Geophagus Topajos

[vanderdraay]

can anyone help with some info on the geophagus topajos as ive just aquired 3 1 m 2f . just wanted to know their temperaments and if there are any problems with them any info would help.i have googled but its so much better to have some people with experience on here give me info

many thanks

paul

 

[Wills]

First of all I will predict advice from me, Kizno, Big-eyes, Hamfist and Star in the next 5 minutes

Basically a great fish, pretty peaceful but are still cichlids, best kept in groups so the trio is good. They are eartheaters so need a fine sand substrate as they eat the sand and back it out their gills sifting it for food. Large grains or gravel can get stuck in the gills and cause a lot of damage.

They get to about 6 inches with a large bull male getting to 8 inches though they are very slow growing - they are okay growing up in a 55/65g but as adults in a group 90g should be minimum or a 75g with a wide base so like 20/24 inches wide 4 foot long or more.

Get some pics up

Wills

 

[kevinjames]

First of all I will predict advice from me, Kizno, Big-eyes, Hamfist and Star in the next 5 minutes

Basically a great fish, pretty peaceful but are still cichlids, best kept in groups so the trio is good. They are eartheaters so need a fine sand substrate as they eat the sand and back it out their gills sifting it for food. Large grains or gravel can get stuck in the gills and cause a lot of damage.

They get to about 6 inches with a large bull male getting to 8 inches though they are very slow growing - they are okay growing up in a 55/65g but as adults in a group 90g should be minimum or a 75g with a wide base so like 20/24 inches wide 4 foot long or more.

Get some pics up

Wills

wills can i invade this thread and pick your brains. im interested in stocking some geophagus in my larger community set up. at the moment it will have a gold sev, 2 parrotfish, sailfin plec, 4-8 denisonni barbs, and a few rams and other dwarf cichlids. the above geo looks stunning, would 3 of these fit in well or might it be problematic? sorry again for the thread invasion.

 

[Wills]

wills can i invade this thread and pick your brains. im interested in stocking some geophagus in my larger community set up. at the moment it will have a gold sev, 2 parrotfish, sailfin plec, 4-8 denisonni barbs, and a few rams and other dwarf cichlids. the above geo looks stunning, would 3 of these fit in well or might it be problematic? sorry again for the thread invasion.

What size tank is it? It should work if the tank is big enough, the only problem could be the 2 parrotfish as they are sometimes unpredictable due to their genes and the aggressive species mixed to create them.

Wills

 

[kevinjames]

wills can i invade this thread and pick your brains. im interested in stocking some geophagus in my larger community set up. at the moment it will have a gold sev, 2 parrotfish, sailfin plec, 4-8 denisonni barbs, and a few rams and other dwarf cichlids. the above geo looks stunning, would 3 of these fit in well or might it be problematic? sorry again for the thread invasion.

What size tank is it? It should work if the tank is big enough, the only problem could be the 2 parrotfish as they are sometimes unpredictable due to their genes and the aggressive species mixed to create them.

Wills

the tank is 5 x 2 x 2 500litre approx. the parrots ive had a while and are quite chilled. they are currently in a 200l with a gold sev and they aint been no wars yet lol. as you seem to be the cichlid man, do u keep any corydoras with any of your larger cichlids, say the size of the fish i have???

 

[Wills]

Ah right in a 5x2x2 a group of Geos will work really nice with those others - go for 4 though not 3 as they do better in a larger groups they are gregarious fish

Ive not kept cories with my cichlids but that is due to price not aggression - Cories near me are just stupidly expensive often £5 for the basic species and £12 each for the more attractive ones. Again the larger species would be fine with the sevs and geos but the parrots again are a wild card so I would possibly go for some kind of hoplo or brochis? The flagtail catfish are a nice relative of cories but get a bit bigger. If you would rather go for true cories though make sure you find a larger growing species

Wills

 

[kevinjames]

