Geophagus questions -- surinamensis vs. jurupari

[JK47]

That's pretty hardcore, man. I don't have the money or the space, so I guess that rules out geos and satanopercas.

Not really. It depends on the species. If your dead set on a "geo" species and don't want to mess with RO, try and find species that come from "clearwater" and avoid those true "blackwater" species. Blackwater example being Satanoperca daemon. I've kept Acarichthys heckelii and Geophagus steindachneri in water on the hard side just fine and they thrive. Just keep up on the water quality (filtration/water changes) and a quality diet.

 

[Kinbote]

Not really. It depends on the species. If your dead set on a "geo" species and don't want to mess with RO, try and find species that come from "clearwater" and avoid those true "blackwater" species. Blackwater example being Satanoperca daemon. I've kept Acarichthys heckelii and Geophagus steindachneri in water on the hard side just fine and they thrive. Just keep up on the water quality (filtration/water changes) and a quality diet.

I can keep the pH down as long as I'm not changing huge quantities of water. What would you consider to be the smallest advisable weekly water changes for g. altifrons or acarichthys heckelii, and how many would you keep? Way too much conflicting info out on the net...

 

[EarthEaterBob]

I keep Surinamensis, Heckelii, and Jurapari, and I do 40% changes on a 70 Gallon once a week. If I do less I tend to notice that they start getting small pinholes (beggining of HITH). My water is buffered and at around neutral though.

 

[JK47]

I can keep the pH down as long as I'm not changing huge quantities of water. What would you consider to be the smallest advisable weekly water changes for g. altifrons or acarichthys heckelii, and how many would you keep? Way too much conflicting info out on the net...

Sorry if I missed it but what size tank? That will ultimatly determine how many you can keep, well cared for. Well if you've narrowed it down to those two species, both should do OK with your water where it is, the Acarichthys heckelii fairing better of the two in harder water. Both are social cichlids and need groups 4+ in order to avoid (within reason) conspecific aggression. You need multiple indeviduals in order to spread around the aggression and establish a pecking order.

EarthEaterBob, if your noticing pitting in between water changes, that would indicate pretty large swings in DOC's (IMO) from the tank being too small. No disrepect intended by any regard. Just an observasion.

 

[Kinbote]

Sorry if I missed it but what size tank? That will ultimatly determine how many you can keep, well cared for. Well if you've narrowed it down to those two species, both should do OK with your water where it is, the Acarichthys heckelii fairing better of the two in harder water. Both are social cichlids and need groups 4+ in order to avoid (within reason) conspecific aggression. You need multiple indeviduals in order to spread around the aggression and establish a pecking order.

800 litres/205 gallons.

 

[jumpin joe fish]

i have owned Jurapari but think surinamensis look better, but are harder to find by me.

 

[EarthEaterBob]

Sorry if I missed it but what size tank? That will ultimatly determine how many you can keep, well cared for. Well if you've narrowed it down to those two species, both should do OK with your water where it is, the Acarichthys heckelii fairing better of the two in harder water. Both are social cichlids and need groups 4+ in order to avoid (within reason) conspecific aggression. You need multiple indeviduals in order to spread around the aggression and establish a pecking order.

EarthEaterBob, if your noticing pitting in between water changes, that would indicate pretty large swings in DOC's (IMO) from the tank being too small. No disrepect intended by any regard. Just an observasion.

Thanks for the advice Still fairly a nub so good to get advice from some experience people. I havnt had pitting in along time, I ment when I used to do smaller changes (20%-30%) I had pitting but when I increased to 40-50 I've had no problems.

 

[David R]

I wouldn't worry about the pH, if its anything like my tap water the pH will be sky high but the GH/KG low enough to be acceptable for geos. My 1400L is about pH 7.6 because of the background, I'm going to try using more rain water for water changes over winter to see what effect that has. If you want soft water you could always set up a barrel to collect the rain water.

Suggesting a 70% water change with out knowing the tank size/stocking/filtration/feeding is an utterly useless piece of advice. I have never changed 70% weekly [under normal circumstance] with my fish and can't see why it would be necessary in anything but a really heavily (like henwards!) stocked tank. I only do about 25-40% on the 1400L and the parameters are fine. What they're really saying is that you should do enough of a water change to keep the parameters in check, it may be 70% or it may be 20%, depending on your set up and fish....

 

[Kinbote]

I wouldn't worry about the pH, if its anything like my tap water the pH will be sky high but the GH/KG low enough to be acceptable for geos. My 1400L is about pH 7.6 because of the background, I'm going to try using more rain water for water changes over winter to see what effect that has. If you want soft water you could always set up a barrel to collect the rain water.

Suggesting a 70% water change with out knowing the tank size/stocking/filtration/feeding is an utterly useless piece of advice. I have never changed 70% weekly [under normal circumstance] with my fish and can't see why it would be necessary in anything but a really heavily (like henwards!) stocked tank. I only do about 25-40% on the 1400L and the parameters are fine. What they're really saying is that you should do enough of a water change to keep the parameters in check, it may be 70% or it may be 20%, depending on your set up and fish....

Thanks David, that's smart advice. On a different note, how do you find the intelligence or at least character of your geos compared to your uarus (or anything else)?

 

[David R]

They're not really as 'interactive' as many large cichlids (like uaru or bigger central americans like jags, midas etc), interesting to watch though, particularly in a group. They're certainly not stupid, but not as tame or as interested in the outside world as the uaru, who have already learned to accociate the white PVC tube I use to feed them (I put it vertically in the tank so the food can sink out the bottom with out getting pushed over the overflow) with food. When ever I put it in the tank they come racing up and start sticking their heads up into it looking for the food. They're about 7-8cm now and really starting to come out of their shells, so to speak.