I really have a fascination for this genus and I know if 2 of them pair bond they can be kinda nasty towards other fish. But, I am wondering more about a single specimen. Do you think it would be possible to keep say... either ONE C. cutteri or a C. sajica in a tank with eartheaters?
I love these fish but I have never kept them before so I don't really know how a single individual behaves.
You could do a lone sajica. I have sajica with red humps and other fish with no issues. I would not do a cutteri. They are a good bit more aggressive then a sajica.
Cutteri are usually ok until they pair up. I've never had eartheaters but I've had tons of cutteri in with other fish (smaller and larger) with no problems until breeding starts. Once that happens they are nastier than breeding convicts
Its been hit or miss for me with eartheaters...I have a pair of cutteri in with a geo red bahia and a geo megasema. The bahia's been pretty good but the megasema got the snot kicked out of him a few weeks ago, had to drop him in a new tank to heal. I'd suggest against it unless you're keeping a single cryptohero with them, in which case I'd still keep a very close eye and separate on the first sign of aggression.
Cryptoheros are usually a step down from convict but get fiesty when breeding and dominant males can nip fins. I've never had any fight to the death though.
I started out with a pair of Sajica in a 92G tank with a 5" Heros Rotkeil and a 2" EBJD. The female sajica went into breeding mode and was continuously starting on the severum and the severum just wasnt having it and attacked back but the sajica kept going until she was battered pretty bad. The severum got quite badly nipped by her too. In the end I removed the female (for her own good more than anything) but then when I added some Geo Tapajos to my tank the male sajica continously harrased them, dive bombing them, viciously biting them, nipping their fins. I gave him 3 days but he just continued terrorising the tank which put all the fish on edge. Once I removed him the tank went all calm, the fish lightened up (they had all gone really dark when he was around) and everyone now looks really happy. I regretted the decision getting them and will not be chancing it again. They are little, but boy are they feisty!
i had juvi cutteri in with a ton of geos until recently no problems. not sure about the breeding thing though. I have 2 cutteri and 3 sajica growing out together with some others, so we will see.
i think its ok to mix with geos, they typically aren't too aggressive to the point of serious injury on tankmates from other species...even cons aren't too bad IMO either
Thanks for the replies all but I think some of the later posters kinda missed my initial point. That is... I am NOT planning on keeping more than one in the tank. So, I definitely will not be running into any issues with pair bonding or breeding.
