# Amphilophus festae



## eakdaman (May 15, 2008)

I am picking up a 150 gallon tank tomorrow. I want red terrors. I would like to start with 6 until a pair forms, and then get rid of the others. I would also like some other species in this tank. Maybe a couple bottom / alge feeders, and maybe another species. Can anyone with Red Terror experience provide me with some recomendations? Also, can I trust local fish stores to special order me actual Red Terrors, or is there someone better to get them from?


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I have never kept them myself, but around here if you order red terrors from most lfs you would get mayan cichlids instead of festae. In fact, I saw true festae for the first time in a lfs on sat. So the order would depend on how common they are where you live. For instance, if I wanted some I would either get them via mailorder or order them from this one LFS that has the true ones ... becuase the odds would be better than a place that has mayan's listed as red terrors (even though it is hard to tell the differance with some races of mayans when young).


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## DirtyBlackSocks (Jan 24, 2008)

True Festae aren't hard to come by out here in California, though they're costly.

I've never personally bred them, but know a few people with breeding pairs and the general concensus I've seen is that in the long term a single pair will need a 180 gallon tank for the male not to eventually kill the female.

They're highly aggressive, probably the most aggressive of all SA cichlids - as far as tank mates are concerned. I've seen dither fish such as silver dollars used, as well as pleco's - but never anything else.

I would check over at monsterfishkeepers.com as I know there are quite a few users there that keep, and breed festae.


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

eakdaman said:


> Also, can I trust local fish stores to special order me actual Red Terrors, or is there someone better to get them from?


Depends on the store. I had a store that just closed and they would order anything for me correctly, but that depends on who you are working with. If it is a smaller LFS and you can deal directly with the manager I've had good luck. Alternately, ask them if they order from seagrest (sp?)farms in florida, lots of shops do. They have an online catalog for consumers where you can get the part number and give that to your LFS. At the LFS I trusted he would just pull up their website and I would watch him order it.


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## convictkid (Jul 28, 2004)

Jeff Rapps at Tangledupincichlids.com has true red terrors for 7 bucks a peice I think. ABout 1.5 inches. Jeff Is relible as most would probably agree.


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## eakdaman (May 15, 2008)

Thank you, I emailed him about it already.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Excpect to be waiting a long time for them to grow.... Well worth the wait though :thumb: 
Keep us posted


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

[quote"TFG"]Excpect to be waiting a long time for them to grow...[/quote]

about how long? I was think of getting some.


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## misplacedsooner (Apr 13, 2007)

might try ken davis aka fishfarm


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## convictkid (Jul 28, 2004)

Yea are they unusually slow growerS? How are they compared to green terrors, or trimacs?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Not sure how they compare to trimacs, but very similar to green terrors that I've had.


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## convictkid (Jul 28, 2004)

SO they grow very slow eh


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## DirtyBlackSocks (Jan 24, 2008)

As with any SA fish, keeping nitrates under 20 ppm and power feeding somthing with a protein content of at least 40%, preferably 50% until they reach about half of their adult size will yield good results, but requires bare bottom tanks and a lot of water changes to keep up...


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Excellent advice *DirtyBlackSocks* :thumb:


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## Emo1truth (Jan 23, 2007)

so are these fish considered rare? anyone here have pics of their's?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

They're not exactly rare, a lot of people just don't keep them because they get huge and take a long time to get that way. They can be found though... Personally I think it's worth the wait


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## convictkid (Jul 28, 2004)

here is a video of a pair on youtube, thers links to more on the side. Man there is no other red in fresh water like a female red terror, I just want 1 female red terror in my SA 125


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## eakdaman (May 15, 2008)

Can the Red Terrors take pellets, or are they an only live or frozen meet type fish?


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

You should be able to get them on pellets ... though freeze-dried krill will help their red colors!!!


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## eakdaman (May 15, 2008)

Ok, I just ordered 6 from Jeff Rapps. Its expensive to ship them, but at least I will be getting real Red Terrors. Thanks to the cichlid-forum, I was able to quickly diagnose the listed Red Terrors as fakes at my local fish store. How can these stores not know the difference?


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## DirtyBlackSocks (Jan 24, 2008)

At times the stores do know the difference and simply don't care - others are old school and haven't gotten on the internet to see all of the differences, these guys run a business, they're generally not hobbyists in the sense of you and me - so they'll list theme as whatever sales.

Post some pics when your fish come in, festae are awesome


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## convictkid (Jul 28, 2004)

Yep I can't wait for pictures either.


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