G. Brasiliensis question

[HrHagel]

I've been curious about this species for a while now, and completely taken by the few they have in my local fish store, but i read some where that it takes multiple years for them to grow to a decent size.

So my question is, at what age/size will they be coloring up and have the pearlish scales?

Thanks in advance.

Tom

 

[justpgraham]

I Had a beautiful male grew to 10" in a year and he had a sweet hump too . Unfortunatley my plec killed him over food

 

[joedodge]

i had one about 4" with my old oscar and sev it was quite aggresive and territorial for a geo tho nice lookin fish

 

[mudjimba]

G'day Tom,

I purchased juvies of these fish over a year ago,the male grew quicker than females, although a pair did breed at a surprisingly young age.
Pearl scales 'developed' (intensified) after a couple of months and just continued to improve.
I have since purchased a group of 10 adults for my pond(they survive year round in there), some of these fish are 10inch+ long(1 dominant male must be 12inch-huge) and stunning colour and finnage.
My original juvies are also growing well and would be 6-7 inch plus with great color.
These fish have a lot more RED in the finnage than the Large colony.

sorry I cannot be more specific in regards to your question, but I'd say from my experience given the right quarters, food(NLS/Hikari/frozen Bloodworm,Brineshrimp in my case), reasonable growth and color can be achieved in months instead of years.
And colour and appearance just seems to improve with age.

I recommend getting some of these beautiful fish but keep in mind they grow to impressive sizes so appropriate quarters will be required.

cheers

 

[darth pike]

I bought a 4" male that was already colored up. It came into the store colored at that size, so I'm not sure when it colored up. I'm guessing about that size though, as I've seen others close to that size that hadn't yet.

It can also be hard to say, since there are quite a few similiar and undescribed species that all come in as 'Geophagus' brasiliensis as well.

 

[HrHagel]

Thanks alot everyone for the great info!

It is much appreciated, and once i have researched abit more i might go out and get me a nice pair of them

Cheers, Tom

 

[darth pike]

Just keep in mind they are more aggressive than people think. They really are not Geophagus. My 4" male blasted a 8" silversaum green terror and a large royal pleco into nothingness. Still rather upset about that.

 

[HrHagel]

Wow, didn't expect they would be THAT aggressive.

I'm leaning towards getting 6+ now to spread out the aggression. From what i read they school OK, is that your experience too?

As juvies ^

 

[mynheers_a_pint]

i've got to say that, in my experience, the Aggression thing is all down to personallity. My spawning pair are very easy going, except when they are protecting their nest. I purchased them last year and in that time they have grown from 3" to a good 7-8" (male) and 6" female. The male is very vibrant and has a good sized hump. interestingly, the female has more attitude but i think her size keeps any trouble to a minimum.

they are kept with Characins, other Geo's, Catfish, Pleco's etc with no problems at all.