# Geophagus sp. "Tapajos Red Head"



## Rift485 (Dec 3, 2004)

Hello South American forum dwellers 

I am new to this particular C-F area after being a Malawi guy for years. My entire Malawi collection is being sold today to make room for a New World setup and my centerpieces just arrived.

These guys are only about 1.75" and they are going to be babied in a 10g right now. For the next couple months I will be doing a 50% water change every 2 days with 4-5 feedings per day until they are large enough to take up some room in the main tank.

Now I also get to decide who their tankmates will be. Right now I'm thinking an Apisto pair, Nicaraguan pair, Congo Tetras, Bosemani Rainbows, and some plecos. Or a completely different mix, I don't know yet! 8) I am looking at upgrading from a 55 to a 75 down the road.

I got 6 of these guys and they are showing great color for their size. Let me know what you think!


----------



## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

Congrats :thumb: The youngsters look great and show very nice color for their age. They are my favorite species.

I think the 75 would be the absolute limit for a group of 6 with no other cichlid tank mates. I keep 5 (3m/2f) in a 75 and this works fine but the three males are limited with territories and the females also have limited "safe zones". A 6' tank really would be better. I really depends on the m:f ratio you end up with, hopefully more females than males! Aggression and territorial behavior is completely limited to conspefics, so maybe there is a possibility of an Apisto pair but honestly I think the males Geos might eventually snack on the female Apisto. Two of my males are 6" TL, and I think in that tank size the female apisto would always be in a males territory and it would be a precarious existence.

The only reason I would avoid the Congo Tetra and Rainbows is because they are large and would eat fry and possibly nip the long trailers the Geos develop. If you aren't worried about that then they are nice looking species.

G. "tapajos orange head" are a great species to keep, active and beautiful, you will really enjoy them! I look forward to updates as they develop.

Ed


----------



## Rift485 (Dec 3, 2004)

I definitely want to keep their fins as long as possible. I am not worried about fry yet (obviously) but will eventually. Would the Congos and Rainbows eat eggs too or just fry?

For me usually what happens is I start a tank like this with small fish and certain stocking choices and then adjust it as the fish grow. So I may still try an Apisto pair and the Congos and Rainbows and see how it works out while these guys are still small. However, if the Congos and Rainbows are known as fin nippers I won't want to risk it. Are they typically known to be? I would think they would leave the Geos alone? :-?

My main goal is to have a tank with multiple species with the Geos as the focus and ability to do SOME breeding. Losing part of a spawn wouldn't be the end of the world to me.

What do you keep with your group?


----------



## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

I don't think they would bother the Geos at all, I have just heard the Congo tetra can be nippy, so I might expect them to be drawn to the Geos fin extensions but I am not 100% sure because I have never kept Congo Tetra. Keep in mind I may be bias against them because they are not SA :lol:

The Geos usually do a great job protecting the eggs so I don't think the Congos or rainbows would pose a problem there, but the free swimming fry would slowly get picked off. I keep a shoal of Gold tetra (Hemigrammus rodwayi) with mine and even they occasionally pick off fry. I used to have some Otocinclus catfish but they slowly were eaten by the males.

As long as you have the space to move fish around I would go ahead with your plan and see how it goes and be sure and post more pics and updates :thumb:

Ed


----------



## scatz (Jul 19, 2008)

i only have plecs in the tanks with my orange heads, i was looking at getting some lemon tetras to go with them but once they all spawned it kind of put paid to having anything else swimming around, the geo's can be fairly aggressive, even my plecs get chased off or nipped from time to time.

yours have fantastic colours for their size, they are my favourites by far too


----------



## Rift485 (Dec 3, 2004)

Thanks! :thumb: 
They really are getting more color by the day, I almost can't believe it. Right now I'm working on choosing a lighting setup for the tank so I can do live plants which I'm also very excited about. I don't know a lot about lighting so I need to do a little research. Any recommendations are always welcome.
I think the eventual tankmates will be a combination of what I want and what is available over the next few months... I think the whole Nic idea might get scrapped just based on space constraints and possible aggression conflicts. But that's ok, a few nice tetras and plecs will do just fine. I will make sure to post updates periodically too 8)


----------



## Rift485 (Dec 3, 2004)

How does the whole red head thing work anyway? I am familiar with how coloring up works in Malawi Peacocks but am not as familiar with how it works with SA cichlids. 2 of mine are showing red heads and 4 are just barely or not at all. Will they all eventually show red on their heads? Does the intensity vary by individual? Do females get it but not as much as males? And does dominance play a factor?


----------



## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

Usually they show no orange or red until 2.5-3" so yours are looking great for their size. At 3" mine basically still had brown heads :lol: IME dominance does not play a factor. I heard from a lot of people that it does but have not had that experience, except for maybe when they were adolescent the dominant male looked the best but now all the males have the same intensity of orange-red, if anything my best looking fish is a sub-dominant male.

The females also develop comparable coloration but it varies with breeding. During courting and spawning they have coloration similar to males but then as they recover between spawns their head coloration fades somewhat.

Mine developed their full adult coloration around 4.5" TL. A few fish will probably develop faster but eventually they will all look the same.


----------



## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Welcome, Ryan!

You might never leave.

:lol:


----------



## Rift485 (Dec 3, 2004)

Alright great, I can't wait to see how they turn out 

Blair you're right. I can't leave even if I wanted to bc I sold off all my other fish for these guys :lol:


----------

