# Geophagus altifrons



## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Anyone own or have owned Geophagus altifrons? Looking for opinions on how they are to take care of & any concerns about them? They'd be housed with 3->5 "Orange Heads/Red Heads" in a 180 gallon...

Also anyone own "Orange Heads/Red Heads" & have dither fish with them? I've got this one male that has seemed to make a sport of killing off any tetra's or diano's that get put in the tank...He goes after them from the bottom of the tank straight up like a great white shark :lol: Looking for some small dither opinions & pref South American as well...


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## peathenster (Oct 7, 2008)

Very similar in terms of care, but altifrons do need a bigger tank as they get bigger than Orange Heads. 180g sounds good for a small group of adult altifrons.

I have them in the same tank and they get along fine.

I don't know if you actually need any dithers for them though....


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

peathenster said:


> Very similar in terms of care, but altifrons do need a bigger tank as they get bigger than Orange Heads. 180g sounds good for a small group of adult altifrons.
> 
> I have them in the same tank and they get along fine.
> 
> I don't know if you actually need any dithers for them though....


Are they as nice looking as they seem in pics? I wanted another Geo species to go with my Orange Heads that looked similar but were also different & blended in well...Altifrons seem to fit that criteria...Do yours breed much?

Right now i have 3 Orange Heads in a 55 gallon, 2 males 1 female...Wanted to add another 2-3 females & 1 male & 3 female Altifrons when i get the 180 setup...Or should i be looking for a larger tank?

Well with the dithers i wanted something small & active as a side piece species that goes with the Geo atmosphere in the tank, not so much as what an actual dither is meant for...


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## peathenster (Oct 7, 2008)

oh they are very bit as nice looking as they are in pictures . But different variants can look very different, so pick yours well. IMO G. altifrons "Tapajos" maybe somewhat dull compared to others. I'm keeping two groups, 5 adult "Manuas" (first pic) and 4 young "Tocantins" (second pic). The lighting and WB are different but you can still tell the difference - "Manaus" seem to have more blue in the body and "Tocantins" has more red in the fins.

They are not as easy to breed as the Orange Heads. My "Manuas" bred before but are not in the "mood" now


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## Fevz (Nov 18, 2009)

They look really lovely. Oh and one question. I have similar tank like *CrypticLifeStyle* does, but mine is 106 gallons and i have 4 red heads in it and 7 bolivians. My friend has three altifrons. Two of them are females and one male. Male altifrons is really agressive and he constantly picks on these two females. Friend moved one female to another tank, but left one previous pair in same tank. It was ok at first, but then male started to harass female so bad, that she doen't have any fin left. 
So i was wondering how it would look if i take these two females? Would they argue with my red heads or what? I really need this information, because those geos look really bad  Except dominant and agressive male :x


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## peathenster (Oct 7, 2008)

You could try, but honestly I think you should stick to what you already have. Ask your friend to put a divider in temporarily (quite unusual for Geophagus I should say), and think about rehoming either the male or the females. Usually in situations like this it's not going to get better...


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

peathenster said:


> oh they are very bit as nice looking as they are in pictures . But different variants can look very different, so pick yours well. IMO G. altifrons "Tapajos" maybe somewhat dull compared to others. I'm keeping two groups, 5 adult "Manuas" (first pic) and 4 young "Tocantins" (second pic). The lighting and WB are different but you can still tell the difference - "Manaus" seem to have more blue in the body and "Tocantins" has more red in the fins.
> 
> They are not as easy to breed as the Orange Heads. My "Manuas" bred before but are not in the "mood" now


How old are yours do you think? How long would you say your Manuas will max out @? TY for sharing your pics btw, really gives a more honest view then some of the pics i've seen...Not breeding much part is a plus, that was something i was hoping to hear as i've got enough fry all the time to deal with :lol:


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## Fevz (Nov 18, 2009)

peathenster said:


> You could try, but honestly I think you should stick to what you already have. Ask your friend to put a divider in temporarily (quite unusual for Geophagus I should say), and think about rehoming either the male or the females. Usually in situations like this it's not going to get better...


Yeah it is quite unusual. A month ago, he had a pair and a harased female. He then moved harased female to another tank. It was all good in this aquarium (they even spawned) but now everything changed to worse. Male is constantly harasing female. 
I hoped i could help him with the problem, but it sems i can't :roll:


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## Fevz (Nov 18, 2009)

peathenster said:


> You could try, but honestly I think you should stick to what you already have. Ask your friend to put a divider in temporarily (quite unusual for Geophagus I should say), and think about rehoming either the male or the females. Usually in situations like this it's not going to get better...


Yeah it is quite unusual. A month ago, he had a pair and a harased female. He then moved harased female to another tank. It was all good in this aquarium (they even spawned) but now everything changed to worse. Male is constantly harasing female. 
I hoped i could help him with the problem, but it sems i can't :roll:


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## peathenster (Oct 7, 2008)

CrypticLifeStyle said:


> How old are yours do you think? How long would you say your Manuas will max out @?


They were wild caught so I have no idea now old they are. Still growing slowly.....not sure how much bigger they'll get - I guess I'll find out.


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