Benefits of keeping Amphilophus festae fish in an aquarium and how to maintain it
Amphilophus festae fish comes from South America and lives in public waters in the Amazon river and surrounding areas. Because it has an aggressive and territorial character, Amphilophus festae is also known by another name, Red Terror Cichlid.
Amphilophus festae fish is a type of freshwater fish and belongs to the cichlid family. Fish included in the cichlid family have a very high diversity, both in shape, color, size, and behavior.
The habitat of cichlid fish is spread almost evenly across continents such as the African continent, the American continent, the Asian continent, and the European continent. In addition to being evenly distributed in almost all continents of the world, cichlid fish are also known as intelligent fish and have good adaptability to the environment in which they live.
When it is young, Amphilophus festae fish has a gray color with vertical black stripes on its body. Then after adulthood the color of Amphilophus festae fish has a difference between male and female fish species. The male Amphilophus festae fish has a turkish blue color with red spots, while the female Amphilophus festae fish has a yellow orange color with bluish green spots.
With the beautiful colors possessed by Amphilophus festae fish, many ornamental fish hobbyists try or keep this type of freshwater fish. If the Amphilophus festae fish will be used as an ornamental fish, the fish is suitable to be kept in an aquarium.
Keeping fish in an aquarium has many benefits for our health, both physical health and mental health. Below will explain some of the benefits of keeping Amphilophus festae fish in an aquarium:
1. Keeping Amphilophus festae fish can reduce stress.
When we stare at the fish swimming in the aquarium, it will make our feelings and souls calmer.
2. Lower blood pressure.
When we experience stress, it can cause high blood pressure and can increase heart rate. Looking at fish can lower blood pressure and heart rate. This benefit will have a better effect if we look at an aquarium containing fish that have bright colors. Amphilophus festae fish have bright colors so that looking at Amphilophus festae fish can help lower blood pressure.
3. Reduce anxiety.
Anxiety can happen to a person. This anxiety will disappear when people feel happy. This feeling of happiness can arise when someone likes or sees something beautiful. Fish in an aquarium can give a feeling of happiness when someone sees it, so that when you feel anxious and then see the fish in the aquarium, the anxiety will decrease.
4. Increase self-confidence.
Keeping Amphilophus festae fish requires quite high skills and knowledge because this type of fish is an aggressive type of fish that requires special care. If we succeed in keeping this type of fish then we will feel proud and can increase self-confidence.
5. As a home decoration.
In addition to paintings on the walls of the house, aquariums containing Amphilophus festae fish can be used as home decorations. Keeping ornamental fish at home will make the house more lively, colorful and attractive.
6. Sharpen creativity.
By keeping Amphilophus festae fish, it can hone the creativity of the owner. This creativity can be created when the owner of this ornamental fish designs and organizes the aquarium. Choosing the type of aquatic plants, installing rocks and installing wood roots in the aquarium can hone creativity for fish owners.
When going to keep Amphilophus festae fish in the aquarium, you should first know what technical requirements need to be prepared. Below are some things that need to be considered when starting to keep Amphilophus festae fish, namely:
1. Place.
There are several places or rooms that are suitable for storing aquariums at home. Here are some options that you can consider:
a. Living Room.
The living room is the most common and ideal place to store an aquarium. Keeping the aquarium in the living room will provide beauty and create a natural impression in the room.
b. Family Room.
The family room can be used as a room to store the aquarium. If you want to enjoy the view of ornamental fish with your family, you can place the aquarium in the family room.
c. Work Area.
If your home has a workspace, you can place the aquarium in that room. Aquariums with ornamental fish in them can indirectly increase creativity and productivity while you work.
2. Maintenance container.
Amphilophus festae fish is an aggressive type of fish and this fish has a habit of swimming at the bottom of the aquarium, the middle of the aquarium and the top of the aquarium. By looking at the character and swimming habits, the maintenance container for this type of fish must be large enough for the fish to swim freely. The volume of water needed to keep Amphilophus festae fish is at least 250 liters.
3. Type of Fish.
In order for the fish to live and grow well, we need to know the characteristics of a good Amphilophus festae fish. Below will be explained some of the characteristics of Amphilophus festae fish that are good to keep in the aquarium:
b. Amphilophus festae fish have bright colors.
c. The fins of the fish are intact and not damaged or torn.
d. If the fish is fed, the fish will respond to the feed given.
e. Amphilophus festae fish are healthy and not deformed.
4. Water.
The water used can be well water or tap water. Before the Amphilophus festae fish is put into the aquarium, it is better if 2 days before the aquarium has been filled with water that has been aerated.
5. Aquarium Equipment.
Aquarium equipment is prepared to support the smooth running of fish rearing activities. Some of the equipment that needs to be prepared are: aerators, water filters, aquarium lights and aquarium water heaters.
After we know what needs to be prepared and what needs to be considered when starting to keep Amphilophus festae fish in the aquarium, it is time to start putting fish into the aquarium.
Amphilophus festae fish that will be inserted into the aquarium should not be inserted at once because this will make the fish stressed. It is better to enter the fish slowly along with the container or plastic bag that transports the fish. Let the fish come out by itself from the container, this is done so that the fish can adjust to the difference in water conditions between the water in the transportation container and the water in the aquarium.
After the Amphilophus festae fish is in the aquarium, the next step is how to maintain it. Below are some things that need to be considered when we keep Amphilophus festae fish in the aquarium including:
1. Feeding.
In order for the Amphilophus festae fish that are kept to grow healthily, the fish must be fed. Good feed is feed that must have good nutritional content. Amphilophus festae fish in the wild is a type of carnivorous fish that eats live food in the form of live worms, small fish, crustaceans and insects.
In aquarium rearing, artificial feed in the form of pellets can be given to most fish kept in aquariums, including predatory fish such as Amphilophus festae.
2. Water quality.
In keeping Amphilophus festae fish in aquarium, the aquarium water needs to be maintained in optimal quality. Some parameters that need to be considered are pH, water hardness and temperature. The pH value of water that is good for Amphilophus festae fish maintenance is 7, the water hardness level is 10 and the water temperature is 26 degrees Celsius.
3. Draining and cleaning the aquarium.
The water in the aquarium will decrease in quality over time so that the quality of the aquarium is maintained, the aquarium water needs to be drained and the aquarium needs to be cleaned.
To drain and clean the aquarium, there are several steps that need to be taken, including:
c . Provide a cleaning tool to clean the aquarium. The aquarium cleaning tool must be made of a smooth material so that when cleaning the aquarium it does not damage the aquarium glass.
d. Scrub the entire inner glass surface thoroughly.
e. After that, reduce the amount of aquarium water by about a third of the total water.
f . Add clean water to the aquarium. The water to be added to the aquarium should be water that has been settled 2 days earlier.
In aquarium maintenance, Amphilophus festae fish can grow to a length of about 30 cm.