Playmates for Geophagus?

14046 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Als49, Oct 1, 2015

Rupununi

Discussion Starter · Jan 29, 2011

I started a thread on tank setups but realized it's probably better placed here.

I'm setting up a 125 for S Americans. I'm set on starting with a group of 5 or 6 Geophagus, not certain on which species yet but likely G. altifrons, G. dicrozoster, or G. neambi. Beyond this, I am struggling to narrow down possible tank mates.

I'd like to have a pair or group of another S. American cichlid species if possible. Any suggestions of peaceable tankmates for Geophagus? Will any Apistogramma work with eartheaters? Would another eartheater such as Satanoperca leucosticta be a troublemaker? Biotodoma? Guianacara?

I'd also like 1-2 different characins in the tank. Short-list candidates include Leporinus, Anostomus, Semaprochilodus, Chalceus, and Nannostomus. Anyone here have experience with these genera, particularly in the company of cichlids?

How about catfishes? Any loricariids or doradids that you'd recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Rupununi

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fmueller

· #2 · Jan 29, 2011

Rupununi said:
I started a thread on tank setups but realized it's probably better placed here.

The pc way to handle this would be to ask one of the Tank Setup Moderators (eg me) to move the thread. As it is, I have just deleted it in Tank Setups. No harm done :wink:

I had a 75G with G. pindare for a while and had M. altispinosa as well as a couple of pairs of apistos as tank mates. The tank got a bit crowded in the end, but in principle all those fish seemed to play well together. I also had some L333 in the tank, and at some stage some Xiphophorus montezumae. The sword tails seemed to keep on beating each other up, but there was no trouble with the cichlids as far as I could see. Below is a picture of the setup. In a 125G you should have a lot more options still!

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Rupununi

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 29, 2011

fmueller said:
I had a 75G with G. pindare for a while and had M. altispinosa as well as a couple of pairs of apistos as tank mates. The tank got a bit crowded in the end, but in principle all those fish seemed to play well together. I also had some L333 in the tank, and at some stage some Xiphophorus montezumae. The sword tails seemed to keep on beating each other up, but there was no trouble with the cichlids as far as I could see. Below is a picture of the setup. In a 125G you should have a lot more options still!

Thanks for the info! I like M. altispinosus a lot; your specimens were spectacular. Great to know they and the Apistos were ok with the Geos.

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DeadFishFloating

· #4 · Jan 29, 2011

I wouldn't put any apistogramma in with the larger geo species. A couple of members of my local forum have recently tried this mix, and each have reported geos eating the female apistos and one even has a photo of a geo eating a male A. bitaeniata. In both cases the geos were still sub-adults, with plenty of growing yet to come.

I do like the idea of a group of biotodoma. Other possible tankmates could be a group of Angels or Mesonauta.

As for catfish, I would not worry about a clean up crew as such, as the geos will sift for all the uneaten food. Obvious choices are bristlenose catfish, one of the pekoltia species, whiptail catfish and corydoras.

I've kept a number of larger tetras with geos before, my favourites being lemon tetras, diamond tetras and penguin tetras. I also like having a school of hatchetfish in the tank.

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adam79

· #5 · Jan 29, 2011

I share the same concern with DFF in regards to the apistos. Not worth the risk. If you want to keep apistos with geos maybe look at one of the smaller geo species like Geophagus sp. "Araguari - Orange Head" or Geophagus sp. "Tapajos- Orange Head". Either way, go with M. altispinosus. The combination of an eartheater and a dwarf eathereater makes for an interesting dynamic.

As for characin; most nannostomus would be too small and likely end up a snack. The others mentioned, IMO, grow too large and would distract from the geos. I think 1 or 2 large schools of wide bodied tetra and/or hatchets would be much more pleasing.

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Rupununi

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 29, 2011

Excellent input by all, thanks for the suggestions.

I love Mikrogeophagus altispinosus but was concerned about its reputation for being sensitive to minor fluctuations in water quality. Is this overblown? Have folks been able to keep these guys healthy and happy in a mixed tank?

I'd love to hear more suggestions for suitable tank mates for Geos. I'm trying to select fishes only from the Rupununi/Rio Branco portal region of Guyana and Brazil, as this is a region I sampled for 3 weeks last year. I'm much more of a N American native fish guy, and although I know most of the species that occur in the region of interest, I have no experience with how well they play together. I don't have $$ to experiment with predation, either.

Thanks again,

Rupununi

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DDRE00

· #7 · Jan 29, 2011

I think Guianacaras could be a perfect match. They are very different from Geos and is very well fitted together. I also have a Hero sp Red Shoulder with my Tapajos oranged heads in a 936 liter tank. Nio issues at all. the heros are very gentle in my setup.

For tetras I have hyphressobrycon erythmostigma (Bleeding harts) and they are well suited. Not too small.

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Rupununi

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 31, 2011

DDRE00 said:
I think Guianacaras could be a perfect match. They are very different from Geos and is very well fitted together. I also have a Hero sp Red Shoulder with my Tapajos oranged heads in a 936 liter tank. Nio issues at all. the heros are very gentle in my setup.

For tetras I have hyphressobrycon erythmostigma (Bleeding harts) and they are well suited. Not too small.

Excellent, thanks for your feedback! I'm pretty sold on Guianacara and/or Biotodoma, but am struggling to find any in central Texas (Austin area). Any online or other sellers you recommend for hard-to-find SAs?

Thanks,
Rupununi

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adam79

· #9 · Jan 31, 2011

Most of my stock comes from The Wet Spot in Portland, OR. They had some Biotodoma on Aquabid the other day. I'm pretty sure they have a couple guianacara species as well.

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DDRE00

· #10 · Jan 31, 2011

I have no clue of what retailers there are. I'm living in Stockholm Sweden

However if you can get hold of Guianacara Owroewefis from Grand or petit Laussat your should get that asap. They are fantastic. youtube on it and you'll find a few good ones.

I have Guianacara Geayis from Oyapock and they are also great looking. A link to a Swedish forum were I have posted som pics:
http://www.zoopet.com/forum/showthread. ... guianacara

Also check out some films on my youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DDRE00?feature=mhum#p/u

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Rupununi

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 1, 2011

adam79 said:
Most of my stock comes from The Wet Spot in Portland, OR. They had some Biotodoma on Aquabid the other day. I'm pretty sure they have a couple guianacara species as well.

Thanks Adam. The list of species at the Wet Spot is impressive!

Anyone else have a favorite supplier for S American cichlids?

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xWingman48

· #12 · Feb 5, 2011

fmueller said:

Good lord your tanks are beautiful Frank! You're an inspiration to all of us who want to mix plants and cichlids harmoniously. Great work!

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Als49

· #13 · Oct 1, 2015

fmueller said:
I had a 75G with G. pindare for a while and had M. altispinosa as well as a couple of pairs of apistos as tank mates. The tank got a bit crowded in the end, but in principle all those fish seemed to play well together. I also had some L333 in the tank, and at some stage some Xiphophorus montezumae. The sword tails seemed to keep on beating each other up, but there was no trouble with the cichlids as far as I could see. Below is a picture of the setup. In a 125G you should have a lot more options still!

I know this is a 4-year-old thread however I can't help because I see very nice and beautiful planted tank with geophagus. I'm very very curious, how did you manage to keep your plants rooted in the substrate?

Because my Geos RHT dig all way to the glass bottom and uproot the cryptocoryne.

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