ID help and need advise?

[jiapei]

i'm a cichlids layman, someone around is going to to sell me 3 pairs of this fish for $15(bad or good price?), dunno what exactly they are, plz give me some detail info(scientific name, PH, gender difference, feeding..etc ) really need help

here are some pix he took for me

 

[japes]

Well, they're Geophagus, that much is for certain.

I love these type of fish but I still fail miserably at ID'ing the different species. Could be any number of them, but judging by the price I'd say they're Geophagus surinamensis or Altifrons (not sure what location).

 

[jiapei]

thx bro, any more info???

 

[yohan]

how big are they?

its either of these 3

presilency
surinamensis
heckelly

not sure with the spelling

 

[jiapei]

how big are they?

its either of these 3

presilency
surinamensis
heckelly

not sure with the spelling

about 5''

 

[Hawkfish3.0]

You said three pairs. Are you getting six fish total for $15? No matter what species of Geo. they are, that's a good deal.

 

[japes]

presilency
surinamensis
heckelly

Well it definitely isn't an A. heckelii, and I've never heard of a "presilency".

As for info, Geophagus are typical American Cichlids.

They like a small gravel or sand substrate and plenty of driftwood. They're Omnivorous, so they'll eat basically anything, I'd recommend a staple diet of quality cichlid pellets that contain both meat and vegetable matter, mixed in with treats or servings of vegetables like Peas, Cucumber, Pumpkin and Zucchini, as well as meat based products like Beef heart and Blood worms. They'll also eat insects and earthworms if you have them on hand.

pH shouldn't really matter as long as it's not too high, anything from 6-7.5 should be fine. Sexing is generally quite easy as they grow larger. Males will usually be bigger with very long extensions on the tips of their dorsal, caudal and pectoral fins, and have more pronounced colouration. Females will also get the extensions but males will be longer.

As for yours, the more I look at them I think they're Geophagus altifrons.

 

[HiImSean]

i though altifrons too

 

[jiapei]

You said three pairs. Are you getting six fish total for $15? No matter what species of Geo. they are, that's a good deal.

yep, 6 fish total for $15..

Well it definitely isn't an A. heckelii, and I've never heard of a "presilency".

As for info, Geophagus are typical American Cichlids.

They like a small gravel or sand substrate and plenty of driftwood. They're Omnivorous, so they'll eat basically anything, I'd recommend a staple diet of quality cichlid pellets that contain both meat and vegetable matter, mixed in with treats or servings of vegetables like Peas, Cucumber, Pumpkin and Zucchini, as well as meat based products like Beef heart and Blood worms. They'll also eat insects and earthworms if you have them on hand.

pH shouldn't really matter as long as it's not too high, anything from 6-7.5 should be fine. Sexing is generally quite easy as they grow larger. Males will usually be bigger with very long extensions on the tips of their dorsal, caudal and pectoral fins, and have more pronounced colouration. Females will also get the extensions but males will be longer.

As for yours, the more I look at them I think they're Geophagus altifrons.

oh, i learned~~will they eat small feeder fish and what's the max size?

 

[japes]

yep, 6 fish total for $15..



oh, i learned~~will they eat small feeder fish and what's the max size?

Probably won't eat small fish, maybe occasionally, but just don't feed them. Max size could be anywhere from 8-12"