Mean little JD

[duanes]

Just an FYI, the Geos and GT are South American neutral pH an soft water species.
JDs and other Central American Cichlids are hard water, high pH water cichlids, and to me, as a biotope aquarist, don't belong in the same tank,
and
beyond that,
because the JD and the GT are so similar looking, (same body shape, same mouth shape, similar iridescent spangling) they are bound to see each other(not as friends) but as an instinctual competitor for similar resources .
Your JD is not being mean, it is doing what a normal cichlid does, when confronted with what it perceives as territorial competition.

 

[Deadeye]

Just an FYI, the Geos and GT are South American neutral pH an soft water species.
JDs and other Central American Cichlids are hard water, high pH water cichlids, and to me, as a biotope aquarist, don't belong in the same tank,
and
beyond that,
because the JD and the GT are so similar looking, (same body shape, same mouth shape, similar iridescent spangling) they are bound to see each other(not as friends) but as competition.

I agree they aren’t a good mix, but wouldn’t the water params for a gt and jd match better than a gt and geo (since the gt is from west of the Andes)?

 

[duanes]

I agree they aren’t a good mix, but wouldn’t the water params for a gt and jd match better than a gt and geo (since the gt is from west of the Andes)?

Although water parameters west of the Andes are sometimes a tad more alkaline,, they tend to vary from soft to hard seasonally.
so GTs are much more adaptable to changing water parameters , than Amazonian species
I personally would "not" try to keep a GT (or other cichlid) that is from west of the Andes, with east of the Andes Geophagines (there are Geos from west of the Andes, I' just guessing they are eastern species),
but I'm a bit more anal about correct biotopes than most..
At least its from the same continent

 

[Ogertron3000]

Remember Jack Dempsey was a boxer, the fish are named after him for a reason.

 

[punchiechip]

Update: I can't catch this little buggar. I've destroy half my aquascape trying to catch him, to no avail. Short of emptying half the tank, any suggestions? I've tried a DIY bottle trap and so far only caught the geos, haha.

Also--regarding the geos...is 4 ok? Should I be getting 2-3 more to round out the group?
That would put final stocking at 6-7 red-head tapajos, 1 GT, and 1-2 plecos (a BN and I hope to eventually get a blue phantom). That'd be the entire stocking for this tank (as a reminder, 125 gallon).

eta -- no idea why I said "five" geos in the original post, I've never had 5....the store only had 4.

 

[punchiechip]

update: finally caught him. Wow, a fighter indeed!
Still would love insight on the amount of geos.

 

[Matth05]

Update: I can't catch this little buggar. I've destroy half my aquascape trying to catch him, to no avail. Short of emptying half the tank, any suggestions? I've tried a DIY bottle trap and so far only caught the geos, haha.

Also--regarding the geos...is 4 ok? Should I be getting 2-3 more to round out the group?
That would put final stocking at 6-7 red-head tapajos, 1 GT, and 1-2 plecos (a BN and I hope to eventually get a blue phantom). That'd be the entire stocking for this tank (as a reminder, 125 gallon).

eta -- no idea why I said "five" geos in the original post, I've never had 5....the store only had 4.

Update: I can't catch this little buggar. I've destroy half my aquascape trying to catch him, to no avail. Short of emptying half the tank, any suggestions? I've tried a DIY bottle trap and so far only caught the geos, haha.

Using two nets makes a huge a difference (one larger and one smaller to try and coax into the larger net) if you ever have to fetch out another cunning little cichlid in the future. Had to catch my female convict out of my 75 a few months back. Hell, I probably would’ve still been trying if it wasn’t for that second net!

 

[punchiechip]

ooooh I was double gripping nets, trust me! He's just a slick thing, hiding under and between everything. He wedged himself in a corner under the sponge filter, and though he escaped me from there a few times, he finally swam into the net accidentally instead of away from it. The major problem is I have a very large piece of driftwood on that side of the tank that I refused to take out lol