New Festae!!!

[cichlid_guy]

hey! i got a new baby festae today!
it is 2", I have it in my hospital tank right now, to see how it gose. then going to be put in the 75gal to grow.
(i have 2 black belts in there about the same size also growing)
(when they get bigger i'll put them in the 300gal.)

Can you tell a female and a male red terror apart?
i think i saw something about blue/black on the fin, but can't remember.

I'm very happy, I went with my "wife-to-be" shopping down to South Bend, IN, there is a pet shop i like to stop and look if we head that way. well they had lots to look at. then i saw the
red terrors! $2.50 each. (I had only seen one other red terror around here and it was 6" or so and was $50!

SO I jumped on getting a baby!
(kind of thinking i should have bought 2 of them.)
but i wasn't sure how to tell a pair. there was only 3 there.

I have some questions:

How fast do they grow?
i plan to feed it my beefheart mix after it gets bigger.

how mean do they get?

And how do you sex them?

Thanks
I'll try to get a few pic's for it soon.

scottie

 

[MoJo]

Growth rate is average as large Central American Cichlids go. Being of the Amphilophus species (Like the Red Devil) they can get a bit feisty. This too will depend on the size of the tank and their tankmates.

I read your other post about being concerned if it was a "true" Red Terror (Festae) or a "False" RT (Uropthalmus). A good deal of the fish offered on the market today labledd as RT's are in fact, Urop's. The best way to tell is the EyeSpot at the tail end of the fish. A true RT will have a smaller eye spot taking less than half of the width of the peduncle of the fish. A Urop's will be much larger. This can be tricky to tell at that size...and if you don't have one of each to compare. The other way I have seen is that the foremost front band of the fish will form a "Y" at the top. In a Urop it will just be a band.

Males can be easily spoted because a lack of drk blotching in their front dorsalfin. Female have it. Males don't. Here's a link to some pictures of Festae on my site. Make sure to check out the Cichlid Scene's site for more of the Festae photos.

Easy on the beefheart. That's good to supplement the diet not sustain the fish. As with most things variety is the spice of life. Try Krill and shrimp in the diet. Eatrhworms work great. Stay away from any feeders.

Good luck.

 

[cichlid_guy]

thank you for the information!
i'm kind of leaning to its a Festae.
its sopt is hard to figure out, but its not all the way down the
tail. and the "Y" strip i wasn't sure about that till i looked at some of your pictures. It didn't really make a "Y" but had forward leaning strips in head. but i saw the same thing on your Festae.
I Have my fingers crossed!

Oh, the beefheart mix i have is mixed with all kinds of goodies!
shrimp, food flakes, pellits, pea's, carrets, spinage, garlic,
Color enhancing pellets, and a very small amount of Multivitemins.

I use this as a staple for my cichlids.
I also feed criket, worms, guppies as treats
(i only feed guppies onecs a month!) they get crikets and worms
about once a week to once every two weeks.

I have 2-Tiger Oscars
1-Jack Dempsey
1-Firemouth
2-Black belts
1-Texas

And now a red terror

they are in a 300gal and a 75gal (living room tank)
Im growing up the 2 black belts and the red terror.

now when they get bigger i'll put them in my 300gal, and pick the nicest fish or pair for the Living Room 75gal Tank.

I hope things go well with the red terror and the oscars.
I'm sure the black belts can run with the red terror. but my Oscars are on the shy side.

I might even trade or give away my JD and Firemouth.
not sure yet.


Anyway!

Thanks

Scottie