Surinamensis & Altifrons

[jim barry]

Can these two geo type be mixed together successfully?
I have 4 Altifrons and have a LFS with some nice sized Surinamensis that I would lie to get.
Alts are currently around 6" and the Surinamensis are slightly larger.
Will be going in a 100 gallon 6x2x2.

Thanks

 

[tlindsey]

I would say yes but that would be pushing it.
peathenster

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Are you sure they are surinamensis?
They are quite rare in nature and even rarer in captivity.
Due to political unrest in that part of the world I don't believe any true surinamensis have been imported for over a decade.
Surinamensis tends to be a catch all name for any geophagus from the altifrons group that stores can not correctly identity.
To answer your question,most geophagus get along fine with each other so you should have no problem in your sized tank.
The only geo I have found to be overly aggressive are the brasiliensis types but they are not really true geos and are sure to be reclassified soon.

 

[BMac91]

So, is the tank a 6x2x2 or a 100 gallon with different measurements? Typically a 6x2x2 is a 180 gallon. If it is a 180 gallon, I don't think you'd be pushing it with 4 altifrons and a few additional Geos. That does depend on what else is in the tank though.

 

[jim barry]

Are you sure they are surinamensis?
They are quite rare in nature and even rarer in captivity.
Due to political unrest in that part of the world I don't believe any true surinamensis have been imported for over a decade.
Surinamensis tends to be a catch all name for any geophagus from the altifrons group that stores can not correctly identity.
To answer your question,most geophagus get along fine with each other so you should have no problem in your sized tank.
The only geo I have found to be overly aggressive are the brasiliensis types but they are not really true geos and are sure to be reclassified soon.

Thanks for the reply and to answer your question, I am not sure if they are true suri or not, when I saw them in the tank they looked like Alts to me but I am no expert. They had them labelled up as suri.

 

[jim barry]

So, is the tank a 6x2x2 or a 100 gallon with different measurements? Typically a 6x2x2 is a 180 gallon. If it is a 180 gallon, I don't think you'd be pushing it with 4 altifrons and a few additional Geos. That does depend on what else is in the tank though.

Sorry, my bad. I should have said 4x2x2 which is 100 UK gallons.

 

[jim barry]

Well I took the plunge and purchased 2 suri yesterday (although they look just like altifron to me) added them to my existing 4 and one of the new additions was dead this morning. Guess establishing a pecking order was too much? I have moved the survivor for now and hope it is still alive tonight. These 6 geos are in a section of my sump 3x2 so maybe it was too small for them

 

[neutrino]

Don't know that it's the same way in UK, but here in the states a lot of lfs don't distinguish between geos beyond calling them surinamensis, brasiliensis, or hump head geos, so altifrons and any other suriname-like geos might be sold as surinamensis.

 

[jim barry]

Don't know that it's the same way in UK, but here in the states a lot of lfs don't distinguish between geos beyond calling them surinamensis, brasiliensis, or hump head geos, so altifrons and any other suriname-like geos might be sold as surinamensis.

I think it is the same here in the UK mate. I am pretty sure these were altifron, although this makes it even stranger that they did not settle and one died. Gutted as they were £40 each!!
Harsh lesson learnt. I forgot to change the surroundings/décor of the tank area when I added the new additions. I kept cichlids years ago and would have done this back then to help the new additions settle, but forgot on this occasion