# Digging Behavior in Geophagus



## Afrowanksta (Feb 4, 2007)

Do geophagus always arrange the substrate in the same way after you level the gravel, or do they randomly make pits and mounds?

Do they constantly rearrange the substrate, or only until it is in a certain conformation they are happy with?

Will they move large pieces of gravel ( large as in they can only fit one or two pieces in their mouths and sifting for food would be pointless ) ?

Will they build breeding pits even when no females are present?

Has anyone noticed a difference in their sifting activity when food availability is changed?

Any other cool or interesting observations shared would be appreciated.

I'm trying to build a grad school project around habitat modification by Geophagus. Answering these questions will give me a good idea of what I want to look for and how to do it. Thanks for taking time to help out.


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## yodahorn (Dec 29, 2004)

go to cichlidhaven.net and find the forum Ask Klaus or put this in the South American forum as he keeps as couple different types of eartheaters.


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## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

Hi Afrowanksta,

Sounds like a nice research project! I am also in graduate school, and keep eartheaters :thumb: so maybe I can give you some useful info from my observations.



> Do geophagus always arrange the substrate in the same way after you level the gravel, or do they randomly make pits and mounds?


I would say juveniles and un-established adults (no territory) will arrange the substrate in different ways. Breeding pairs, or fish with a distinct territory will arrange it in a similar fashion, time and time again. 


> Do they constantly rearrange the substrate, or only until it is in a certain conformation they are happy with?


Generally, they only significantly rearrange the substrate (pits, depressions, etc.) during courting or preparation for spawning, otherwise they mostly just sift (foraging behavior). After they get their "nest" constructed, they mostly just maintain it and do "touch ups".


> Will they move large pieces of gravel ( large as in they can only fit one or two pieces in their mouths and sifting for food would be pointless ) ?


They will move rocks that are too large to fit into their mouths, in this case, they "push" it with their mouth and swim to move it across the substrate. IME they will move anything they physically can that is located within their spawning territory that they aren't content with (stones, gravel, sand, plants, leaves, etc.).


> Will they build breeding pits even when no females are present?


That's a very interesting research question! I have never kept males by themselves, I would assume those inclined to construct large nests, might still engage in that behavior only to a lesser extent. 


> Has anyone noticed a difference in their sifting activity when food availability is changed?


IME they will sift significantly more if overfed or fed primarily sinking foods, or smaller foods.

Just to add, constructing significant nests (pits) varies significantly between individuals. Two of my males do not construct pits at all, and one digs large extravagant ones. IME "dominant" males are more likely to construct spawning pits because they have the territory and resources to do so. I think it would be interesting to contrast individual differences within a species, or contrast between different species. I am not sure if you'll get a real straight forward generalization of digging behavior within a single group, IME they are dynamic and vary considerably between individuals. I think the number of competing males also affects this behavior (alter territory size and resources).

HTH,

Ed


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## spxsk (Mar 29, 2006)

Afrowanksta said:


> Do geophagus always arrange the substrate in the same way after you level the gravel, or do they randomly make pits and mounds?
> 
> *I have noticed with Brasiliensis that they tended to create large depressions more than the random sifting that I found with Geophagus Tapajos Orange Head.*
> 
> ...


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 16, 2008)

Do Mikrogeophagus count? I keep bolivian rams and orange head tapajos.

I've never kept males by themselves and digging is usually only associated with breeding behavior. In my tapajos tank, there is constant digging due to new territories being established. I would assume they they try to block their line of sight? They're large depressions that never go down more than an inch or two (2.5-5cm). I am preparing another tank for 5 juveniles to see if they exhibit similar behavior.

Both species are kept with a sand substrate and fed small sinking pellets to mimic their natural environment.

edit: I haven't bred the tapajos yet (juveniles), but the Bolivian rams have both dug pits (large shallow depressions and deep narrow pits) and spawned on rocks.


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## Afrowanksta (Feb 4, 2007)

This is all really good information, thanks a lot everybody.


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