[AnDr3w]

I've read all of the info I can find on them, but I'd like to know more.

I know how big they get, and I'm getting the real deal F1 babbies from Jeff Rapps, not Uro's.

The ones I'm getting are 1.5 inchers, four of them, and they are temporaraly going into a 30 gallon grow out. Then to a 75, then a 210. Once there is a pair, I'll sell the rest off. So....

What can I feed them? Will krill and blood worms be ok?

How fast can/will they grow? I can't ever find info on growth rate. Please help!

 

[gage]

pellets are always a better staple diet for most cichlids, NLS is a great pellet, along with omega 1 and quite a few more like hikari and such, *** heard bloodworms are hard for fish to digest becuz of there coating, but a treat is ok every once and a while, they really like it, krill is a good option, but its really high in protein so dont feed it everyday, id say twice a week. *** never owned them, so i cant say anything on growth rate. Mysis shrimp is also a very good quality frozen food, the best brand IMO is piscine, but any other brand works to. i personally like the omega 1 foods the best, but a lot of people may disagree, variety is best

 

[Mistersprinkles]

THeres very little out there that could just eat krill and bloodworms.

You need a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, etc

As mentioned NLS is a good choice and comes in sizes from sand to coco-puff for all sizes of fish. The appropriate NLS pellet size of the 'cichlid' or 'grow' formula will be a good choice.

You can use the krill (chopped when they are still young) and mysis shrimp as a supplement in small amounts every day or every other day, but do not exceed 20% max of their diet with this.

I also don't really recommend the bloodworms because the insect protein and fats they contain is not as practical to the fish's biological needs as the nutrition that can be found in mysis shrimp or krill.

If you want to learn more about fish's nutritional needs and digestion you can look it up in google there is a lot of interesting stuff to learn.

If you can not find New Life Spectrum an alternative would be Hikari's Cichlid Complete or Cichlid Bio Gold or Cichlid Excel, in that order. I wouldn't go any lower end than that.

Dainichi also makes an excellent pellet, which must be ordered online www.dainichi.com if you do not have a distributor nearby. the caveat of their formulas is their very low inclusion of fats, which must be taken into account especially when growing fish out, for which I do not recommend their use except supplementarily or as part of a very calculated diet.

 

[AnDr3w]

Ok cool I'll remember that stuff. So would you say NLS or Hikari Cichlid Complete would be a better choice?

 

[AnDr3w]

Which would you say is better? 4 or 6 Festae?

Also, when will I know if I have a pair, and what size/age will they breed at? How can I get them to breed? Is there a certain trigger that I must do, like a large waterchange or something? Thanks.

 

[Frameshift]

If you're going for a pair you only have a 6% better chance of getting both sexes with 6 vs. 4 (93.7% vs. 87.5%).

Festae grow kind of slow for a cichlid, if you get 1" a month you're lucky. They can breed at about the 6" mark. They're notorious for killing mates, so the partial divider method is best.

 

[AnDr3w]

So if you were in my situation, which would you get. 6 or 4?

 

[redhotwheel98]

if you really want a pair then get 6 youll have a better chance why not if you re going to get rid of the others anyway.

 

[Frameshift]

I'm a cheap ass, so I'd get 4.

 

[AnDr3w]

lol.

They are not that expensive, so I think I will put in the extra few dollars and get 6. With shipping costs, I'd rather have extra fish then not enough fish.

 

[Toby_H]

Have you prearranged a method to rehome the "extra" fish?

With the potential of both size and aggression of these guys most hobbyists shouldn't keep them. Not many shops will eagerly accept fish that aren't suitable for the majority of their clientele...

As Frameshift pointed out the chances of obtaining both sexes are very high with 4 and technically not that much higher with 6... Although, since you are also shooting for a pair that is 'the best of the best'... the larger your original pool to choose from the better chances you'll have at having a more impressive 'best of the best'...

I would allow the rehoming concern be my deciding factor...

 

[AnDr3w]

I understand where you guys are coming from about the tank issues. I'm almost sure I'm going to get rid of my O and jag, but not so sure about the channel. There is a little pond in the front yard, but I'm scared that something might happen to him. He was my first fish and he means a lot to me, so I really do want the best for him. If I can get a 40 breeder in time, the Festae will go in there, until I get my 210 here and set up, and put the catfish in there.

The pond idea could work, but I'd add a heater just incase. In there he could eat bugs and stuff, just like in the wild. But I will still feed him shrimp pellets, algae waffers, and krill.

I will buy some feeder gold fish or giant danios to test whether or not the pond is safe, or, I will go to home depot and get a little pond just for him. Then I'd add a filter and then the Festae will be ok in the 75. :thumbsup:

 

[Toby_H]

Personally I would monitor the conditions in the pond over the winter before I added any tropical fish to it... early morning right before sunrise will (theoretically) be when the pond is the coldest...

I've looked into large heaters and they are very expensive to buy and extremely expensive to power...

 

[AnDr3w]

Ok guys this is what I've come up with.

Originaly, I was going to get:
1) Breeding pair of Geo. Red Head Tapajos
4) Festae
2) Geo Brasilensis

Now, this is what I'm doing.
I'm buying a kiddie pool at walmart for 10 dollars, it's 211 gallons, and around 1 foot deep.

Something like this. http://thefuntimesguide.com/images/b...pool_trash.jpg
Just put it in your browser and then press enter, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So anyway, I'm taking my 12" channel, 8" oscar and 7" jag, and putting them in the kiddie pool. I'm not sure how I'll filter yet, but I will figure something out.
This leaves only my 5" pictus cat in the 75g.

Now, here is the revised list of what I'm getting from Jeff Rapps.
1) Male Geo. Red Head Tapajos ~6"
2) Geo. Brasiliensis ~1.5"
6) Festae ~1.5"
1) Wild Red Devil ~2"

So, my new male Geo will go in my 29g with my old 6" female. They will be by themselves, except for a royal pleco.

The 6 festae, and the 1 RD will go in the 75 gallon tank, with my pictus.

Then I will have my channel, O and jag in my kiddie "pond"

What do you guys think?

 

[AnDr3w]

The pool/pond

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... hp?t=72973

 

[HanDsomB1derful]

google fresh water fish of western peru about 2 pages of results but 1 of the sites say that the intestine tract of wild caught festae showed more herbivoruos tendencies than GT caught in the same water if that helps any more with your original question :thumb:

 

[AnDr3w]

Actually that is quite intresting. I want to make my own food, or at least try to, and I will definatly add veggies.

Oh yea. I found that the pellet food I have been using for over a year turned out to be NLS cichlid pellet. How dumb of me! It is like sand grain size, so I need a bigger pellet. What is the next size up? Coco puff sized?

 

[blackghost]

oops. Made a post then realised that this thread is two years old, so changed it to this.
D'oh.