Blushing Festivum Cichlid

Description

Barred Cichlid, Festive Cichlid, Festivum Cichlid, Flag Cichlid, Merry Sailer Fish, Mesonauta festivus spp. “Blushing”
Max size: about 7.9 inches (19.99 cm)
Temp: 72.0 to 82.0° F (22.2 to 27.8° C)
Native to: Northern South America: from Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay

The Blushing Festivum is a colorful mutation hybrid of the Flag Cichlid, Mesonauta festivus. This is a beautiful and peaceful cichlid that is not too common in the fish industry. It is often used in tanks with other cichlids of its shape, such as Severums, Angels, Threadfin Acara, and Keyhole Cichlids. Its scientific name describes this fish better…..the genus: Mesonauta means middle sailor, distinguished and remarkable, and the species term festivus means Merry or Handsome. The Festivum has been a favorite in the aqua hobby for over 100 years, was first introduced in 1908, and bred in captivity in W. Germany at the Weinhausen Aquarium of Brunswick in 1911.

The Festivum is a very social cichlid and prefers to be kept in larger groups so keep this in mind when stocking your animals. Festivums can be kept in a community aquarium with a variety of other fish, even lots of smaller fish, except Neon Tetras as for some reason Neon Tetras are appetizing to Festivums. When you get a Festivum first acclimated to your new tank, do not worry about odd behavior such as laying on their side on the bottom of the tank for a while as this is just a narmal part of how they act when they get moved. Keep lights off your tank for better part of the day when you add them to your tank.

This is a very easy fish to care for, but they are a timid cichlid and need to be able to hide in rock caves or under wood or within densly planted tanks for best results.

We generally only offer larger sized versions of this fish about 2.5 – 3″ is common which represents our great pricing. But periodically will have smaller ones available.  The default variant is for the smaller and so on.