Geophagun questions! (Pics heckelli pickup)

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BuffaloPolypteridae

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Managed to get a pretty good deal i believe, 3$ a piece for heckelli threadfins!! They were in a gravel tank so were not sifting in the LFS, so they were feeding at the top for a while (i asked what they ate, flakes) and seem to not be sifting? Will they sift? There seems to be mixed opinions on this when i did my own search, i replaced some gymno balzani w/ these guys (traded the balzani for a ten ga heater sinze mine broke and needed one quick) which were GREAT sifters, no doubt about that. I figured these guys would do decently but do i simply have to get them feeding on the bottom again for a while? They are quite pretty, but i got them hoping they would clean up, so if they wont ill be trading them in for a different sort that will!

Thanks for the help guys!

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My 8 in my 350 sift sand all day long. They don't even come to the top of the tank until I feed, however they are sinking pellets. By the time they come up top, they go back down to start eating and back to sifting.

My balzani, winemilleri and pPellegrino also sift along with them.

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^ ah, i figured it may be because they got in the habit of feeding on top and would need some coaxing to sink down. I use sinking carni sticks too so they should be sifting soon! If not as David said as they are not true geo (which i knew, they are Arcara) but there are so many mixed reports on sifting it must be an unintentionally trained situation to make them not. I did some solid research, people are quite divided on this. Id like to hear from more threadfin keepers, anyone think they will be in trouble when i introduce them to my bichirs and red wolf? At appropriate size of course, i will be growing them out before they go in w/ the crazies

they are currently picking like david said, ive only seen one sift as far, just crunched up the sticks so a bunch of pices are in the sand. Hopefully this helps! i love how they stir up things to get them filtered out, they keep the tank pretty clean in that aspect.
 
My 4 don't sift. They'll pick sinking pellets off the sand but that is all. They tend to spend most of their time in the middle of the tank.
 
The older mine get, the more they sift. But not quite the constant way true Geophagus do.

The heckelli are a true equatorial species, and prefer warm waters, while the balzani are from much further south, endemic to more sub tropical area.
Because of the difference in temp requirements they might do better in separate tanks (maybe you do this already).
In Weidners book, South Amer Eartheaters, Dr Leibal suggests fairly constant temps in the mid to high 80sF are normal for Acarichthys in their natural habitat, and as a spawning trigger brought temp into the 90sF.
The Gymnogeophagus balzani, are able to take wide temp swings up into the 90sF in summer, but are also are quite happy with (and may need) dips into the 60sF in winter, depending on your location variant (mine are Uruguayan).
These balzani are kept in unheated tanks on a north wall, which drop into the mid 60sF in winter, and the cool period really seems to be a rejuvenation of sorts for them, and a normal part of their natural life style. I would not however, do that to the Acarichthys.
 
They lack the gill arch that allows Geo's to sift they way they do, that is why before DNA testing they were thought to be an acara instead of a geo ... and were thought to be the bridge species between the two groups. DNA has disproved both of those theories though.
 
duanes said:
The older mine get, the more they sift. But not quite the constant way true Geophagus do.

The heckelli are a true equatorial species, and prefer warm waters, while the balzani are from much further south, endemic to more sub tropical area.
Because of the difference in temp requirements they might do better in separate tanks (maybe you do this already).
In Weidners book, South Amer Eartheaters, Dr Leibal suggests fairly constant temps in the mid to high 80sF are normal for Acarichthys in their natural habitat, and as a spawning trigger brought temp into the 90sF.
The Gymnogeophagus balzani, are able to take wide temp swings up into the 90sF in summer, but are also are quite happy with (and may need) dips into the 60sF in winter, depending on your location variant (mine are Uruguayan).
These balzani are kept in unheated tanks on a north wall, which drop into the mid 60sF in winter, and the cool period really seems to be a rejuvenation of sorts for them, and a normal part of their natural life style. I would not however, do that to the Acarichthys.
Click to expand...

darth pike said:
They lack the gill arch that allows Geo's to sift they way they do, that is why before DNA testing they were thought to be an acara instead of a geo ... and were thought to be the bridge species between the two groups. DNA has disproved both of those theories though.
Click to expand...

Mythic Figment said:
My 3-3.5" Heckelii sifts through sand alongside my geo red heads all day long. It might be a learned behavior and not necessarily an instinctual one like I'm sure the geos have.


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Click to expand...

I am setting up a tank for the balzani for the winter, but sadly my LFS has no clue the locale so I can't get that specific, just going to keep em in an unheated tank for the winter. I was told they would be fine together in all other seasons also.

I think it may be a learned behaviour with these guys, so hopefully w/ the balzani who is an avid sifter they will learn, combined with the fact I feed them sinkers too. As long as they just pick off the bottom it should do the same thing as the balzani w/ mixing things up and helping em to the filter. I just hope my bichirs and wolf don't think the Hecks threads are worms haha

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I have heard many say that balzani can take a constant temp regime, but the first time I kept them, I tried that, and found them to be sickly, vulnerable, and succumb to fungal and bacterial infections.
Even the Brazilian variants are from waters a bit cooler than the northern Geophagines.
Southern Brazil is not the tropical heat zone that the northern part of that vast country is.
So I think an unheated separate tank is a great idea.
I keep the balzani with other Uruguayans like Australoheros ceibal, Crenicichla saxitilus cardozo, Corydorus erhardti, and Gymnogeophagus quilero, which make for and interesting mix.



 
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