye she will turn out to be nice.

[rudy]

The start showing some serious color at about 6-8 inches. Definately grow them out with other fish as a festae is a brutal solitary fish. Where they really shine is showing off their stress bars. Dominance thing. Here is some pics of my old pair.

http://www.cichlidgallery.com/album32

http://www.cichlidgallery.com/album65/100_0007_IMG

Grow very slow by the way.

[rudy]

http://www.cichlidgallery.com/album68/100_0004_IMG

This is a wild caught female at about 4 inches. She was pretty spectacular.

[cichlidkid]

colerfull, spangled, lucky

makes mine look like bla

[cichlidkid]

I do have some concerns though. she is one of the smallest fish in my tank. And if they grow slowly...

Exactly how slowly do they grow? like a green terror? what foods can I feed her to speed up her growth? She was one of the bigger festaes in the tank at riverfront. the problem is she is only about 3 inches while my midas is 5. Maybe being the smallest in the tank will humble her.

also should I be concerned that she isnt showing her stripes? just black splotches like a 5 star general (but 7 splotches) only after she has been fighting you can start to seethe stripes. also she isnt very colorfull compared to other festaes I have seen on the internet of her size. I thought wild coughts where supposed to be pretty.

Edited January 16, 2005 by cichlidkid

[cichlidkid]

Ok rudy im gonna need your help on this one,

I am going to take the plunge, No not the nestea plung, no im not hetting married either I am going to breed my festae :w00t:

I need help on how should I go about breeding the festae. My questions are:

1) how hard is it for the to form a pair

2) what is the size they can pair off at

3) if they are together before they are big enough to pair off when they do will it be easier?

4) what is he term for an f0 cross f1?

5) do you think golds or riverfront would sponser a breeding program and give me a bunch of males on loan for 5 months with a down payment?

6) how many festaes should I purchase?

7) who is more likely to kill whom the mother or the father?

8) what other questions do I need answered?

[shawntraviss]

1) how hard is it for the to form a pair - About as hard as any other agressive cichlid, so keep a divider handy.

2) what is the size they can pair off at - 4" and up.

3) if they are together before they are big enough to pair off when they do will it be easier? - not really, if they arnt compatable they arnt compatable.

4) what is he term for an f0 cross f1? - first captive spawn F0 and F1 is the first captive spawns, spawn....i think.

5) do you think golds or riverfront would sponser a breeding program and give me a bunch of males on loan for 5 months with a down payment? - ummm i dunno lol.

6) how many festaes should I purchase? - all depends on the tank size.

7) who is more likely to kill whom the mother or the father? - Depends on the fish, its a 50/50 area

8) what other questions do I need answered? - What are your going to do with all the fry, most places wont take them before 1", is your tank big enough, can you get a compatable pair, will you have room for fish that arnt compatable at least until you can sell them, do you have the right set up for this, are you willing to use a very large tank for just two fish etc.

:beer:

[FishManTy]

I like Shawn's answer, expecially the last one. Make sure you reallllyy want to dedicate a full tank to just 2 fish. Personally I can't,and I like to float my tanks with fish. Looks better through my eyes.

Also, about 5) Im doubtful that either place would do that, as it will just create long term confusion. They may let you buy as many as you want, and you can sell them back at a good price. Other than that, you may be SOL

[rudy]

Shawn answered that pretty superbly.

As far as a breeding program. I seriously doubt it. Maybe for trade credits in a store.

There is a fine line between hobbyiest and breeder. I personally wouldn't cross it for something that does not command the attention of many hobbiest.

[cichlidkid]

5) do you think golds or riverfront would sponser a breeding program and give me a bunch of males on loan for 5 months with a down payment? - ummm i dunno lol.

6) how many festaes should I purchase? - all depends on the tank size.

As far as a breeding program. I seriously doubt it. Maybe for trade credits in a store.

I said what I said wrong. Bad working on my part. this all reffers to getting a pair. breeding would just be a perk

I think I will buy 2 from albert PROVIDING HE GETS SOME PICS *HINT* *HINT* an a few from riverfront. maybe 1 from jeff if golds does a shipment.

I would keep the surplus for a while and then sell them.

Edited January 21, 2005 by cichlidkid

[dcookcan]

I will be getting a group of festae here in Saskatoon. They are currently small (1") so I am looking at growing them out. When they are big enough, maybe we can don a swap (to diversify the genetic pool). However, this will probably take a year to get them to an appropriate size.

[Froggie]

4) what is he term for an f0 cross f1? - first captive spawn F0 and F1 is the first captive spawns, spawn....i think.

I'm afraid that's not correct Shawn. The Fx designation stands for filial generation, which is literally "the first generation descended from". Though this terminology can denote any linage, it’s typically regarded as the generation descended from wild. Thus F1 fry had wild parents, and so forth.

A cross of a wild fish (F0) and a F1 fish (first generation tank raised) would properly be considered F2.

Incidentally, F0 is a misnomer. The term has no scientific merit. The way I’ve heard it, an exporter started using it on his stock lists to denote wild fish and it ended up sticking. I’d avoid it and just call them wild.

[Nyasa]

I have also heard that a captive bred fish crossed with a wild caught fish is often referred to as a wild crossed fish.

[cichlidkid]

ok I have 4 now and I am hopiing to get a fifth if golds does an order from jeff. the problem is I think they might all be females. the thing is they all have much more spanglaing on the body and tail than my known female but they so have a darker, not black from what I have seen but deffenently a darker blueish green. they also are not showing their barrs as much as my known female but she is the alpha so I kinda expect good colors.

they are all about 3.25 inches

[Tanked]

here is a link to a wild caught pair owned by Chris "Crazyfish" Biggs in Winnipeg that he has up for sale. I was over at his house yesterday picking up some fish and am really tempted by this pair. Absolutley stunning, the female is exactly as pictured.

Rick

http://www.myfreebulletinboard.com/f/index...f&showtopic=865