All about Geophagus?

[Fishdude401]

What are the smallest Geophagus species?

which are the least aggressive of the small ones?

The most colorful small ones?

Can i mix several geophagus together? or should i just get several of one species

Are geophagus suitable with angelfish, severums, plecos and giant danios?

Thanks

 

[jworth]

What are the smallest Geophagus species?

not sure exactly but i know some top out at 6-8". Gymnogeophagus stay smaller than geophagus species.

which are the least aggressive of the small ones?

i wouldnt really consider these species "aggressive".

The most colorful small ones?

abalios, altifrons, dicrozoster are all pretty colorful. Most species are fairly colorful

Can i mix several geophagus together? or should i just get several of one species

you can mix some of them, yes

Are geophagus suitable with angelfish, severums, plecos and giant danios?

im doing this now minus the danios, so yes

Thanks

Hopefully one of the pros chime in on the smallest species question. With a quick search, Im sure you could find out too. Good luck.

 

[ryansmith83]

I have three Geophagus parnaibe in my 150 gallon with severums, angelfish, festivums, uaru, and flag cichlids (Laetacara). They were tiny when I introduced them and I had no problems until about a month ago when my spawning festivums mutilated and killed one of the Geos for getting too close to the spawning site.

The three remaining fish are growing and seem to be doing well but they are a bit shy. I'm assuming it's because there are only three of them and the other tankmates are considerably larger.

I've never seen the Geos go after any of the other fish but that could possibly change as they get older. I was told that G. parnaibe don't grow too large.

 

[darth pike]

G. parnaibae is considered the smallest naturally occuring Geophagus, though in the aquarium they seem to get a couple inches larger than in the wild. Others about the same size are G. pindare, G. sp. 'Orangehead Tapajos'/Tapajos 1, G. sp. Tapajos 2, and G. taeniopareius.

That is if you were refering to strickly the Geophagus genus and not the family. Color is subjective to the person, so not everyone would agree with what I thought was colorfull. You can mix some geo's, but even within the same genus they have differant levels of aggression. Besides, they all share a somewhat similiar body plan ... so I would think a larger group of one would visually look better.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

in terms of color, some of the Gymnogeophagus can look stunning, but I don't know if they are in the scope of the OP's consideration (Geophagus)

 

[Andrewtfw]

I woould suggest that you go with gymnogeos, since you are wanting a geo that stays small. Gymnos pack a lot of color for their size and are fine with tetras and other community fish. Many colorful species are coming out of uruguay these days and are reasonably priced. Ken Davis (Fish Farm) has collected a good amount from there and has them for sale on a regular basis.

 

[sick_lid]

.

Mentioning Abalios, Altifrons, and Dicro in a small geo thread doesn't say much..., all three are larger growing species of the genus...

As far as size, you could do the Pindares.. They pretty much look like a small Surinamensis type, but don't get as big. Also Darth Pike mentioned the strictly geo thing.. Satanopercas are also relatively smaller growing eartheaters, and they're colors look just as great, sometimes better.

Aggression wise, depends on the actual fish. My large Abalios is the meanest fish in the tank (mixed eartheaters) and can be an sob if he wants too.. You can also keep them with the mentioned fish you are wanting. They're really only going to mess with eachother if anything, don't seem to care about anything else..

 

[jworth]

Mentioning Abalios, Altifrons, and Dicro in a small geo thread doesn't say much..., all three are larger growing species of the genus...

As far as size, you could do the Pindares.. They pretty much look like a small Surinamensis type, but don't get as big. Also Darth Pike mentioned the strictly geo thing.. Satanopercas are also relatively smaller growing eartheaters, and they're colors look just as great, sometimes better.

Aggression wise, depends on the actual fish. My large Abalios is the meanest fish in the tank (mixed eartheaters) and can be an sob if he wants too.. You can also keep them with the mentioned fish you are wanting. They're really only going to mess with eachother if anything, don't seem to care about anything else..

they do get larger but i was referring to their colors. i made it clear i didnt know about the smallest sp. thanks for unnecessarily pointing that out.

 

[fallin49er]

Geophagus Steindacheri..I had a big male and three females. The Male only gets about 5" and the females stay around 3-4". The male is awesome, colors, character. Females kind of "drab".

 

[honda237]

A I have some red head tapajos their peaceful and very cool looking. Not to change subjects but this might help to but can you mix gymnos and geo in the same tank?