Geophagus Surinamensis

[Big Rob]

Hey all,

Paul_MTS mentioned these beauties in another thread where I was searching for possible tank mates for stingrays.

After searching the net and checking them out, I think they are gorgeous. My LFS does carry these, but I have always overlooked them because they are small and I guess their colours haven't come through yet. Well, after seeing pics of adult specimens, I am intrigued.

Does anyone have many of these? Do they vary greatly in colouration? I guess I'm just concerned about buying juvies who could end up looking nothing at all like the pics I've seen.

How large do these guys get? I assume they'd do well on primarily a carnivourous diet?

Please, if anyone knows anything about these awesome fish, fill me in!

 

[Dwarfs]

Surinam geos get to about 10" in length, and get more beautiful as they grow

I feed mine shrimp pellets as a staple, and he grabs other foods that sink to the bottom. Floating foods aren't a good idea with these fish, as their mouths are on the bottom of their head. It is recommended to have a fine gravel or sand as a substrate, because geophagus species are sifters (serach through substrate for food)

They can be kept in groups or alone, and are very personable (and active) fish.

Good luck with them

 

[Big Rob]

Awesome, they sound great. I have a good layer of pool filter sand as the substrate.

The tank currently has a single Hystrix Stingray and will soon house a second. If I went with Surinamensis, how many could I get away with along with the two rays?(Tank is a 125 Gallons filtered by 2 XP3's)

If they hit the 10" mark I'm guessing 2? Would 2 do well together? Or are they like angels in that you either need one or several?

 

[ari]

Awesome, they sound great. I have a good layer of pool filter sand as the substrate.

The tank currently has a single Hystrix Stingray and will soon house a second. If I went with Surinamensis, how many could I get away with along with the two rays?(Tank is a 125 Gallons filtered by 2 XP3's)

If they hit the 10" mark I'm guessing 2? Would 2 do well together? Or are they like angels in that you either need one or several?

well, they would look out of place with those rays ...honestly. surinamensis really look great in pack of 10 or more. they are not actually aggresive except during breeding.they do grow big (abt 10inch or more), and juveniles grow really fast. they are greedy fish that eats almost anything....i feed them chopped shrimp meat. u would need soft sand beds since they shift the bottom for their food.
they are good fish to start with ..if u are attempting geophagus for the first time.

 

[Dwarfs]

I have to disagree, thy grow very slowly IMO. Mine has gone from 4" to about 5.5" in the past 6 months.

 

[ari]

cant say much about that...but mine grows from 3 to 6 inch in less than 5 months...and thats pretty fast. mine is kept in 7x2x2feet tank, feed with chopped prawns, live shrimps, live fish, live oat worms, boiled rice, and dog pellets. hehehe, i cant afford the regular fish pellet ...so i feed them dog pellet which is much more cheaper. of the 30 i put into the tank ...8 die the first week, after that they seems easy enough to handle.
too bad i have to get rid of them a few weeks back...im starting a new geophagus tank.

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

i have one. My other one which i thought was a surnamensis turns out it isnt one. Instead of the spots on the tail, they have turned into long bars. So im not sure what he is, i think he may be a mix of some geo's or hes a proximis geo. He has read eyes and is still pretty small, around 4in. He made a huge ditch, and is guarding it. The other one is around 6 inches and is female. She layed eggs and spit them all out when i moved her to my bigger tank. They dig ALOT! My tank has 3 large sand humps.

 

[lucky62]

...so i feed them dog pellet which is much more cheaper.

Dog food to fish ?

 

[sevs]

Wouldn't dog food have too much fat and protein for fish. I guess whatever works... It was stated that the fish when fed dog food grew about 3 inches in five months. But still I'm not going to feed my fish Puppy Chow anyday soon.

 

[lucky62]

Wouldn't dog food have too much fat and protein for fish.

It does and in the wrong proportions for fish , and from what I understand fish can not digest it properly .


IMO , It's not a very good practice .

 

[nc_nutcase]

I may just be gullible, but my guess is someone did some research and found out what fish need in their diet, then made that available as “fish food”. I’m sure previously someone did the same thing for dogs and labeled it “dog food”.

Of course they can be interchanged, but will have ‘side effects’. Just as you could survive on dog food for a period of time, but chances are… you will feel these same side effects.

Personally I wouldn’t do such an experiment on my fish. They cannot communicate the fact that they are having stomach issues very well. So your fish may look healthy one day… and belly up the next…

 

[sevs]

so i feed them dog pellet which is much more cheaper. of the 30 i put into the tank ...8 die the first week, after that they seems easy enough to handle.
too bad i have to get rid of them a few weeks back...im starting a new geophagus tank.

Well this is coming from someone who puts 30 fish in a tank a week I wouldn't take advice too seriously. No offense to ari but is it any wonder 8 died?

 

[lucky62]

so i feed them dog pellet which is much more cheaper.  of the 30 i put into the tank ...8 die the first week, after that they seems easy enough to handle.
too bad i have to get rid of them a few weeks back...im starting a new geophagus tank.

Well this is coming from someone who puts 30 fish in a tank a week I wouldn't take advice too seriously. No offense to ari but is it any wonder 8 died?

True Sevs , but someone else may think this is appropriate to do .We know it really isn't very wise .
I wasn't even going mention the 30 - 8 scenario

And sorry Big Rob for de-railing , a varied diet for your Geo is best [ not too much fatty foods ], I share the Geo with my Son [ Dwarfs ] .

 

[juanveldez]

I have housed geos in the past. while I found them interesting and some day will probably get some more. and agree that the surinamensis are a good looking fish I must warn you guys don't let the bashing get too out of hand ( sevs). I also agree that the fish will probably look out of place, and depending on the size of the rays possible dinner for them as well IMO, again though I have never really delt with rays.

 

[ari]

well...we in asia do not always do things by the book, but anyhow we do alot experiments with our cichlids. surinamensis is a cheap fish ...they are not sold as ones or twos like what FS in the west do. they sold here in packs of 30, 50 or 100. a 30 pack of 3 inch juveniles will cost about 10 USD ...so u make out the cost of each fish.
with fishes being so cheap here, we could afford to experiment, feed them with whatever that comes in mind, and doesnt matterd if folks would say we are crazy for the food we use ...after all..its just some experiment. i retain what works for me...leave the experts to their opinion and their books
of course no offense...with 28 years of cichild keeping in my pocket , i ve learn not to take any commments seriously
cichlids do die, sometimes under mysterious circumstances, but if u are in the business long enough , u would know 8 out 30 is an acceptable number, especailly when 22 got to be 6 inch in the end.
im truly surprise u guy havent heard or seen a tank with 30 or move cichlids...truly 30 is not a big number for 7x2x2 tank. let me show u a over 50 fish tank....

we dont just talk ...we get things done