my new geophagus red head tapajos

[scratanut]

I have just been through the pages of this thread and am , those are some awesome geos.
Westle/Titan, you guys must seriously consider submitting a profile for this fish in most of the websites(including our forum), there a lot of misconceptions regarding this fish one of them being size.
profiles thread - http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160496

I have a few questions...
-Is it difficult to keep them? If we mark convicts 1 or 2 on a scale of 10(in terms of difficulty) where will red heads lie on the scale?
-Are they water parameter sensitive?
-Temperature ranges they need
-mnimum tanksize for a group of 6-8
-Are these similar to frontosa? living in social groups
-Any pikes that can go with them?(including dwarves)
-Other small placid geos that can be kept along with them.

Thanks!

 

[westle]

[FONT=&quot]Is it difficult to keep them? If we mark convicts 1 or 2 on a scale of 10(in terms of difficulty) where will red heads lie on the scale?
[/FONT]I would put them at 6 they are easy to keep but they are prone to HITH so I recommend 50% water changes weekly.
[FONT=&quot]Are they water parameter sensitive?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Yes they are and like I said they need healthy water changes and stable parameters.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Temperature ranges they need?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I keep my two groups between 78deg and 81deg[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Minimum tank size for a group of 6-8?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have a group of 6 in a 125g and a group of 8 in a 75g. The group of 6 are between 8.5in and 7in so that is all I would put in that tank due to aggression. The group of 8 are between 5in and 6in they spawn every week but end up eating the fry. I would say 6 Tapajos under 6in would be ok in a 75g but 125g would be ideal. I feel the 6 large Tapajos in the 125g need more if I wanted to breed them.
Are these similar to frontosa? living in social groups?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Can’t answer I have never kept Africans.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Other small placid geos that can be kept along with them?
I raised my large Tapajos with Gymnogeophagus Norte for the first few months with no trouble but when Tapajos spawn they are very territorial so I wouldn’t recommend that.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am far from an expert here but this is what I observed. [/FONT]

 

[scratanut]

Thanks for the prompt reply!
Anything else except waterchanges? not a problem for me at all, I usually do more than 50%water change one or two times(2 times upto 30%) a week in all my present tanks.

 

[edburress]

I don't think they are sensitive fish, but I am spoiled with nice tap water. I keep them a little warmer (84) and do 50% WC twice per week unless there are eggs/fry. They don't need that much but it benefits their coloration IMO to keep the nitrates low.

 

[rook45]

So not even a threadfin acara or brasilensis?!?

I have not kept those species but think heckelii would be fine, brasiliensis would probably depend on the demeanor of the individual. I personally would not try brasiliensis.

No brasilensis with orange or red heads! They are too agressive. I keep mine in a species tank and these are very peaceful even with co-specif. They are very owner responsive when they are adults. Nice looking batch by the way.

I have a brasiliensis with my orange heads and altifrons and it's fine. Put another brasiliensis in there and it's a wrap.