Project Geophagus...

Morning all.

I have been sitting with this idea for a while now. I want to change my setup to a type of Tapajos river biotope. With the main attraction 6 to 8 Geophagus Red heads, 20-30 rummy nose tetras and another group of corys. Tank is 200 x 60 x 60.

For decor just allot of wood 1 or 2 big Amazon swords and pfs as substrate.

So first things first..... What do you guys think of the idea and secondly does anyone know of a good supplier for geos that will ship them to Bloemfontein. I can find them locally, but not to sure of the quality.

Please any advise or input is welcome and also if someone got a similar setup please share.





Cheers
Adriaan

 

I like this idea very much a3aan and its very much in line with a biotope idea I've been mulling in my head for a long time. Great choice of geos to start off with and if you can get locally do so, they seem to be very hard to get. Remember that geos are highly sensitive to nitrogen wastes so I think it would be best to keep stocking numbers down to maybe geos + tetras. Rummy nose tetras would be a great addition but maybe also have a look at lemon tetras, by far my fav tetra for color and schooling behavior and they look fantastic in tannin stained water. As for substrate, try get the finest grade substrate you can. River sand might cloud the water but regular pfs sand may be too coarse. Prof B would be able to give you more insight into that.

Super excited to see this develop. Best o luck
Eugene

 

Brilliant idea ... I would put in playpin sand at the bottom. Geo's, Rummy Nose Tetra and some cory's for clean up will work great. Put in some serious filtration and i can not see you going wrong. As for sourcing .... speak to @Altum.

 

Thanks for the posetive response @jedigenie and @ROEKSTE I'm really keen to get started. Keeping some messy buggers atm so filtration I hope will be up to it. 4ft sump filtering my current setup with 5x turnover from sump. Will ask @Altum aswell but will also ask our lfs. They always got them on their order lists but lest see. As for substrate I have pfs atm but we do get a veriaty of grain sizes available locally with the different brands. Mine seems to be around 1-3mm in size. Was also afraid its not fine enough for the geos but do not want it so fine that it clouds the water everytime it gets stirred up?

 

1st scape would be my preferred choice,some rare dwarf cichlid would be awesome in there as well

 

@oscar freak I would love some dwarfs aswell.... If I can find some will deff make a plan. But I must say after more than a year of searching for good pieces of wood I have found several very nice and big pieces in the last 2 months...... So things are coming together slowly....

 

gotta share this vid by @Herve of his geos spawning last night. Enjoy

Herve's Geophagus juripari Spawn

 

@a3aan..let me know if you get the red head Tapajos geophagus..always wanted these..im not keeping freshwater fish anymore..but there are a few species of fish that I will especially set up a tank for..and these are one of them

 

Thanks again everyone for all the words of encouragement.... Really want to get this going now.... Just need to sell the other kids.... But I got a 1.8m from @llewellynkearney. So if the others do not sell in time I'm setting up that one.... Well as soon as I replace the bottom.... Either way.... IT WILL BE DONE.... @sarf I have already spoke to our local supplier and they say that they have red head geos. So will keep you posted once they have landed. Then we can judge.... Fingers crossed..

Cheers
A

 

Morning all.

So I just had a long conversation with the lfs and it looks like they can only get Geophagus Surinamensis. But they did say they will try to get hold of some tapajos but no promises... My only concern is that it looks like most geos are labeled wrong and the surinamensis is one of the more notorious ones to get mixed up. So I have asked for some pics before I buy. Also its a bigger species topping out at 25cm. In truth also a very nice fish so not the end of the world if they are the actual ones I get. Will post the pics they send aswell..

Pic of actual surinamensis

 

very nice fish,i got hold of 1 the ideal would be a group of six in a blackwater biotope(een dag)

 

That's exactly what I'm going for...... Well until my wood stop leaching tannin in anyway... Hehe. But yes looking for a group of 6-8......

 

Very nice fish....

 

@Altum can organize. I think he had some recently.

 

Any updates?

 

this is mine,and got him 2 buddies on saturday,aslo labelled as surinamensis but im not sure.

 

Hi Athol
That is Acarichthys heckelii,I also got me 4 of them the other day.
Regards
Herve'

 

Still a nice fish. Had some MANY moons ago.

 

are you sure cause im googling them now and they dont look like that