Would this selection of species work for a 8ftx4ftx22 inch 'geo' aquarium ?

[jake37]

I'm working on stocking for a 'geo' aquarium and unfortunately have no first hand experience with many of the species in question so am hopeful that those more experience can provide some feedback on this stocking:

The target water condition is tds 50, gh 2, kh 1, ph whatever (probably high 6); temp 80-82.

20 sterbai
14 urostriatum
7 festum
6 angels
8-12 geo mirabllis or neambi
30 Pyrrhulina spilot
possibly 30 serape
Some random plecos (mostly 6 inch or smaller; L204, L397, L128, ...)
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Originally i was going to go with winemilleri but then decided going with the smaller mirabillis or neambi would allow for more flexibility later on after all a BIG fish can eat larger fishes than a small fish and winemilleri are pretty large.
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Something i could see adding at a much later date include chocolate cichild (this would eliminate all schooling fishes due to their size); or maybe some of the larger dwarf cichild like one of the Laetacara species but that is not planned for the initial stocking.

Anyway if you've kept some of these fishes and can provide some insights or suggesting for tweaking the stocking appreciate it.
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Oh and for scaping - 2 or so feet on each end would have plants - one side jungle val the other java ferms and such and the back foot would probably be mostly large swords - the middle area will be mostly clear for the geo with a few crypts or smaller swords.
The substrate will be HTH Pool Filter Sand again for the geo well being.



Quote Reply

 

[fishguy1978]

It might prove challenging to keep rooted plants with geo’s if the roots don’t have something to grip. Put some fiberglass screen under the sand and this will help.
Stocking looks good. You are correct the chocolate will prey on anything that fits in its mouth. Lost an adult female swordtail to my male.
Definitely add the urostriatum. I have 5 in my 220g with my chocolates, Brasiliensis and liberifer.
See if you can find Cemex Lapis Lustre sand. It’s more of a tan color and a little larger grain than pool sand. I have it in all 13 of my SA/CA/Asia tanks.

 

[jake37]

It might prove challenging to keep rooted plants with geo’s if the roots don’t have something to grip. Put some fiberglass screen under the sand and this will help.
Stocking looks good. You are correct the chocolate will prey on anything that fits in its mouth. Lost an adult female swordtail to my male.
Definitely add the urostriatum. I have 5 in my 220g with my chocolates, Brasiliensis and liberifer.
See if you can find Cemex Lapis Lustre sand. It’s more of a tan color and a little larger grain than pool sand. I have it in all 13 of my SA/CA/Asia tanks.

is this the right product:
https://www.whitecap.com/p/kleen-blast-cemex-lapis-lustre-sand-60-100-lbbag-55289/195907/433ll60 ? If so i can't seem to find it local not sure how much shipping would be from cemexusa; it is available about 100 miles away but the weight would require several trips.

Also did you have to wash the stuff or was it pre wash sufficient to just add it?

Did you notice how often that urostriatum stay mid level versus lower levels ?

 

[duanes]

That group of fish looks like reasonable stocking for that size tank.
If it were me, I'd set up the tank, and plant it, to allow the plants to establish strong root systems before I added the cichlids.(maybe a month or two).
Putting some stones or bog wood around the plants would also help, if there are large open areas for the Geo's to sift they will tend toward those areas.
Geo's also prefer small sinking pellets, and feeding over those open areas would also help.

That clade of Geo's are not really piscivores (except for fry or tiny fish) so I wouldn't worry too much about predation as long as tank make are large enough.

 

[jake37]

That group of fish looks like reasonable stocking for that size tank.
If it were me, I'd set up the tank, and plant it, to allow the plants to establish strong root systems before I added the cichlids.(maybe a month or two).
Putting some stones or bog wood around the plants would also help, if there are large open areas for the Geo's to sift they will tend toward those areas.
Geo's also prefer small sinking pellets, and feeding over those open areas would also help.

