Anyone keep Geophagus without substrate?

[knifegill]

So, according to most sources, geophagus will go crazy or something if they don't have gravel to suck on. Has anyone ever tried keeping geos on bare-bottom? Win or Fail?

Sorry. I'm asking about satanoperca jurupari.

 

[peewee]

i have a solitary geo in one of my JDM tanks. which is bare bottom. he is doing fine.

 

[boldtogether]

You would just be suppressing natural behavior. It will do okay. Would you want to live in a house without furniture or anything...not even an x-box? I would go crazy.
Maybe fish go crazy too...IDK.

 

[peewee]

keeping a fish in a tank alone is already suprpessing natural behavior

 

[knifegill]

I went to Lowe's and got a bag of pea gravel, then bought the fish, then did the thirty-minute hustle and got the whole thing set up. Threw in some filter pads from my 55g tank. The rocks are too big for him atm, but he will at least have a substrate to explore. I also loaded the gravel with blackworms. I'm sure he'll enjoy them as he finds them.

 

[Allan01230]

A geo with no substrate? Kinda like keeping a 10 inch fish in a 2 1/2 gallon aquarium with tons of filtration. He will survive but?

 

[peewee]

well it's pretty much like keeping a ray in a bare bottom tank

 

[Burtess]

I am sure the fish would do OK in a bare bottom as long as you feed them good food etc....

But, there is something to be said for watching a school of geos methodically moving around and sifting sand substrate....

Burt

 

[knifegill]

Yeah. I thought it through and went with substrate. I think I might even put some sand in a corner for him. He is two inches of tininess in that 30 gal long!

It just looks silly right now to have him in there all by himself, but it gives me time to grow out the Jade Goby who is currently in the 55g, have the goby eat the mollies and move him into the 125g so I can put the Jurupari into the 55g. It's all part of the master plan! After that, though, no more fish! I'm pretty much fully stocked atm! *kicks a rock* That's it! I need more tanks!

 

[sponger_2]

right now i have my 11 geo abalios on tile, and they r constantly trying to sift around. they will be going into my 180 with pool filter sand asap. i also have 3 alts and 24 redheads on a bare bottom as well. they will be going into my 210 asap. theres nothing like it when they grab a mouth full of sand and take it up to the surface and spit it out.