Ah right in a 5x2x2 a group of Geos will work really nice with those others - go for 4 though not 3 as they do better in a larger groups they are gregarious fish

Ive not kept cories with my cichlids but that is due to price not aggression - Cories near me are just stupidly expensive often £5 for the basic species and £12 each for the more attractive ones. Again the larger species would be fine with the sevs and geos but the parrots again are a wild card so I would possibly go for some kind of hoplo or brochis? The flagtail catfish are a nice relative of cories but get a bit bigger. If you would rather go for true cories though make sure you find a larger growing species

Wills

ok thats good advice for me. i have a few fully grown corys i was wantng to keep in my main tank but wasnt sure they would work, thanks for clearing that up. it baffles me the price difference of fish, especially cories. its not like we live on a big island is it. near me i can get sterbais for 3 for £15 and i think they are normally the more expensive. im tempted to house 6 sterbai, 6 swartzi and 6 albino corys with the above cichlids. do u think that would work.

 

[star4]

First of all I will predict advice from me, Kizno, Big-eyes, Hamfist and Star in the next 5 minutes

Basically a great fish, pretty peaceful but are still cichlids, best kept in groups so the trio is good. They are eartheaters so need a fine sand substrate as they eat the sand and back it out their gills sifting it for food. Large grains or gravel can get stuck in the gills and cause a lot of damage.

They get to about 6 inches with a large bull male getting to 8 inches though they are very slow growing - they are okay growing up in a 55/65g but as adults in a group 90g should be minimum or a 75g with a wide base so like 20/24 inches wide 4 foot long or more.

Get some pics up

Wills

What do you mean in the next 5 mins I was doing wc last night.

Basically Wills has covered it, sand or very fine smooth gravel is best, forget scaping your tank they do tend to re-arrange the substrate.

 

[vanderdraay]

their in a 450 litre tank with a few other cichlids,all getting along fine no wars at all ,ive got play sand in already and planted up .My only worry is i have 3 geophagus steindachneri already ,will the topajos be ok with them when theyve matured ?

 

[star4]

Only time will tell if they get on as they mature, like all cichlids they may live in peace or they may squabble, the other downside of mixing them is you may have them crossbreed.

 

[vanderdraay]

thanks for that.i dont know if this sounds dumb but why is it a problem cross breeding ?what effects will this have on the fish ?

 

[kizno1]

thanks for that.i dont know if this sounds dumb but why is it a problem cross breeding ?what effects will this have on the fish ?

Theres not so much physical problems with cross breeding but its best to keep the strains pure rather than letting a load of unwanted hybrids into the trade. The other thing is you will struggle to get rid of them because they will be no where near as wanted. I just dont see why you would want to cross such great looking fish and risk ruining there strains there suck great looking fish whats the point?

 

[vanderdraay]

its not that i want to cross breed ,i was just asking what problems id have ,i love the look of both geos and wouldnt want to breed a frankensteins monster lol as i say their all happy and chilled out so fingers crossed il have a good community tank .

 

[kizno1]

its not that i want to cross breed ,i was just asking what problems id have ,i love the look of both geos and wouldnt want to breed a frankensteins monster lol as i say their all happy and chilled out so fingers crossed il have a good community tank .

You could keep them together but be prepared to have to cull some if the 2 types decide they want to pair. although i think aslong as you have males and females of each its unlikely they will choose another type over there own type.

 

[Wills]

For all they are all Geophagus it is not possible for Stiendachnary and any Surinimensis type geo to cross - the group Geophagus is due for revision soon and it will be split three was it my guess -

Complex one will be the Geophagus Brasilliensis and close relatives ie. sp.Bahia and Ipsoprogenesis

Complex two will be the humpheads like Stiendachnary and Pelgrinni

Complex three will be Surinimensis types - Altifrons, sp.Tapajo, Pindare, Areos etc - although this group could get split further not sure....

The two species you plan to keep together could be okay but Bull male Stiendachnary can get quite nasty so might get a bit edgy when they are adults.

Wills