Colombian festivum

Care at a glance

Overview

The Colombian festivum is a tall, flag-striped cichlid for a calm community, kept as a single fish or a bonded pair. It cruises the upper half of the tank and is peaceful with fish its own size, which is why festivums are a classic companion for angelfish, but it will eat very small tankmates, so choose companions with some care. Feed an omnivore's diet of flake and pellet with frozen foods and some greens. Give it a tank of around 250 liters with tall plants and driftwood it can shelter among, and it will settle and color up.

In the wild

Mesonauta egregius comes from the slow, weedy margins and floodplains of the Orinoco llanos in Colombia and Venezuela, water that is warm and soft to neutral. Aim for a pH between 5.5 and 7.2 and a temperature of about 24 to 28 C. It feels safest with cover overhead, so plant thickly, include some tall plants and floating cover, and add driftwood and leaf litter. Dim, tannin-tinted water suits it and helps show off the dark flag stripe that crosses the body.

Good to know

Mesonauta egregius is a flag cichlid in the family Cichlidae, reaching about 12 centimeters, and was recognized as a distinct western species when the genus was revised in the early 1990s. Its name is Latin for standing out from the flock, or distinguished. Like other festivums it is an open substrate spawner, a pair laying eggs on a leaf or slanted surface and guarding the eggs and fry together.

Did you know

The name egregius means standing out from the flock. It is a slightly ironic label, because the various flag cichlids look so alike that even experts often need to know where a fish was caught to tell the species apart.

Common questions

Related species

• Acora festivum

  Mesonauta acora

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Peruvian festivum

  Mesonauta mirificus

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Guyana festivum

  Mesonauta guyanae

  Freshwater

  4.3 in (11 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Flag cichlid

  Mesonauta festivus

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)37 gal (140 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Banded acara

  Bujurquina vittata

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)34 gal (130 L)68–82°F (20–28°C)

• 

  Blockhead Cichlid

  Steatocranus casuarius

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)25 gal (95 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)