Which eartheater with Discus?

[DaveB]

I am not a big power feeder so I am not too concerned about the maximum size of the fish or them even growing too large. The tank will be on a drip so a bit of overcrowding will be fine, water quality-wise.

Assuming a max of 5" for the forseeable future, which do you think would look best with an assortment of discus in a 125, most of which are colored with red (red melon, some gold/red mix, and the albinos with red spots. Maybe some blue/red ones too... Sorry, I suck at remembering the variant names):

- Orangeheads
- Leucosticta
- Abalios

If you know of any nice photos of discus tanks with any of these (or really any eartheater), please post them.

 

[JK47]

The S. Leucosticta and G. Abalios or out of the question if max size is 5". Orange heads are too as most healthy fish can reach over the 6" mark as most other geos would as well. Assuming your a little flexable on that all of these species stay smaller on TL length side of things and are somewhat common to attain:

Geophagus sp. Tapajos (as mentioned above)
Geophagus sp. Pindare
Geophagus Steindachneri (may be a little rowdy for discus)
Guianacara Geayi
Biotodoma Cupido
Biotodoma Wavrini

 

[DaveB]

My assumption is that they won't reach beyond that 5" point because of the feeding habits and fact that those species (particularly the leucos) grow slower than any fish I've ever owned. I've never owned the Abalios though, and I have heard they grow fairly steadily.

None of my fish are currently anywhere near full grown.

Let's pretend S. Leucosticta stop growing at 5". Which of them and orangeheads would look best with the discus?

 

[DaveB]

I think what I'm going to do is put my Uaru and my four leucosticta into this new tank to get an idea for what kind of space they all occupy and how it looks, size-wise. My Uaru are about the top end of what the Discus would be, size-wise.

This will let me consider all my options, both for the fish in this tank, and for the tanks I end up keeping set up in the house. Having the Uaru in the tank will quell the overcrowding downstairs, let me take my time setting up the RO drip setup for the discus, let me scout and find the perfect discus, and let me decide whether my latest ideas are really what I want to do.

Though those three varieties of eartheater need to be decided/distributed one way or the other...

Thing is, I'm leaning towards the leucosticta looking the best overall with the discus... but I also think that having Abalios and Orangeheads in the same tank would be stupid. Not enough contrast. Would rather have one of them in each tank and the Satanoperca in with either of those bluer-bodied fish.


Still very much interested in opinions and photos though.

 

[japes]

Orange Heads are the ideal choice as they fit your size requirements and will do so quite quickly - while I realise this isn't a concern, their totally placid (other than to conspecifics) nature and maximum size are just the better fit in my opinion.

S. leucosticta will do much better than G. abalios in this situation in my experience - not saying that G. abalios are boisterous by any means, but in comparison to the very lazy nature of S. leucosticta and from what I understand Discus prefer, they'll suit. I can't imagine your Discus enjoying being kept with 10-12" specimens down the track, especially flighty/darty species, although S. leucosticta may be placid enough. Not saying the Discus will get targeted, but the movement and size may make them uneasy. Keep in mind I've never kept Discus.

Possibly the main problem is your tank size combined with the numbers you're planning to keep. You want things calm, and you'll probably need to mix and match S. leucosticta/G. abalios to find a placid group who won't be constantly fighting to re-establish pecking order with 4 or so specimens. I see Orange Heads kept in groups this size often with very little trouble, unlike many Eartheaters.

 

[DaveB]

Yeah, I'm thinking abalios and leucosticta in the other tank and OH up with the Discus makes the most sense for many reasons.

That said, my orangeheads have always been more boisterous than the Leucosticta. Maybe I just have a peaceful batch. And since I currently have this peaceful group of them and lookswise I think they'd be a better fit, I was hoping I could pull that off. And for now I think I definitely still can, since mine are still small. (Problem is I've got 5 little 1" guys too that were being grown out with the original intention of going into the big downstairs tank... which might get taken down.)

I just moved the tank in to its final resting spot. It is going to look really nice regardless of what I stock it with.

It's funny... I used to HATE the plain black acrylic stands. But in this location, it's 100% perfect.

 

[DaveB]

Well that was an easy decision - I'm picking up the 220g tomorrow and that'll house the Abalios and Leucosticta. No need to compromise. So Orangeheads upstairs it is.

Now I just need to find some adults, since all mine died in the plague