Geo Pic

[vanderdraay]

just thought id post a pic of one of my steindachneri he loves his photo taken

[/media]lovely fish and he shares the tank with tapajo red heads and they get on really well .

 

[hamfist]

Nice fish, but it's very definately not anything like a steindachneri male.

Looks much more like a Geo.brasiliensis female to me. Have a look at some pics online. You'll see what I mean. Steinie males are very recognisable.

Be aware that a number of the "less trustworthy" websites get rather confused about the difference between steinies (red hump eartheaters) and orange head eartheaters, which are part of the G.surinamensis complex of eartheaters and are usually scientifically described as something like Geophagus sp. tapajos (orange head).

 

[vanderdraay]

cheers when i bought them from my lfs they were signed as steindachneri but did have brazilliensis in a tank so maybe they have labelled them up wrong , if so ive been reading up on the wrong species what are the brazilliensis like are they similar to the steindachneri in growth rate and size , either way they get on with my tapajos [media]

[/media]

 

[vanderdraay]

Not happy at all ive googled the brasilliensis and while i was thinking i had steindachneri who only grow to around 6 inches these fish can reach 10 and possibly 12 " which means il have to rehouse them when they start growing because i dont want to harm any of my other fish , i really do wish lfs's would get things right . im so glad people on here have a good knowledge of this hobby! who are helpful and keen to help novices like myself .

many thanks to hamfist

cheers
paul

 

[hamfist]

Not happy at all ive googled the brasilliensis and while i was thinking i had steindachneri who only grow to around 6 inches these fish can reach 10 and possibly 12 " which means il have to rehouse them when they start growing because i dont want to harm any of my other fish , i really do wish lfs's would get things right . im so glad people on here have a good knowledge of this hobby! who are helpful and keen to help novices like myself .

many thanks to hamfist

cheers
paul

You're right, LFS do so often wrongly label fish. I NEVER trust their labelling.

In reality, G.brasiliensis will take a very long time to reach anywhere near 10-12". Geo's are all relatively slow growers compared to many other types of cichlids. The biggest I've ever seen was about 8". If your fish get on well, then I'd just be pleased at that !
Just enjoy them, and if problems arise then you can deal with them then. Your fish looks like a female to me, so may not get any bigger than 6-7" tops.

 

[vanderdraay]

ive got 2 of them and they look exactly the same although 1 seems to go through phazes of not having its black spot on its side is this normal or is it a sexing thing ? cool hopefully they will max at 8" dont want any bigger as id have to remove them or other fish which i dont want to do as theyre a lovely fish.

 

[snowflake311]

your Geo.brasiliensis does look like a female and if it is then 6-8" is all she will get. If male they get to be 10-12". it all depends on the sex sometimes. They look good.

 

[vanderdraay]

How do you tell between the sexes ?