THE GEOPHAGUS THREAD

[japes]

Eartheaters should be kept in shoals of the same species.

They should not be kept with Jack Dempseys or most Central American species, especially not in such a small tank.

 

[peathenster]

Eartheaters should be kept in shoals of the same species.

They should not be kept with Jack Dempseys or most Central American species, especially not in such a small tank.

JAPES?????????????????

 

[DaveB]

In a 60g I would advise orangeheads over altifrons/surinamensis/abalios because you could keep 4-5 of them even as adults without it being too crowded. They don't get as big. The biggest OH I've seen is 7" and that was in a huge tank. If you got them as juvies you could keep a whole bunch of them for a long time before having to thin the herd, provided you don't powerfeed.

Go with sand and overfilter it and have good water movement. If there isn't too much decoration there won't be too much poop accumulation. It's definitely not as easy to clean as pea gravel, but if water circulation is good it's not a problem.

Also, this is just my personal preference, but I wouldn't keep them with Bichirs. That just seems like a weird combo. But then again, I try to be all about keeping things as geographically accurate as possible.

 

[Savier808]

Thanks for the info guys! Think i'm gonna hold off on the dempsey for now.

Anyone ever keep or have any information on geophagus pellegrini?

I've read that the pellegrinis get about 6'' max, live around 75-80F
(slightly warmer for geos) and don't NEED a wintering period.
Can anyone confirm this?

Or do all geophagus/ gymnogeophagus types require a
cool down (wintering) period??? and for how long?

 

[darth pike]

Gymnogeophagus are the ones that require the cool down period ... regular Geophagus do not.

Yes, pellegrini max out at about 6"-7" or so and live in about 76-78F water ... but you won't find any. So far as anyone can tell, no pellegrini have been brought into the states so far. The fish sold as them are either crassilabris or steindachneri, usually steindachneri. There are no commerical collections from the part of Colombia they are found in (indeed, their natural range is rivers that go right through the coke plantations). A couple of crazy germans went down and braved the drug dealers and brought some back, but unless they come from germany and are quite expensive, you'll be getting one of the other two species.

Keep in mind these 3 species are not true 'Geophagus' and are quite a bit more pushy (the males at least) than you read for normal geo's.