# Geophagus Tapajos "Red Head" pair?



## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

I currently have 6 mature Tapajos in my 75g tank. It's inadequate. I'd like to reduce the Tapajos to a pair or trio.

I've heard they should be kept in small groups... What would be better; a (breeding) pair or trio?


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

> I've heard they should be kept in small groups... What would be better; a (breeding) pair or trio?


A bigger tank! 

I think a pair, if you can sex them. Problem is, males can be pushy if they don't have the other fish to chase around. I had two females, and they were at each other over territory all the time, too.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

A bigger tank can't come before a bigger house...

At any rate I am able to sex them no problem.

I'm certain I have 2 females and 4 males. Problem is I don't know if the females breed with the same males every time.

I've kept steinies in the past and know they need a harem of females for each male or he will harass them to death.

I don't know if that is also true for the Tapajos.


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

I think a 75G should be able to adequately house 4 Tapajos. I would put two pair in there and put a fair amount of structure (driftwood, plastic plants, rocks) near the ends and leave the center portion open. These are not harem spawners like steindachneri and tend to form pair bonds, albeit not strong. I would also recommend putting a few dithers in there, such as larger tetras or two or three Mesonauta.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

I've got some bleeding heart tetras in there already (maybe 10 or so).

I've noticed there seems to be one pair of Tapajos that spawns fairly regularly - I was thinking of just keeping them.
Do you recommend not going with a single pair?

If I do remove the other Tapajos I'd like to add a single larger cichlid; maybe a Rotkiel or an Oscar?

Is that too much?


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

There is nothing wrong with keeping one pair of Tapajos. The tetras should stay, and something like a 'Rotkiel' should work fine. I wouldn't put in an Oscar, since it will outgrow the tank fairly quickly, and they are pretty heavy and messy feeders.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

OKay, I'll shelf the Oscar idea until I have a bigger tank. Do you think a pair of Rotkiels would be sustainable or is it better to stick to a single specimen? I've kept Rotkiels before and I find that their aggression is pretty low, except with conspecifics - but I've never had a breeding pair.

Should the idea of a pair of Rotkiels wait as well?


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

notho2000 said:


> I think a 75G should be able to adequately house 4 Tapajos. I would put two pair in there and put a fair amount of structure (driftwood, plastic plants, rocks) near the ends and leave the center portion open. These are not harem spawners like steindachneri and tend to form pair bonds, albeit not strong. I would also recommend putting a few dithers in there, such as larger tetras or two or three Mesonauta.


I took your advice and found a home for 2 males. I now have two pairs of the Tapajos left. I think I'll add a couple juvenile BN Pleco's and see how things go.

The tank is currently set up with two large chunks of wood on either side. This creates a few territories, but I think I'm going to redo the scape entirely eventually. I'd like to have more of an open area in the middle.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

Thought I would post my full stock list;

2 x Male Tapajos ~6" to 7" TL
2 x Female Tapajos ~4" to ~5" TL
12 x Bleeding Heart Tetras TL ranges from ~2" to about 3" (these are very deep bodied tetra)
4 x Black Neons ~1.5"
3 x SAE ~2" - ~4" (I've had the 4" fish about 10 years or so; my oldest fish at the moment)
1 x Male L144 Bushynose Pleco ~3" (big bushy face barbels!)
1 x Female L144 Bushynose Pleco ~3"

It's been about 24 hours since I removed two Male Tapajos. So far the fish still exhibit their normal social behaviors towards one another; but it's easy to tell now that there are in fact two loosely bonded pairs...

I knew I had one loosely bonded pair as they've occupied the left hand side of the tank almost exclusively, on & off, for a year or more, having several spawns in that time (only once did the fry make it to free swimming stage).

I suspected there was at least one other pair, but I did not know which Male was breeding with the other female... I think I lucked out when deciding which fish to remove... I was determined to keep the male from the confirmed pair and then I decided I would keep the largest, most "showy" of the other males.

One other thing I wanted to add about these guys - I used to keep some dwarf panda cories in this tank. Bad idea with spawning Tapajos. I don't know if they "preyed" on the cories per say; but on more than 1 occasion (3 times in all) I came home to find a cory wedged head first in one of the Tapajos mouths. I suspect that they were shooing them away from their spawn site, but I can't confirm that.

Anyhow, after netting the Tapajos I would have to use needle nose pliers to extract the cory from the mouth/throat, and each time the Cory could not be saved but the Tapajos was fine.

I don't keep cories in this tank anymore.


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

It sounds as if things are working out well. Good luck with them.
Jim


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

So it's been about 5 weeks since I reduced the number of Tapajos to 4 (2 pairs).

Each remaining pair has now spawned once; one pair on the right side of the tank (I think this was their 1st spawn), and the other, more established pair has just spawned (today) in their usual spot on the left side of the tank. This is at least the 3rd or 4th time this specific pair has spawned since I have owned them.

I've only ever had them get to the wiggler stage once - I hope with fewer conspecifics competing for space they will get to the wiggler stage again (or beyond).

The pair that spawned recently on the right side of the tank never managed to get to wriggler stage; in fact I don't think the eggs were fertilized at all as a large percentage developed white fungus and none of them got the black dot in the middle that I usually see before they start wriggling.

I came home from work one day and the eggs were gone; presumably eaten by the parents but I can't confirm it.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Any word on the latest spawn?


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> Any word on the latest spawn?


Eaten. I think by parents. I did notice that there were some viable eggs in this spawn, but I'd estimate it at less than half. The parents don't seem to be picking out the non viable eggs and they fungus. Then the fungus just spreads.


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