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hey guys,some of you mite remember a while back i got a texas pair,and decided to put the texas pair in with my blue acara pair in a 89gal,(some of you said i was crazy,but these ba are worse than convicts,you have to own a pair to know what i mean,longhair will back me on that 1 im sure)anyway it lasted quite while,each pair having had hundreds of eggs in turn,and the ba keeping the texas gently in check,all was going great,all 4 fish looked real nice,cause most of the time they were in breeding dress,but getting on fine,some people just couldnt beleave i had these 4 fish in together with no probs!untill one day when the small female texas said no more babies,well this,from what can gather,angered the male texas,so this sort of sent him nutso and even thoo ha was the biggest fish in the tank(he over took the ba),and for some reason he started to harrass the ba,and this was a BAAADDD move,because then the ba,just started on both the texas,and just didnt stop untill the pair was both dead,and this all happened just as the shops were closing,and since they had been so well behaved for so long,i made the stupid mistake of lending my divider to my friend,who had aggression problems,so cause of this,the ba just had there way,and it was curtains for the texas,so ive left em alone for a while and got my divider back,so i went and got 2 more texas,they are in there with the ba,and they are getting on fine,except now this time because the texas arent a pair,the male texas badly harrasses the small female texas,so im trading up the 2 texas,and im guna try a festae pair,how do you guys rekon the ba pair will handel a festae pair,im more comcerned for the well being of the festae pair,these 2 ba are killers when they want to be...

*coughs loudly*
I told you so.

If they are killers dont put anything else in with them. Some fish cant share tank space.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

MEZ,what do you mean you told me so,you are WRONG,as i recall you said,"peaces of blue acara",and as me and longhair said they done the complete oppisite,the ba killed the texas,not the other way round
ANYWAYZ,so you rekon no go lindy?well its hard to understand what im saying over the net,but the ba im talking about,even thoo they CAN be killers,they never really bother with tankmates,UNTILL provoked,they make no real large demands on territory,as i said they pretty much stick to themselves,as long as they are left alone!plus ive got my divider back,because the ba are still small,the tank looks so empty,when the 2 ba are just in there,ill have a think.

i also said it would all end in upset.
Either keep them in a tank suitable for their requirements or trade them for something you can provide for. I suggest either a tank of their own or taking them to the LFS.

i sort of new the ba would do this,just wish i had the divider at the time,im gunna go for some festae! i had a look a some today,so the texas are going back 2 morro,and im gunna bring home some festaethey are bigger than the ba,so ill see how they go,and if these 4 dont work,ill give in and they can have the tank to them selves

In the words of Barry and Paul Chuckle, "Oh dear oh dear".
What you going to do, get a small one, let it get beat up by the acaras, or get a big one that kills them?
Don't you ever learn?

I think your about to find the limit on BA's there, thats a no from me on festae, thats armageddon in a single fish. Nothing much beats a festae, especially not a female. Seriously, if the festae is within the same weight leagues as those acara they will both be dead in days, maybe mere hours.

Ive seen festae that could kill convicts in seconds, I knew your acaras could defend themselves from a texas, and you said you had a divider hence the risk could be controlled, indeed any midrange cichlid should be given space free of other fish when raising fry as otherwise fsevere fighting will break out , and even so the worst has happened and the acaras have proven to everyone how tough they really can be in fry defense, hopefully serving a useful purpose that it stops people cavalierly recommending them as peaceful, though I would rather it hadnt come with the price tag of the death of a texas cichlid, but the acara and the festae will go to war almost instantly if the festae is old enough to have a single hormone in its body.

This you must not do. Seriously a terror has that name for a reason, a female can kill practically anything, some would make a dovi or a jaguar run for it. A red terror can kill an oscar, fully adult , in minutes, your blues are tough, and intelligent, but next to that, just meat. There wont be even a ceasefire, the war will be instant, seriously, a flowerhorn would be more passive. A female devil in breeding condition will practically kill itself trying to get to an acara that gives any kind of display, I wouldnt rely on a divider, seperate aquaria only.

