Geophagus,,,why why why

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NewWorldCichlidcraz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 23, 2008
49
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Wisconsin
Hello all. Ok last friday i bought a pair of Geophagus Hondae. also bought a electric blue acara(beautiful fish by the way) gold severum and some Malawi african cichlids. Well the Geos seemed to be doing fine a littel finicky on there food but they were eating.This morning found the female dead and to night the male is dying on me:cry: .No signs of any aggression in tank with angels ,severums , the elec blue acara, couple cat fish.All small fish by the way.Well why are they dying on me i am very upset.

tank size 55 Gal
temp 75 deg
no ammonia or nitrites
safe nitrates
water hardness around 100
alkaline between 80 and 120
ph 7.0

Anyone know or have an idea why im losing my Geos?
 
Did you quarentine the fish at all?
Fish migh have had something from store.

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The mix of fish you have isn't really appropriate. You have fish that do best in pH below 7 (Sev, acara, geo) then fish that do better in more alkaline waters (Malawi) I wouldn't be shocked if there was some aggression when you had your back turned. Also a 55G is not suitable for all of those fish. What were your Nitrates exactly? Pet stores definition of 'safe' is often pretty incorrect.

Another thing that people often get caught out with is acclimatising your fish to your aquarium, rapid pH changes between your LFS and your home tank can often take fish out if they aren't properly introduced.
 
Sometimes small/young fish can stress easier than older fish.I think that stress is harder for them to recover from.was temp. In the store tank 78-80? yours is 75, but maybe your heater is malfunctioning.When I acclimate fish, I put them in a bucket, add air stone.every 10 min. I add a cup of tank water to the bucket.

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i never said the Malawi were in the same tank Scottishfish. I have had cichlids for 20+ years so i know how to introduce fish in to new aquarium.also this is a quarentine tank. All fish in tank were bought within days of each other. All other fish are doing great. I have never had Geophagus Hondae before though. Thanks for your thoughts Scottishfish and Daonni and virgil2090
 
While the parameters you cite seem normal.
Geos are a bit more sensitive to environmental factors than the other fish you have.
You say safe nitrates, but safe is different to different species.
I believe anything over 20ppm is too stressful for more sensitive species, like Geos, while a severum could be affected by higher nitrates over time, and might simply show hole in the head as a symptom later in life, a Geo could keel over, over night.
I believe a nitrate max of 5ppm is Geo safe, but only if all other non-Geo stress factors are in place.
Gravel in my opinion is a stress producer for Geos, I would only keep them in a tank with sand. They also appreciate small foods, much smaller than you would think, in relationship to their size.
Is there stray voltage in the tank? is there nocturnal aggression of some kind you have not noticed? All the above should be checked.
I realize this does not answer why "your" Geos died over night, you do not show, or maybe do not have enough info to determine.
 
I was only working with the info you provided :) As the above poster has expanded on, often using the term 'safe' for nitrates does not encompass all species geos are slightly more sensitive, and a stressed new fish will be even more susceptible to any build up of toxins in the tank.
 
Agree with Scottishfish, many people will say 20ppm is a reasonable level for nitrates, any time mine hit 10ppm there seems to be a noticeable change in a negative way, and I realize I've too long without a large water change in my Geo and other less tolerant species tanks.
I keep at least 4 species from the tribe Geophagini, and mine are less sensitive than some of the others of the tribe.



 
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