Why's my fish doing this?

[BCherdingthefish]

That kinda where the name "eartheaters" came from. Yes they (eartheaters) will do this constantly. Its what they do. Your'e Altrifons may or may not hit 12 inches. I had 10 in a 125 years ago and only one hit the 12 inch mark. The other maxed out at 10 inches after 2 years. Six inches is definately large enough to breed. They are fun fish to have and I miss mine. Enjoy!

I know why they're called eartheaters lol...and I know it's normal for them to sift sand...But it wasn't normal for them to move all the sand out from under the driftwood.

Did your Geo's breed when you had them?


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[the_deeb]

Its clearing a spot for breeding.

Agreed. As you noted, this hole digging behavior is a little different from the usual sandsifting. A pair of my G. abalios first bred when they were 5-6" and had already been showing breeding activity for a few months before that (digging holes like yours is).

 

[BCherdingthefish]

Agreed. As you noted, this hole digging behavior is a little different from the usual sandsifting. A pair of my G. abalios first bred when they were 5-6" and had already been showing breeding activity for a few months before that (digging holes like yours is).

Well I hope you guys are right! I would love it if they started spawning!
Only problem is, what would I do with the fry? I know with most fish it'll take a while for them to learn how to parent raise (my Rams are probably close to their 15th spawn and still only let them live a week past free swimming). But when they do get it right, what should I do with the babies? How large of a grow-out tank would I need?...Or would I need multiple grow-outs?

 

[the_deeb]

If I recall correctly, my geos ended up losing (eating?) most of the fry in their first and second spawns. They were in a mixed community setup with a number of predators so there was admittedly a fair amount of stress on them. Their third spawn went quite well and I probably ended up transferring about 100 fry to a 20g growout tank, and then a 40g before selling most of them off to LFS/local fishkeepers. They continued spawning quite regularly and I was pretty overwhelmed with fry so I ended up just letting most of the rest get eaten.

I hope they end up spawning for you - their mouthbrooding behavior is really cool to watch.