Seriously all the big cichlid forum garbage aside, the red terror is a fish that goes at it like no other. Pound for pound it probably really is the worlds most aggressive cichlid that has the absolute intention of exterminating cagemates that it can beat easily, and it will beat an acara easily. Ive seen them with fry, you really dont wanna go there. The only things ive seen more explosive that a red terror are some of the african cichlids, and thank god theyre small, because if they were any bigger, theyd beat your cat up! In fact if you watch jewels of the rift, theres footage of some beating the hell out of an 8 kilo turtle. Red terrors arent far off that, I kid you not. Youve never seen persecution like it.

You'll notice even the idiots on youtube who like their fish to fight, something I would call animal cruelty, dont have fry producing red terrors in with anything else. When breeding they are the wrath of god. A liplock between an acara and a festae will end with an acara missing a lower jaw, the festae will then go into centre -punching it, giving it internal injuries it will never recover from, and if the acara doesnt die of shock from that alone, then the devil will proceed to removing its eyes, and taking its fins out,maybe pulling out its gill tissue, grabbing it and shaking it like a rag doll.

Really seriously, dont put them in the same aquarium. A red terror is jack the ripper to a blue acaras gangsters moll. It can only go one way. They fight the same damn way, the males take the liplock, the females tear the opposition to pieces, but the terror is 5 leagues above. It wont work, it cant work.

I have to agree with git here, as the festae are some very mean and nasty fish when they want to be.

If you have the divider, then use it. Why risk injury to some fish, just to see if it will work. Especially when there are already ways and means to prevent the injuries.

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There is always a bigger fish...

who the hell is paul and barry?go crash someone elses posting!FINALLY a answer,well lh,now that YOU have said it,ill listen,i dig the way you expalin stuff,the texas are gone,and the ba have the tank to them self,but after seeing what the ba are babies are like that i dropped off,the dude at my lfs shop,rekons they will pick on the festae,and lh just a few questionsive had festae b4 twice in a comunity tank,and they were well behaved both times,have you kept these guys b4?
i must say in the post above its like you are describing the every day normal behavour of a flowerhorn,not a festae,i know these guys are nasty,but i dint think they were at that level of aggression,well i think i mite move the ba pair,and give a festae pair a go,in the 89gal,by themselves,wadda you rekon lh

Yeah, I adopted a pair of festae many moons ago,in an animal rescue capacity, and with the tankmove they spawned, and while moving decor they would lay into my arms with a bite power that really hurt, repeated machine gun attacks with shakes, stuff my acaras couldnt have done even on their best day, a convict wouldnt have been in the same league. One in particular (the female) used to grab the skin on the back of my fingers and back right up, stretching it out a good cm or so, and leaving it pink and sore, lil buggers.lol.

Unfortunately the old owner (a useless raging junkie)cleaned his life up and I was rather unwillingly asked to return them just after I got them clear of disease, and well enough to breed, but the guy who owned them had allowed them to kill an oscar, and a couple of viejas. If it were up to me , he would never have gotten them back. I doubt things ended well for them, but thats how it goes with fish, animal authorities are loathe to spend time and money investigating abuses with fish.


You know how it goes you have to take cichlids as individuals , some are laid back and some like these guys you cant take a risk on because their killing power is immense. You only have to be wrong about them , and not there for an hour, and its all over. Fine if like me , your indoors most of the time and around to spot it, not so if you have to go out to work or school for the day.

A texas a risk could be taken with, I think the outcome was unfortunate, certainly ive seen large texas that BA's would acheive standoff with, but a festae is a different attitude.

I think just going with a festae pair in an 89 gallon without the BA there is much better. Cool fish in their own right,not to mention a clasically beautiful cichlid with gorgeous markings and colour, but not one for community, even cichlid community.

Im sure in an 89 gallon of their own they would be very happy.

well i think i mite go with that then mate,ive had ba for ages now,as much as i love the little turds,its time for something new,plus ive still got my other pair of ba.well thanx for the imput lh,as always im very greatfull for all the info you drop upon me,ill hit yous back up when ive made the change over...when the ba are gone,if my guy dosent have a pair,ill get like 10 festae,and let them pair them self