# Gymnogeophagus sp. catalan



## ewok (Sep 18, 2007)

hi everyone, been gone for a while from fish, but around 3 months later i'm back into things again 
i got some gymnogeophagus sp. catalan - a group of 8. I think I have around 5 or 6 males and 2 females. not the best of odds, but better than nothing. i had one pair that spawned, and there's another pair that formed with the same male from the first spawning (he happens to be the biggest male in the tank).
in any case, here it goes


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

:thumb:

I can see why they earned the common name of rainbow eartheater with that male ya got. :drooling:


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## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

Beautiful fish :thumb: One of my favorites!


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *ewok*,

Very nice looking gymnos, and the tank looks good to.

I've nat heard of sp. catalan before. Where does it originate from?


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Very nice Gymno's from the Rhabdotus complex! Hopefully I will get mine soon and I have been waiting for them for at least 6 months. I will get some F1 of the G. Paso Pache (exMeridionalis). What is the size of the fish and what is the size of the tank? How abouth aggression between the males? I assume you are familiar with their special needs (cool period during winter of abouth 60F).

Specie catalan is from north Uruguay (Artigas).


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## ewok (Sep 18, 2007)

hi everyone. i have 8 of them in a 50 gallon low tech planted tank. aggression is pretty mild. there is some chasing and flaring, and when the fish breed they will defend their turf. some fin nipping and all that is what you can expect. these aren't like central american cichlids where male inflicted brutality on females is common. male and male aggression is present, but there's a dominant fish that kind of keeps everyone on their toes a bit. but they are pretty much a loose school. my fish are pretty much around the same size - roughly 3" or so. 
i'm aware of the cooling period requirements of the gymnogeos - i have them in an unheated tank. temperature is around 70 or so. in the winter time i expect that to dip into the 50's which works perfectly.


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Ewok,....good to hear. I have a 75 ready for them and I plan on 6. They do have some tankmates (Cheatostoma and A. rhatbindi = green fire tetra)that will be in this tank all the time. I will move the Gymno's to a tank on a spare bedroom during the winter period so I can provide them with the cool down period of 55F for 2 or 3 months.

They will be more nippy and show some more territorial behaviour when the temps rise and they start to breed. When temps drop they be more peaceful.

By the way,.....is it right that you also had Guianacara?


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## ewok (Sep 18, 2007)

Dutch Dude said:


> Ewok,....good to hear. I have a 75 ready for them and I plan on 6. They do have some tankmates (Cheatostoma and A. rhatbindi = green fire tetra)that will be in this tank all the time. I will move the Gymno's to a tank on a spare bedroom during the winter period so I can provide them with the cool down period of 55F for 2 or 3 months.
> 
> They will be more nippy and show some more territorial behaviour when the temps rise and they start to breed. When temps drop they be more peaceful.
> 
> By the way,.....is it right that you also had Guianacara?


sounds like a good plan...

yes i had guinacaras  remember that thread we started? 
they bred for me quite often. but i sold them around 4-5 weeks after i got them... 

was in a bad time in my life then, but that's all behind me and i'm back with more gusto and some more focus on south american cichlids compared to centrals that i was keeping back then.


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## ewok (Sep 18, 2007)

here are some spawning pictures i took the other day. there should be wrigglers in 1 or 2 days.

around 100 eggs









female









male


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