planning a tapajos biotope

[jamntoast]

not sure if this is the right spot to put this but I have a group of geo. Tapajos that I had been flip-flopping on what to do with and I finally decided that I'm going to center a Tapajos biotope around them in my 125g. so far I plan to have the geos (8 of them, 4 m 4 f) and a pair of w/c p. scarlare. substrate so far is just pool filter sand and I've got some big drift wood and a few big rocks I can jam in here and there.
so here is where I need some advice, I want this to be as true a biotope as possible and I know the Tapajos has many different zones and habitat types. I am thinking of adding some Tapajos crenicichla regani into the mix, would these 2 species actually ever be found in the same area? I was thinking of trying to replicate the spot in a river where the open area meets the shore area so there will be a few plants (prob vallisneria sp.), to me it seems plausible you could find both species there. my other question is specifically which species of characins would I find around geo Tapajos that would work assuming I have the cren. regain in the tank as well. a lot of the descriptions of the Tapajos just mention "various characins" or something like that, i was thining ornate tetra if i can find some but I'm open to ideas

 

[jamntoast]

Quick update, drew in some grass to represent where the vallisneria might go. might still add some more rocks to make it more natural looking and I'm definitely adding some floating plants to diffuse the light a bit

 

[Quo Vadis]

Not sure, but beautiful tank!! I love the Oscar

 

[jamntoast]

Not sure, but beautiful tank!! I love the Oscar

thanks. I don't plan on the Oscar staying in this tank permanently though. I don't think I'd have the dwarf pikes long, let alone any smallish characins with the o in there.

 

[tlindsey]

Remove Oscar asap, and as far as the dwar pikes I'll say after them don't add anything else imo. The Red head Tapajo's need the room since there is 8 of them.

 

[jamntoast]

Remove Oscar asap, and as far as the dwar pikes I'll say after them don't add anything else imo. The Red head Tapajo's need the room since there is 8 of them.

indeed, I actually had them a lot more crowded before, I had 4 full grown uaru and a bunch of angels in there with them. it was definitely too crowded. with enough hiding spots and caves i've found that the geos can be comfortable. even having little plateaus created by the driftwood is good enough for them to make a territory, so with all the wood they should be ok. I'm going to swap out the single angel I have in there now for a pair in another tank and I've thought about adding a small school of tetras to give the tank some activity, which I don't expect a problem from since they occupy different levels and there is a pretty big open space on the right of the tank. as for the crenicichla regani, I am planning on getting a group and keeping a pair if one develops. if I think there is space I might keep 4 in this tank but I don't expect it. I recently got rid of the uaru and although I loved them it feels like there is a weight off my shoulders not having them in the tank. it really was too crowded before

 

[RD.]

I thought that it was crowded before as well, this is a good move I think. I also wanted to add that your male Tapajos are some of the nicest that I have ever seen. Nice job on growing them out.

 

[Quo Vadis]

Tetra's won't add that much bioload - especially if you get a smaller species. What kind of Oscar is your O? Love his color, it almost like a solid chocolate color.

 

[jamntoast]

I thought that it was crowded before as well, this is a good move I think. I also wanted to add that your male Tapajos are some of the nicest that I have ever seen. Nice job on growing them out.

thanks rd, a lot of blood worms went into making these fish. haha. I really love them though, I was going to get rid of them a bit ago and I'm glad I didn't.

Tetra's won't add that much bioload - especially if you get a smaller species. What kind of Oscar is your O? Love his color, it almost like a solid chocolate color.

that's what I was thinking, I want to get them as small as I can without them being snack size. the o is a wild caught labeled as astronotus ocellatus "Marajo". it is pretty dark olive colour usually has some real orange nice highlights. when its scared it changes to a lighter olive colour and the stripes and more orange colour show. I hope the stripes will show more as it grows but I feel like it will be dark forever. still nice though. I think its a female, but not 100%

 

[jamntoast]

So I picked up some wc crenicichla regani "Rio tapajos" today. Pretty happy with the group, 3 m 3 f. If all goes well I'll be able to pick the nicest pair that develops and put them in this biotope tank.