Earth-eaters

[markandhisfish]

have been toying with the idea of some kind of earth-eater at some point in the future my only real concern is my substrate ive got 5mm dorset pea gravel in my tank . would this damage the fishes mouth?

 

[always4lora]

Mine constantly are taking sand into their mouths and spitting it back out , if your's did the same i guess over time it wouldnt do them much good . See what others think as deffo no exprt ! lol

 

[juanveldez]

I would say depends on if theres much for sharp edges pretty much you want to think of geos like corys in this case.

 

[minxfishy]

Change your substrate mark I had/have fine black gravel in my tanks and when I had my Geos they were absolutely fine with it, no sharp edges, just like coarse sand really. If your gravel is rounded you could get away with it, or perhaps make an area in the tank that has just sand or fine gravel in for them to root around in, you know like one corner and section it off with something so it doesnt mix with the rest of the substrate - just an idea.

 

[markandhisfish]

that may work minxy. i have been tinkering with the idea of changing to sand but i decided against as it would be a total nightmare in my tank being 2 foot wide and 2 foot deep

 

[foley69]

i see me getting the threadfin has given you another idea of what to get then ey mark my gravel is from pets at home its like a fine blue gravel i put he/she in yday and straight away she was sifting thru it great fish threadfins dotn grow as big as jurupari or other species think its 8" or so plus they are the nicest looking when older

 

[minxfishy]

that may work minxy. i have been tinkering with the idea of changing to sand but i decided against as it would be a total nightmare in my tank being 2 foot wide and 2 foot deep

It shouldnt be too bad to do if you prepare before you start, wash the sand thoroughly before you even do anything else, then have a large enough tub to put the fish in for an hour or so, run the filter on the tub at the same time so you dont have to worry about keeping it wet or losing any bacteria, take out all the plants/ornaments, drain the tank half way or more, then with a net or something similar scoop out all the gravel, put in the sand, put back the plants/ornaments, re-fill with water, temp matching as close as possible, put the filter back on, put the fish back in - Voila. Honestly once you start it wont take long. Might be a bit foggy for a day or so, but that wont bother the fish.

Go on, you know you want to

 

[shroob]

If you're getting eartheaters sand is a must in my opinion. Its not too difficult to change over with planning.

 

[markandhisfish]

im getting tempted. yep foley was thinking about geos a while back and that threadfin acara has got the old " i want" area of the brain going

 

[foley69]

i dont think sand is a must i have small granules of gravel and my threadfin siffs through like its nothing i think if you avoid the large gravel then you should be fine... i suppose sand is better but very fine gravel will be fine

 

[foley69]

also mark i think you should invest in one aswell i got mine for £5.99 dirt cheap as i have seen them for a lot more up to £35 they arent really timid nor aggressive they keep themself to themself and can hold their own against a jack dempsey and a salvini so not to be messed with really cant go wrong at all

 

[Straydum]

i go with shroob, imo sand is a must

 

[juanveldez]

not saying that sand isn't the best substrate for geos, but if the gravel is round and smooth it can be done. similar to Cories and their whiskers, everybody always says that sand is best but round small smooth gravel can be done, so in that comparison I would think of the inside of a geos mouth as the same as a cories whiskers.

 

[foley69]

sand is better pbviously but small fine gravel is also good as long as the substrate isnt big or sharp then it will be ok

 

[invader]

I would go with sand, imo, only because that long ago, when I first got my S. jurupari, it was sifting through the gravel and got one piece stuck in it's mouth. The gravel wasn't all that large, there just happened to be one big enough piece for it to get stuck. I eventually wedged it out of his mouth, but it's been messed up ever since. Once you've seen them on gravel, them move them to sand, you see how much happier they are. Just keep this in mind.