geophagus eating all my neon tetras

[ollski]

I put ten neon tetras in the tank today and the bigger geophagus has eaten 8 of them . I can't find any mention of the geophagus being aggresive so am I underfeeding him?. I'm not sure how I should be feeding thes fish, I have 3 silver dollar types, 2 geophagus, 2 small angels and a few mollies and stuff.....help

 

[CFC]

Im afraid you have just found out the hard way that big fish and small fish dont mix well. Almost all fish and certainly all cichlids will eat any other fish that they can catch and fit into their mouth, its just nature. Any future tankmates you add will have to be larger than the largest mouth in the tank, in your case that means adding no fish under 3 inches.

 

[ollski]

Thanks..are the mollies safe, I mean they wont fit in his big mouth yet but I'm thinking he is going to get bigger and they aren't , is he only going to go after fish he can eat whole??. He is also getting pretty agressive to the other slightly smaller geophagus is he stressed or just in his nature?, I only bought the tank yesterday with the fish in and added a sailfin tetra, dalmation ?, 5 black widow tetra, 2 small angel fish and the ten neons.....the 10 neons are now none.

 

[CFC]

The mollies and other fish will be fine, it is only small bite sized fish like neons and other tiny fish which are in danger, Geophagus (or Satanoperca as your fish actually is) are not hardcore predators but they wont turn down a easy free meal.
Satanoperca should really be kept in groups of 3 or more, when kept in pairs the alpha fish may bully the submissive one but in larger groups this mild aggression is spread between the group so no one fish is overly bullied.

 

[Dwarfs]

My geophagus doesn't get spoiled with live tetras What kind is that, A jurupari? Surinamensis? Oops, satanoperca, I just read CFCs last post (or wait, is that the new genus name??? )

 

[CFC]

Its actually probably Satanoperca leucostica which to the untrained eye is almost identical to Satanperca jurapari. Nearly all imported jurapari are actually leucostica and true jurapari are a very rare fish to find.

 

[rvm]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how do you tell the difference between them then CFC? I have a Satanoperca, and I was sold it as a Jurupari. Is it possible to tell what it is?

 

[juanveldez]

actually RVM the easiest and fastest way to tell the difference is in the color of the scales. Satanoperca leucostica have more iridescance to them where as the Jurapari are dull in contrast.

 

[rvm]

Oh well, so without a true Jurapari to compare to, I'd never know anyway!!! He's pretty bright though, very iridescent blue spots all over his face and gills!! I'll just presume he's the rarer type anyway!!!!!! makes me feel better!!

 

[CFC]

He's pretty bright though, very iridescent blue spots all over his face and gills!! I'll just presume he's the rarer type anyway!!!!!! makes me feel better!!

But the brighter ones are the common species, its the duller coloured jurapari that is the rarity Sorry but yours is almost 99% certain to be a leucostica same as everyone else's (including mine).

 

[rvm]

Ah well. I still like to think he's a nice rare fish. I can have my own little dreams can't I?!!!