# Geo. Tapajos OH with Blue Acara



## joker1857 (Apr 3, 2004)

i have a 4ft 120gal currently with 9 1.5-2in Tapajos and 14 Lemon Tetras. i have 4 good sized pieces of driftwood a few rocks and some plants. i was wondering if i could add a few Blue Acaras to the mix? any and all imput is appreciated.
thanks


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## Morcs (Jun 1, 2009)

Im not familiar with Tapajos, but with them being from the geophagus family can guarantee they will all get at least 8+ inches in lenght. Blue acaras are lovely peaceful fish compatible with most and grow between 6-8 inches.

I dont think youd have compatibility problems, just stocking issues.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

"orange heads" max out at about 7" inches TL for very large males, females somewhat smaller at around 5" TL. While they are a very social, active geo, they are not boisterous or aggressive.

Two adult pairs will divide a 4ft 120 gallon tank between themselves. Are you looking at thinning the number of geos down as they mature? or do you wish to keep as many as you can? You could look at possibly four pairs in a 6ft 180 gallon tank.

My general feeling is that adult Blue acaras would be a lot more aggressive than "orange head" geo's, especially if a pair of Blue acaras spawned. I would be very hesitant to try this mix.

I used to keep a group of Laetacara curviceps with 6 "orange heads" in a 6ft 150 gallon. Curviceps are a dwarf acara maxing out at around 3" to 3.5". I had the entire back length of the tank and one end planted with thin val and amazon swords, with a few pieces of driftwood in amongst the planted area. The curviceps kept to the planted area, while the "orange heads" pretty much stayed in the open area.

Curviceps, tapajos "orange heads" and Lemon tetras are found in the same areas in the Rio Tapajos and it's tributaries. So you would have the beginnings of a nice biotope tank there.


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## joker1857 (Apr 3, 2004)

thanks for the repies. ill just x the acaras off the list. i know im probably gonna have to get rid of a few extra males, but i was hoping to keep as many of the OH as possible. maybe i should just leave the tank to them and the tetras.


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## Rift485 (Dec 3, 2004)

Not sure if this is already a done deal but wanted to add my .02.

In theory your Geos would probably do "best" without the Acaras present simply because there would be no risk of another fish becoming dominant.

Now, for my current experience.

I have a 4 ft tank with 5 3" Tapajos Geos, 1 3" male Blue Acara, 6 Odessa Barbs, and 2 small Loaches (creative mix I know). While the Blue Acara is technically the dominant fish, most of the time he will leave the Geos alone and only show dominance by a short (6" long) chase here or there. The Geos are very happy and healthy and I have even had a spawn recently.

I think it has to do with the fact that there is only 1 Acara so no breeding aggression and more Geos which keeps everyone happy. I will be thinning the Geos out to 3-4 max but this setup has worked for me for about a year now.

For what it's worth :thumb:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I have a 6' 125 gal tank with a group of 25 or so young (2.5~5â€


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