# Some Gymnogeophagus quilero pics



## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

Male above, I keep them in harems, 1 male to at least 3 females (more the merrier), no heater.
females, male behind








they are mouthbrooders








They work great in the pond, and handle temps from high 40sF, to 90sF, although very vulnerable to raccoons in the shallow water depths.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Beautiful!


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Nice fish. Would be great in ponds in the Northern Hemisphere. Shame they are so difficult to find.


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

Where I live it's about the same latitude as Toronto, I bring them inside end of Oct, back out in May.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Tell me more about them, how big they get. I see pictures online of males with humps, how long does that take? Where would I get some? Feel free to PM me.


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

When they first arrived, they were known as Rio Yerbalito or Arroyo Yerbalito
My 3 year old males are @5", females smaller, the humps appear about this time of year at the start of breeding season. At this time, if there is another male in the tank, the alpha with harass it relentlessly. 
















I over winter at low room temps with other Uruguayan cichlids, Australoheros sp red ceibal, Crenicichla saxitilus sp, Gymno balzani and some Uruguayan corys (erhardti)
























they seem to need the cool down to rejuvenate, and their colors seem to intensify soon after
























Because my pond freezes solid I also must bring in koi and goldfish they share the pod with, so any extra males are housed in with the carp








I feed all the above fish a low protein goldfish pellet inside in winter, and barely feed at all in the pond, plenty of critters and algae during the summer.


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

By the way a few years back, I kept Gymnogeophagus sp paso pache in the same manner, also an intensely beautiful gymnogenys complex species


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Awesome fish, thanks for the pics


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

I'll likely be moving in the next year, to a place with quite a bit of land, and hope to build a pond of sorts. It will probably be fairly large pond ~3000 gallons, with decent depth. The idea of keeping some cichlids in such a pond is very intriguing. Do you end up with many fry when you take the fish out of the pond? How about the Corys? Do they spawn much in the pond?

I have a group of Scleromystax barbatus in with my angelfish, and I wonder how they might do in such a pond? I can get more at a reasonable price


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

Corys are new, don't know how they will react to the pond, or if they will go into it, they'd probably just disappear.
Back in Oct there were lots of ceibal and Gymno fry, think I brought at least 50 of each to our local aquarium society auction, and there are still a few left in my tanks.
I'm digging an extension to the pond for the pike cichlids (they are wild caught by Ken Davis on 1 of his Uruguayan trips), hoping they will spawn this year, along with a dozen each, adult ceibals and Gymnos on the older side.
The pond was about 1500 gal, but this year I hope to add at least another 500 or so gallons.


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## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

Dstuer any other suggestions? I've been thinking the same thing too. I always kept live bearers in the pond to combat Mosquitos but wanted something more interesting.


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

I've also kept Nile Tilapia, Herichthys carpintus, and Geophagus braziliensus successfully outside.








The totally unsuccessful ones were
Herichthys pearsei, Paraneetroplus fenestratus, and Jack Dempseys, they died over night in a minor cool snap end of June.
Seems most of the Central Americans are used to relatively stable temps and can't handle the drastic fluctuations in northern zones we normally have, whereas southern South Americans actually require them.I tried to keep Australoheros ceibals and Gymnogeophagus balzani at tropical temps one winter, and they became weak and died.
They don't grow in winter, but after the cool down, they double in size almost overnight, as temps warm.


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