# Eartheaters



## Morcs (Jun 1, 2009)

I would really like an eartheater.

question is, can I?, and which one?

Will be growing up in a 65G with a juve oscar, and a few other peaceful cichlids.

The species that tend to be available here are: which ones would be suitable, and which one grows the smallest generally?

Geophagus Surinamensis
Geophagus Brasiliensis
Acarichthys heckelii (is this classed as an eartheater?)
Satanoperca jurupari

They will have sand to sift through, and plenty of it. If hes a good vaccuum cleaner, it may probably end up just him and the Oscar in the 65.


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## SinisterKisses (Feb 24, 2004)

Well, to start, a 65gal tank is really only big enough for the oscar by itself as an adult. Are you planning to upgrade if you want to keep tank mates with it?

The ONLY one you might be okay with would be the brasiliensis. They're fairly aggressive and can hold their own. Personally, it's not something I would ever try. Oscars and eartheaters IMO just aren't compatible.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the 65 gal?

If it is a 36â€


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

well, the surinamensis is likely not actually surinamensis, and like all true Geo's like to be in groups, so scratch these guys off.

brasiliensis do well in singles and IMO if anything will bully the oscar if they are the same size (oscars grow a lot faster), so this one is a possibility.

Have never owned heckelii, but from what *** read and heard they would be fine with oscars

Satanoperca species tend to like groups, and the tank is just not large enough for a group.

for the "surinamensis" or jurupari, I would make 150g the minimum to allow you to have a few of them with the oscar.


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## Morcs (Jun 1, 2009)

Cheers Gage, just picked up a small jurapari. LFS said id be fine.

I think my stock list will change to having just 3 fish soon - Oscar, Jurapari and Borneo Tiger 
Id have to get the tiger soon before the Oscar gets big enough to bully everyone else back :lol:


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

> Cheers Gage, just picked up a small jurapari. LFS said id be fine


Yeah off course they do! They just want to sell you some fish! And if this one doesn't make it,....they have plenty left becouse sales are bad with the curent economy.

The tank is to tight for Jurupari, they are delicate fish and need the same care and treatment as a wild discus, they grow to 12 inch and do poor by their own. So hooray,...you got a Jurupari =D>

To all the readers of this post,.....yeah I came on hard but you know,....I can still not understand why people act foolish and just put in their tank and do WHAT THEY WANT and not looking at the needs of the fish.


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## DiscusQueen (Jul 16, 2007)

Hi. As Rurrd has so accurately pointed out.. If you care enough to ask, you should care enough to do what is right for your fish.. There are lots of wonderful fish out there we would all love to have. But you have to learn to be a fishkeeper and not a fishhaver and put their needs first. Hopefully you will be getting a much larger aquarium very soon as IMO both species need larger tanks.. Oscars are great but very messy and IMO should really be in at least a 75 gallon and the geo you picked likes to be in groups and in very clean water and will grow, although slowly, large. It often happens that while we say " oh yes I will be upgrading soon so it's ok to have them in a small tank for a bit", plans change. So it's usually better to have the correct tank before you get the fish unless they are babies. Hopefully because you took the time to ask, you are planning an upgrade soon and you will take these comments as advice rather than merely criticism. Good luck with your tank. Sue


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## Morcs (Jun 1, 2009)

Toby_H said:


> What are the dimensions of the 65 gal?
> 
> If it is a 36â€


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## M0oN (Dec 8, 2003)

Get a nice male geophagus tapajos orange head - they're very peaceful in terms of geophagus.

To hang with an oscar - I would look into the more boisterous groups, such as rhabdotus or balzani (I probably butchered the spelling).


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I would definately NOT add any geophagus, gymnogeophagus or satanoperca to a tank with an Oscar. In my opnion a 4 foot tank is too small to keep an Oscar in long term, especially a small 4 foot tank such as a 65 gallon tank.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I confess I do not know all the intimacies of each species available to the OP (listed in the original post)â€¦ such as Jurupari requiring care similar to wild Discusâ€¦

And research should be done on a species prior to adding it to the tank. More research than a single thread on a forumâ€¦

But Iâ€™m not sure why the OP is being so dissuaded from adding any of the 4 fish listed to his tank?â€¦

I understand Geos like to be kept in groupsâ€¦ but is it a cardinal sin to keep a lone male Geo? In all reality most of our fish â€˜preferâ€™ to be kept with a mate, but most if not all do fine without one.

Some people do not feel a 4â€™ x 1.5â€™ tank is large enough for an Oscar, and I feel that debate has been had in enough threads to not have to repeat it here. Both arguments are valid perspectivesâ€¦ But if one were to deem it acceptable to keep an Oscar in a 4â€™ x 1.5â€™ tankâ€¦ why not add the Geoâ€¦

Iâ€™ve raised quite a few Oscars, and Iâ€™ve never had one that was terribly aggressive. The few that were primarily showed aggression to A) other Oscars or B) smaller fish that they recognized were going to grow up to later overpower them. Iâ€™ve never had an Oscar show recognizable aggression to docile tank mates. Maybe a mild head butt as a quick display of dominance, but nothing to stress out much less harm the other fishâ€¦

Iâ€™m not trying to argue or say anyone is â€œwrongâ€


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

From past experience, _Satanoperca_ do tend to get stressed when kept alone. Listly, barely sifting or eating. That same individualy lasted a year before I did read about them living in groups. It perked right up with the addition of others, so it wasn't a disease or anything.

As for true _Geophagus_, I wouldn't say that it acted quite as bad as the _Satanoperca_ did, but was not as lively as when in a group. There was a noticable differance, just not quite as drastick.

'Geophagus' _brasilinesis_ had zero issues being kept by itself, for the short time I had it alone. It was promptly returned after it offed a royal pleco and a silversaum twice it's size.

Heaven't kept a heckeli yet, never had a tank big enough.


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## Morcs (Jun 1, 2009)

The Jurapari is doing fine 

hes sifting a bit too.

LFS said him and an oscar will be fine in the long run alone in a 4ft, especially as the are both only 2'' now.


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