Geo Journey (winemilleri)

[NotablySardonic]

This will be the first entry of my progress/process of getting a group of 9 geophagus winemilleri in an attempt to get at least one breeding pair.

The setup is simple. 135 gallon custom tall tank i got for free from a friend. I have 2 Magnum canisters made by Marineland and a 130g HOB that i found in the garage.

On the top is a Fuval Sky lightbar (that i love) Sense these fellas don't like too much light i got what i believe is the most modifyable led scorce avalable. It even does thunderstorms with lightning for those low barometric pressure moments.

Also inside are four giant pieces of driftwood from Toledo Bend and of course some super fine sand substrate.

I work at a lfs here in Texas. And i saw the winemillers and pulled the trigger on them basically because they aren't that common around here. You hardly ever see them and i had the tank laying around and couldn't stop myself.

As you can see in the attachments the fish are under 2 inches with no real color at all just yet. I have noticed the black spot on the middle of the body does not exist at all on half of these fish but the faces and bodies are identical.

Right now the wood hasn't logged yet and is very hard to mess with so I'll be waiting to decorate until it is sunken.

I have 2 baby Pearl Gourami to hang around the top sense the Earth Eaters chill around the bottom. I plan on geting 6 or 8 total. Also inside is an old male Bristlenose Pleco. My kid loves him. So. He stays.

If you have any questions or suggestions, comments or anything please comment. Lemmy know.

 

[NotablySardonic]

2nd Entry. 11/10/16

I have noticed a divide in the population of the colony. 4 make rounds on the left side, and 5 mess around the righ. They are super skiddish still so when i first come up they split everywhere.

Also, there is one in the larger group that is a complete a#$ho!€ to everyone in the tank. I didn't expect that kind of aggression, but it's interesting to watch.

My phone is of poor quality as are the pictures it takes. When that is resolved i'll have some decent pictures and document the growth properly.

I didn't mention earlier the diet is consisting of frozen bloodworms, spirulina brine shrimp, beef heart, mysis shrimp, & krill. I just rotate them, differently every time.

The Gourami are doing great as well. Showing some lovely color and sticking to the top region feeling around.

Wood still hasn't sank down. And one piece wasn't properly tanned so I'm dealing with some brown hue in the water. I actually like it, the natural look. It really complements everything except pictures.

 

[NotablySardonic]

Jpg 2

 

[FishKing5]

You should just feed them a good quality pellet like southern delight or nls. All that frozen bloodworm, beefheart, krill and mysis shrimp is mostly water and next to none in nutrients. A good pellet will help color them up nicely and allow them to grow properly. Plus geos like to constantly sift through the sand so pellets rarely go to waste. That frozen food is absolute garbage

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Quick 'off topic' question, what breed is your cat? He/she is stunning

I love geos, they're gorgeous fish. Good luck with these guys, and don't forget to name them!


Post Script: I'm a sucker for fish with names.

 

[cichlidfish]

You should just feed them a good quality pellet like southern delight or nls. All that frozen bloodworm, beefheart, krill and mysis shrimp is mostly water and next to none in nutrients. A good pellet will help color them up nicely and allow them to grow properly. Plus geos like to constantly sift through the sand so pellets rarely go to waste. That frozen food is absolute garbage

I agree with this. Especially beefhart. It's one of the worst foods to give a cichlid.

 

[NotablySardonic]

Hey guys, thanks for the input. I was at work when i read that so i decided to get some small sinking pellets for the geos amd some flakes for the Gourami. I heard that the Dainichi brand is one of the best in the world as far as pellets are concerned. Is that true? I'll add a pic of the nutritional breakdown.

 

[NotablySardonic]

Quick 'off topic' question, what breed is your cat? He/she is stunning

She is a Siamese. Her name is sister. Idk why that ended up being her name. But she really loves the fish. And I'm sure they'll all end up with names once their personalities become apparent.

I love geos, they're gorgeous fish. Good luck with these guys, and don't forget to name them!


Post Script: I'm a sucker for fish with names.

 

[FishKing5]

Honestly just look up southern delight and look at their ingredients and compare. Especially the veggie krill algae bits. I don't know what could be better than southern delight. I've had amazing results with it. I use the power feed and veggie krill and pre soak the pellets for about 15 minutes and then break them up a little in the tank so the fish can eat them up better. They're a little big for smaller fish but pre soaking works just fine until they're big enough to eat the pellets whole. Veggie krill would be ideal for winemilleri.

 

[Dis]

Geos should take a variety of pellets. Any small"community" pellet formula, and even flakes. One person told me geos do well with pellets that are veggie based. But I feed a variety of both veggie and meat based