Festae

[Beaker]

Hi Chet! :D I know you're gonna be looking at this post, because you got me curious about this fish. I did a small search, but found little. What can you guys tell me about your personal experiances with this fish?

[Chet]

Well, to tell you the truth, I have yet to gain any personal experience with this fish. I made the mistake of going to the CichlidScene website, with the direction of Rex, and now I'm hooked on big cichlids. I am in the process of clearing my parent's workshop out so I can begin construction on my stand for the 240 gallon. This tank will hold a male Jag, a female Umbee, and a female Festae.

Check out www.cichlidscene.com His female Festae and his Umbee are incredible. Actually, all of his fish are incredible.

Also, check out www.tangledupincichlids.com Look at the pictures of his Festae breeders and his wild male Jag. Now those are some impressive fish.

As far as info goes, Festae are supposed to be right up there with Jags and Dovi as far as aggression goes. They're not called the "Red Terror" for nothing. Females max out in the 12" range, while males can exceed 20". A lone female could be kept in a 75 or 90, but a pair would require a 180 because of the size of the male, and the level of aggression these fish display. They are from the Amphilophus family, so you should not mix them with Midas, Red Devils, or Trimacs. They will either kill each other, or mate with each other. Neither of which is likely to yield a positive result. Hopefully I will have some personal experience to share will ya'll very soon.

Maybe someone else can chime in here...?

[Rex]

Its doubt full that a male will reach 20". But 18" is possible. Also males are generally a lot less aggressive than females.

[SGypsyMermaid]

glad to see you made it back, rex--your audience awaits... :D

[Chet]

Hey Rex, glad to see you're back! Thanks for the correction, as always. Got any pics of your big tank yet? I still want to see your collection.

[Beaker]

I traveled to a semi-LFS about 30 miles away to see what they had today. This place is pretty big, so I go there every once in a while. Well, I saw my first Festae. He was about 8" selling for $40. He was pretty cool like you guys said, I wanted to get him. However, he wouldn't work right now with my set up, and I'm pretty sure he was in a tank by himself for a reason.