[Gordo33]

I bought 5 Geophagus Tapajos on Saturday. They are 1.5-2 inches . I have them in a 20 gal temporarily and plan on moving them to a 125 gallon tank in a few weeks. They were purchased at a reputable LFS and were very active in the store. Since placing them in the 20 gallon tank they have been hiding behind a sponge filter located in the back corner of the tank. I have been adding small amounts of food 3x a day to lure them out . As of yesterday ( day 3) one or two will quickly dart out to grab food and return to the hiding spot. Food is accumulating at the bottom of the tank.
The water parameters as of this evening are
Temp 78.5 , pH 7.6 (close to LFS) , ammonia 0, Nitrites 0 , Nitrates 20 ppm. There is a desk lamp along side the tank providing light. There is pool filter sand for the substrate and a couple small rocks on the opposite end of the sponge filter.
Suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated

 

[Auballagh]

Careful now.... uneaten pellet food can spike those nitrates in a small tank, fast! And, that could be - Bad News - for your water quality sensitive, Earth Eaters. Definitely recommend cleaning up any/all uneaten food before it causes problems in there.
So.... to begin.
- What was the size of the former tank they were in? Were they in a 10 or 20 gallon-sized tank at the LFS?
- Are your Geos the only occupants of this 20 gallon tank? If so.... were they the only occupants of their previous LFS tank? Were there a LOT more G. sp. Tapajos Red Heads in that tank?
- Structure: I don't believe you have enough. Put a big ol' fat, plastic plant down near the rear-center area of the tank, and a chunk or two of some bog wood in there.
- These guys don't like to feel open and exposed. By that, I mean that you CAN entice them into open aquarium spaces with a bit more fish in there for them to react to. Earth Eaters, esp. smaller ones - tend to take their cues from the other tank inhabitants on when its safe and on how to behave and move around in the aquarium.
- Add some dither fish! Even in the 20G, the movement and motion in the tank from other fish kept with them will definitely help all of your Geos to build confidence and move around more. You'll know you're on the right track when they start nipping at/chasing the dither fish placed in with them. :wink:
- Dither fish recommendations? I'm totally a complete pushover for the so-called 'Black Widow' Tetra. Get 'em! And, I definitely don't recommend stocking with the little Danios for these guys (too small!), but just about any mid to larger growing (tough guy) Tetra species will look great and stock well with your Geos, (Watch out for over-stocking, bio-load problems in the aquarium though..).
-
Good luck with it, and I hope this helps!

 

[Gordo33]

Careful now.... uneaten pellet food can spike those nitrates in a small tank, fast! And, that could be - Bad News - for your water quality sensitive, Earth Eaters. Definitely recommend cleaning up any/all uneaten food before it causes problems in there.
So.... to begin.
- What was the size of the former tank they were in? Were they in a 10 or 20 gallon-sized tank at the LFS?
- Are your Geos the only occupants of this 20 gallon tank? If so.... were they the only occupants of their previous LFS tank? Were there a LOT more G. sp. Tapajos Red Heads in that tank?
- Structure: I don't believe you have enough. Put a big ol' fat, plastic plant down near the rear-center area of the tank, and a chunk or two of some bog wood in there.
- These guys don't like to feel open and exposed. By that, I mean that you CAN entice them into open aquarium spaces with a bit more fish in there for them to react to. Earth Eaters, esp. smaller ones - tend to take their cues from the other tank inhabitants on when its safe and on how to behave and move around in the aquarium.
- Add some dither fish! Even in the 20G, the movement and motion in the tank from other fish kept with them will definitely help all of your Geos to build confidence and move around more. You'll know you're on the right track when they start nipping at/chasing the dither fish placed in with them. :wink:
- Dither fish recommendations? I'm totally a complete pushover for the so-called 'Black Widow' Tetra. Get 'em! And, I definitely don't recommend stocking with the little Danios for these guys (too small!), but just about any mid to larger growing (tough guy) Tetra species will look great and stock well with your Geos, (Watch out for over-stocking, bio-load problems in the aquarium though..).
-
Good luck with it, and I hope this helps!

Thanks for the detailed response. I apologize for my delayed response but work has limited my time and energy.
Anyway I added the additional structure like you suggested the next day. They ventured out a little but were still skittish and mostly hiding. So the following day I added the dither fish and like magic they were venturing further out into the tank especially for food. I was keeping the tank light off but there was light entering the tank from a ten gal that sits a foot or so away from it. This morning I turned on an over head light and they retreated a little but still came out to chase food.

Hopefully they will continue to grow comfortable in there although I hope to move them to there permanent home , a 125 gal, in a couple of weeks. That tank will have plenty of driftwood rocks and some plants along with a school of tetras.
Any other stocking ideas for the geo Tapajos?

 

[Auballagh]

Ideas? Sure!
For one, with the 125 gallon tank and those mini-type Earth Eaters, you could add two or three more to the mix. In larger tanks like yours, this species seems to like each others company a lot.
Got any ideas yourself on what you plan on stocking with your Geos in that 125 gallon tank?

 

[Rift485]

The exact same thing happened with my née group of five Heckelii in a temporary 40 gallon breeder. It had been a full week and they were nervous and hiding all the time. I went back to the store and added five Congo Tetris as dither fish to the mix. They were about half the size of the Heckelii. Worked like a charm. They're all out exploring and don't look nervous at all after four hours together. Cheers and good luck!