Did I get the wrong footprint tank?

[duanes]

As far as the loaches go, may not be geographically correct but I've kept yoyos or striatas for years in several different tanks and they don't care about real esate much. As long as they get a tube or hidey spot in a piece of decor, they've never messed with other fish IME

I agree Loaches are not territorial.
But since most cichlids are, some other active bottom dwellers, lessen space, and can cause stress (chronically unhealthful) for certain species that need floor space.

 

[fishguy1978]

 

[geo_lover88]

Okay, so pick a geo (Tapajo), remove the other. I can throw my angels back in my rainbow tank and give the Acaras their own spotlight tank.

Of course, damn tank sprung a leak on me, so now I'm racing to see what else I can find. Have a lead on a 155 (6' long) but it's a drive and not sure I have the muscle to help me get it home. Also comes with a sump, which I'll have to figure out But might help with water quality long term.

Re: water flow, install the wavemaker about half-way down the tank so the bottom is more turbulent? Just making sure I'm understanding that right.

 

[geo_lover88]

Tank just sprung a leak, so I'll work on that once everyone is safe

 

[geo_lover88]

One other thing you may want to consider are your tap water parameters.
Do you have soft low pH water? or...
High pH, mineral rich/hard water?
This could determine the long term success or not, of the Geophagine species you keep.
These parameters may also determine water schedule and how many water changes that need to be done to keep the Geo's healthy.

I'm dyslexic and can never keep hard vs soft straight in my head. From the tap, I'm at about 6.8-7.0 pH and about 40gh (ppm--dGH would be about 2/2.5). Kh is around 60-75 depending on the day (3.5-4 dKH). I buffered the tank to 6.5 on the initial fill and we're looking at a whole home RO system

 

[neutrino]

Just a general comment, since you might go for the 155-- Geos like real estate, but for the most part (most species, especially 'surinamensis types') it's because they're active and like to cruise and browse for food, not because they're territorial. An exception is when a breeding pair is protecting a spawning spot. Occasionally one randomly takes a liking to a certain spot and tries to claim it, like under a piece of driftwood, but this tends to be when the group is on the small side. Otherwise, species like sveni or pyrocephalus tend to be social species and even show some shoaling behavior if the group isn't too small.

Also: Geo pyrocephalus (red head tapajos) and sveni do quite well with neutral and above pH and moderate hardness. These days I'm keeping my sveni at 7.4, which is where my water naturally settles, but I've kept both sveni and pyrocephalus (which I bred for years) somewhat higher. If your pH settles near 7 there's no need to make it lower. (soft means lower GH/KH).

You may get different opinions, but with one wavemaker, I'd aim it at the surface (if it's two I'd aim one at the surface and the other at the opposite end of the tank aimed downward to create a circular flow). Geos like good oxygen and some current, but taller bodied species like sveni, tapajos, altifrons, etc. don't need or come from the same kind of current as some of the rapid water species.

 

[duanes]

I'm dyslexic and can never keep hard vs soft straight in my head. From the tap, I'm at about 6.8-7.0 pH and about 40gh (ppm--dGH would be about 2/2.5). Kh is around 60-75 depending on the day (3.5-4 dKH). I buffered the tank to 6.5 on the initial fill and we're looking at a whole home RO system

That's decent water and adaptable for most Geophagines, whether east or west of the Andes.

 

[geo_lover88]

Just a general comment, since you might go for the 155-- Geos like real estate, but for the most part (most species, especially 'surinamensis types') it's because they're active and like to cruise and browse for food, not because they're territorial. An exception is when a breeding pair is protecting a spawning spot. Occasionally one randomly takes a liking to a certain spot and tries to claim it, like under a piece of driftwood, but this tends to be when the group is on the small side. Otherwise, species like sveni or pyrocephalus tend to be social species and even show some shoaling behavior if the group isn't too small.

Also: Geo pyrocephalus (red head tapajos) and sveni do quite well with neutral and above pH and moderate hardness. These days I'm keeping my sveni at 7.4, which is where my water naturally settles, but I've kept both sveni and pyrocephalus (which I bred for years) somewhat higher. If your pH settles near 7 there's no need to make it lower. (soft means lower GH/KH).

You may get different opinions, but with one wavemaker, I'd aim it at the surface (if it's two I'd aim one at the surface and the other at the opposite end of the tank aimed downward to create a circular flow). Geos like good oxygen and some current, but taller bodied species like sveni, tapajos, altifrons, etc. don't need or come from the same kind of current as some of the rapid water species.

Awesome, thank you so much for all that info. I'll do some more pH research...for some reason I thought 6.5 was the happy medium for all the species I chose, but I'll look and see if anyone else has an issue with a more neutral pH.

I have two 525gph filters with spreader bars at opposite ends aimed at each other which I can obviously change since I'm apparently tearing the whole thing down now But it has good flow as far as I can tell, and plenty of surface agitation.

I am going with the 6' 155--the 3 hour round trip drive to get it is gonna be fun, but we'll manage somehow!

So far, the svenis and tapajos are shoaling nicely, even though the svenis came in about twice the size of the tapajos. The severum even tags along for a tour of the tank.

Gonna be a busy day for me, for sure.

 

[geo_lover88]

Okay, new plan.

Resealing the 120.
Also have the 155.

New plan?

155
Red-spotted Severum
4 Geophagus Sveni
2 Electric Blue Acara
6 Columbian Tetras
7 Emperor Tetras? (would be leftover from breaking down Angel tank but could easily toss in the 120 instead)
2 Bristlenose Plecos

120
2 Angels
4 Geophagus Tapajos
1 Electric Blue Acara
9 Neons (idc if they end up food, tbh)
1 Peppered Cory (he was the last at the store and would you believe I can't find ANY locally to give him friends?)
2 Bristlenose Plecos

This plan would nix the yoyo loaches and split up the Acaras, and give all the geos more of their own species and separate said species. Hilariously, since the 155 is a reef tank, by the time I take out the square footage for the overflows, the 120 actually has the larger footprint square footage wise.

I know you guys said to nix the acaras but... I really love them Is there any way that keeping them makes sense? This plan would free up my 36 the Angels were in for the polar blue parrot to essentially be on his own, since everyone seems to hate the hybrids