# Real or fake Festae?



## Galc (May 12, 2011)

I got this 4-5" fish which suppose to be Festae from my friend and his "festae" shows its beatufull yellow/red coloration while mine is not showing that coloration. Now I am in doubts is this real Festae and needs time/grow up to get its coloration, or it is real Festae which does not feel well in my tank, or it is just not what it is suppose to be. Wat do you think guys and gals? Is it real or fake Feaste?


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Yes, that is a festae.
Looks like a male but not 100% certain as I can't fully see the dorsal fin because it is down a little bit. Female have either a black blotch in the middle of the dorsal fin, or the 1st half of the dorsal fin is dark.


----------



## Galc (May 12, 2011)

BC in SK said:


> Yes, that is a festae.
> Looks like a male but not 100% certain as I can't fully see the dorsal fin because it is down a little bit. Female have either a black blotch in the middle of the dorsal fin, or the 1st half of the dorsal fin is dark.


This suppose to be male - this is what friend told me. And the other I have should be female. I will take more pic of both of them soon. Thanks so far.


----------



## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Male Festae and nice coloring for such a small fish


----------



## Galc (May 12, 2011)

As I promised, here are more picot festae pair I am owning.

Male in front and female in background:









This suppose to be female:









































And this suppose to be male:


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

The 2 supposed males, there is enough good pictures there to be reasonably certain they are males. The supposed female, pretty sure, but can't be certain it is female. Usually the dorsal spot is a little more prominent on females, but it is visible on all pictures. As well, usually females don't exhibit that much blue.....though there are always exceptions because of different conditions, states, moods, or just the particular individual or different strain.


----------



## Galc (May 12, 2011)

BC in SK said:


> The 2 supposed males, there is enough good pictures there to be reasonably certain they are males. The supposed female, pretty sure, but can't be certain it is female. Usually the dorsal spot is a little more prominent on females, but it is visible on all pictures. As well, usually females don't exhibit that much blue.....though there are always exceptions because of different conditions, states, moods, or just the particular individual or different strain.


I was actually pretty sure they are male and female because they quite differ. I did not notice any blue spots at female and bars are much more recognizable and is much more orange at any time while male is gray and blur. Also their behavior quite differ. I notice that male is territorial while female is not and also at feeding female is first while male is examine food before he going for it. I know most of this are not reliable signs.

I think I will take new photos of female today because I am not 100% sure all belong to supposed female (especially 2nd and 5th female pic) - it could be that I mix them unfortunately.


----------



## Galc (May 12, 2011)

I did took some more pic today. I found it is difficult to take a pic of them. But this is best I could get.
Both supposed male and female:








And female (I don't think there is so much blue dots on "her" in real):









To be more sure what I am having I took decision to take some close pic for venting in hope you can help me sexing them.
1.

























2.


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Based on the pictures, the supposed female appears to be a female based on the dorsal spot. The spot is visible and is a reliable indicator of sex, but like anything it's never 100%. Not too sure what more you are looking for.

Venting....I'll leave that to someone else. It is not a method that I have ever had to use. Difficult to distinguish, as pictures are not always clear enough. People have sometimes gotten it wrong with this method but I suppose there is experience, knowledge and skill involved. 
Male and female definitely do have different genitals.....but I observe the fish in the water from a straight on angle. Usually in a matter of weeks to months, the sex becomes more then obvious on CA/SA cichlids, so I have never had any need to physically remove the fish and try to vent them.


----------



## Galc (May 12, 2011)

BC in SK said:


> Based on the pictures, the supposed female appears to be a female based on the dorsal spot. The spot is visible and is a reliable indicator of sex, but like anything it's never 100%. Not too sure what more you are looking for.
> 
> Venting....I'll leave that to someone else. It is not a method that I have ever had to use. Difficult to distinguish, as pictures are not always clear enough. People have sometimes gotten it wrong with this method but I suppose there is experience, knowledge and skill involved.
> Male and female definitely do have different genitals.....but I observe the fish in the water from a straight on angle. Usually in a matter of weeks to months, the sex becomes more then obvious on CA/SA cichlids, so I have never had any need to physically remove the fish and try to vent them.


Should I make some close up from a straight angle - would this help venting?


----------

