I just read on fish base that Red-striped eartheaters only get around 6 inches is this true? if not is fish base unrealiable?

That 14.8cm is "SL" or Standard Length which is measured from the snout of the fish to the end of the caudal peduncle, which means the maximum size will be over 7" including caudal fin.

However.. further down, it goes on to say "30cm TL" which refers to the total length including caudal fin.. but still, the caudal couldn't be 15 centimetres..

As far as I'm aware, Suri males can reach 10 inches TL. I wonder if there has been an "update" on Fishbase and it's been applied to the wrong fish. Unfortunately I can't access the references (brings up a white page when I try to search) so I can't investigate further

I checked with other sources and Bad mans says 12 inches and he seems like he has experiance, it doesnt say whether tl or sl

Part of the problem is that there are so many different species of Geophagus from the surinamensis complex which look similar to the surinamensis, including a number of undescribed species. People get them mixed up and the result is misleading or incorrect information on the internet.

I would suggest that most of the fishes in the surinamensis complex are capable of growing to at least 10" TL. I would never, for instance, buy 6 of them, keep them in a 4ft tank and hope that they only reach 6 inches.

I was hoping to get a 6' tank and get a pair along with a blue acara firemouth silver dollars and buenos aires tetras maybe clown loaches or a bichir aswell.