That clade of Geo's are not really piscivores (except for fry or tiny fish) so I wouldn't worry too much about predation as long as tank make are large enough.

Thanks; do you have any comments on the substrate? Originally I was going to go with winemilleri but was concern from readings they would eat things like serpae and cory so i downgraded to the mentioned species which are a bit smaller.

 

[fishguy1978]

is this the right product:
https://www.whitecap.com/p/kleen-blast-cemex-lapis-lustre-sand-60-100-lbbag-55289/195907/433ll60 ? If so i can't seem to find it local not sure how much shipping would be from cemexusa; it is available about 100 miles away but the weight would require several trips.

Also did you have to wash the stuff or was it pre wash sufficient to just add it?

Did you notice how often that urostriatum stay mid level versus lower levels ?

Yes, that’s the stuff. I did have to rinse it but you should rinse any substrate anyway. I’m able to source locally. If I couldn’t I would be using pool or Home Depot sand too.
My urostriatum range up and down. They can be active but if they have a branch or something to lounge on they will.

 

[duanes]

I use generic PFS, no special kind, and just the natural coloration. I don't like bright white stuff because it tends to make normal cichlid colors wash out, or black sand because I just doesn't look natural to me
Below are a couple underwater shots I took in a tributary of the Rio Magdalena system, near Santa Marta Colombia (i'm somewhat anal about biotope correctness) in my own tanks..



Most Geo's including winemilleri sift sand for small crustaceans, insect larvae, and mollusks, even though they have large mouths, they aren't fish predators.
I have kept many Geophagine with quite a bit smaller fish, without problems.

 

[jake37]

I use generic PFS, no special kind, and just the natural coloration. I don't like bright white stuff because it tends to make normal cichlid colors wash out, or black sand because I just doesn't look natural to me
Below are a couple underwater shots I took in a tributary of the Rio Magdalena system, near Santa Marta Colombia (i'm somewhat anal about biotope correctness) in my own tanks..
View attachment 1502931
View attachment 1502932
View attachment 1502933
Most Geo's including winemilleri sift sand for small crustaceans, insect larvae, and mollusks, even though they have large mouths, they aren't fish predators.
I have kept many Geophagine with quite a bit smaller fish, without problems.
View attachment 1502934
View attachment 1502935

Ok i'll probably go with Is HTH Pool Filter Sand as it is beige in colour which is what i wanted. I worry it might compact creating anaerobic pockets (I will be making the substrate 2 1/2 to 3 inches deep to allow for decent root systems. I estimate 520 lb of substrate - the tank will be setup for approx 25 days prior to usage to let biofiltration establish itself (I'm moving and partial stocking will come from current aquarium). This is actually a sister tank to a 10x4x22 on the other side of the room but that aquarium will focus on clown loaches (though it will have sa dwarf cichild). Sadly i think it is just too dangerous to put chocolate chilid in either aquarium - they just have big mouths

I don't recognize the species in last picture - if i could trust the winemilleri to not eat dwarf cichild, cory and serape size tetra i would go with them but a lot of searching seems to indicate that is a real problem with them at 12 inches and eating cory would probably be deadly for both parties.

I'm not going to be strictly biotope in a lot of ways as I will have more plants and species not found (crypts/anubia); also i just don't know enough about specific species found together in the wild.

 

[duanes]

With the Geo's constantly sifting, it's doubtful any compacting will occur.
And one of the good things about PFS, is it keeps the kind of detritus that causes compacting on the substrate surface.
Unlike gravel, there is little space between grains to allow debris to work its way inbetween. and compact.

The species in my pics are Gymnogeophagus sp Paso pache, and balzani.
Where I lived, my tap water was hard and mineral rich, so not a good choice for Amazonian soft water species.
Due to my water type, I kept species from either west of the Andes, or southern Brazil and Uruguay, where natural waters were quite different than the Amazon basin.

 

[ryansmith83]

By festum, do you mean festivum?