Red Terror Info Wanted (festae)

[Starfishpower]

one of my friends is wanting to get a red terror. he has a 75 gallon tank that he's wanting to put it in (48"l 19"w 19"h). his main question is how many can he put in there. he's wanting 2, a male and a female. is this possible? if so what kind of set up would be needed for proper care? any other important info would be greatly appreciated

 

[shroob]

one of my friends is wanting to get a red terror. he has a 75 gallon tank that he's wanting to put it in (48"l 19"w 19"h). his main question is how many can he put in there. he's wanting 2, a male and a female. is this possible? if so what kind of set up would be needed for proper care? any other important info would be greatly appreciated

No, afraid it wouldn't be possible for a breeding pair. Males get bigger than that tank could house, getting to possibly 16", though females max out at 12". I would also expect there to be too much aggression between a pair in a too small tank. If your friend wanted, they could have a female in that tank size.

The set up would probably include a piece of bogwood, with tall plants (though not sure how long they would last, some large cichlids like to destroy them for the fun of it). Filtration would have to be heavy (like twice the volume the filter is rated at eg. if a filter say's its good for 75 gallons, buy 2 - As your tank equates to 75 US gallons).

If your friend goes with a female festae, they may be able to get away with a tankmate providing their are clear territories. The fish would have to be able to stand up for itself, so I'm going to suggest a convict. I would also try and get a male convict, though it may be that the female festae won't tollerate tankmates, so I would be prepared to rehome the con or any other occupants. They don't call them terrors for nothing

 

[juanveldez]

as shroob said no he could go with one or the other but not both. if he wants a pair I would say that he needs at least a 150 gal.

 

[Starfishpower]

ok, only get one female if he were to put a convict in there how exactly do you create territories? what, psychologicaly, does the fish use to mentally recognize on area from another and one territory from another? he does have a second tank but im not sure if its big enough to rehome a convict into. i dont know the deminsions but i know its not much smaller than the 75 gallon and he did at one point have a happy healthy full grown oscar (by himself) in there. would it be safe to say if it can house and oscar it can house a convict? oh, and how do you tell a female terror from a male? he might be buying them while they are young, are there any ways to tell the genders apart before adulthood?

 

[Davo86]

Convicts stay much smaller than Oscars so as long as its 30G upwards it should be ok for the single con.
female festaes keep their juveniile markings so if you find some at around 5" or so they should be recognisable.

 

[shroob]

Sexing is quite easy in RT's

The male is the fish in front, the female is the fish behind.

Female:

Thats the fish you want to look out for.

To create territories you should have clear areas specifically for the fish, by this I mean a pile of rocks in one corner or a piece of bogwood, then have another 'territory' in the opposite corner, you can use bogwood, stones, flower pots. Pretty much anything that the fish can hide in. It might also help to have a line of sight barrier between the two areas, tall growing plants or something. Might also help to have something the convict can retreat into, that the RT can't get to, like a pipe or something.