Ropefish and Geophagus Parnaibae
- Thread starter Lomaxf
- Start date
They should be fine together. With Geos it is vital to have a deep sand substrate and they are also quite a gregarious species so hopefully you can get a small group of 4-5 fish.
What size tank do you have?
What size tank do you have?
thanks for the reply , they eat out of the ground or something don't they? I won't be able to get a small group as it is one someone is giving away as if is fighting there blue acaras. Would they also work with pearl gourami?
You might be able to track some down to add if the tank is big enough. And yes they are known as earth eaters, they take big mouthfuls of sand and sift it through their gills looking for food. If the substrate is too big or rough it can get stuck and do serious damage.
How big is your tank?
How big is your tank?
They are quite a small Geo so 250 litres could be ok, what is the foot print? Pleco will be fine, what type is it? Hoping its not a common as they will outgrow the tank. SAE sometimes have a reputation of attaching to tall bodied fish, though the CAE is the worst offender.
Worth watching this - you can see the substrate is litterally beach like sand, if you have any type of gravel dont get earth eaters or switch to play sand. You can see what I mean about them being gregarious fish too
Wills
Worth watching this - you can see the substrate is litterally beach like sand, if you have any type of gravel dont get earth eaters or switch to play sand. You can see what I mean about them being gregarious fish too
Wills
The Gourami are a bit of a no-no with cichlids but... pearls are really peaceful and the geo and pearl will be in totally different sections of the tank so it could work? For clean up crew anything big enough not to be eaten by the rope fish would work, Brochis Cats? I think Hoplos would be too big, pictus could work but are really active. Flagtail cats are nice too? I wouldnt do the red tail shark personally.
Please make sure you swap your gravel to a very fine sand though.
Wills
Please make sure you swap your gravel to a very fine sand though.
Wills
Thanks for a the help! I have collected it and it is beautiful. Would you be able to tell me the gender? Also I don't know if it is a parnibae, it was advertised as one but is a completely different colour and pattern. We named it jewel as it looks like it has diamonds on the side. These are the best pictures I could take as there is a weird green algae on bits of the glass but I'm going to the shop today to get a cleaner fish that you recommend. It seem to get in really well with the pearls and hangs around with them it also seems to like a cave I built out of slate
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https://www.highwaygardencentre.co.uk/aquatics/live-fish that is the stock list of the shop I'm going to, would you be able to recommend a cleaner they have there
It is a 'Geophagus' Brassiliensis type, did you find out how old it is? Does it have spangles on every scale down its side or is it just the realy reflective ones I can see in the pictures? Do the dorsal and bottom fin look more yellow/orange or more red?
If it is young, very spangled, with yellow/orange fins it is probably 'Geophagus' Brassiliensis, if it is older (2-3 years), appears exactly as in photo, with red fins, it could be 'Geophagus' Iporagensis. The difference being Brassiliensis gets massive, Iporagensis is more manageable in a 250 liter. If it is Brassiliensis it will out grow your tank, something like a 4-500 liter tank would be required long term.
We really need more info before we properly recommend fish for your tank, I've given you information and some guess work so far to help but without more info I dont really want to recommend decisions for you.
Are the only other fish in the tank, 1 Rope Fish and 2 Pearl Gourami? We know its a 250 liter tank but what are the dimensions? We also need to know ph, gh and kh. Helpfully using your LFS as the post code I have managed to find this info on Anglican Waters website for you.
@essjay please can you help decipher this I think it is very hard water right?
I can also see that the ph tests in a min-max range are between 7.1 and 7.6
So if we compare this to the profiles of the fish you currently keep from a reliable source
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/erpetoichthys-calabaricus/
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trichopodus-leerii/
We can actually see that you are probably going to be ok with these species so far, need to wait for confirmation of just how hard your water is though.
I have to admit I did not realise the potential size of Rope Fish!! I thought they were much smaller than 90cm as adults! You may want to think about a bigger tank for the future as that is a phenomenal size, I know they are flexible and not particularly active but you need to be in the 500 liter range as a minimum to be fair to them.
In terms of a cleaner fish from your LFS, https://www.highwaygardencentre.co.uk/api-algae-scraper-for-glass go for this to start with, you cant rely on fish to clean the tank, there are some that can help but they are no substitute for regular maintenance. In harder water some options could be Panda Garras or Siamese Algae Eaters, your water could be too hard for the Garras though and some SAEs can become problematic as they get older.
It really is best to work out your stocking in advance of buying even your first fish and reasearching the hell out of them, this is what I'd recommend right now before you buy any more fish.
Lot of information here so worth reading through and seeing how next to plan your tank.
Wills
If it is young, very spangled, with yellow/orange fins it is probably 'Geophagus' Brassiliensis, if it is older (2-3 years), appears exactly as in photo, with red fins, it could be 'Geophagus' Iporagensis. The difference being Brassiliensis gets massive, Iporagensis is more manageable in a 250 liter. If it is Brassiliensis it will out grow your tank, something like a 4-500 liter tank would be required long term.
We really need more info before we properly recommend fish for your tank, I've given you information and some guess work so far to help but without more info I dont really want to recommend decisions for you.
Are the only other fish in the tank, 1 Rope Fish and 2 Pearl Gourami? We know its a 250 liter tank but what are the dimensions? We also need to know ph, gh and kh. Helpfully using your LFS as the post code I have managed to find this info on Anglican Waters website for you.
@essjay please can you help decipher this
I think it is very hard water right?| 412.25 mg/l (or parts per million) | :Calcium Carbonate |
| 164.9 mg/l (or parts per million) | :Calcium |
| 28.693 °C | egrees Clark |
| 41.225 °F | egrees French |
| 23.416 °dH | egrees German |
| 4.123 mmol/l | :Millimoles |
I can also see that the ph tests in a min-max range are between 7.1 and 7.6
So if we compare this to the profiles of the fish you currently keep from a reliable source
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/erpetoichthys-calabaricus/
We can actually see that you are probably going to be ok with these species so far, need to wait for confirmation of just how hard your water is though.
I have to admit I did not realise the potential size of Rope Fish!! I thought they were much smaller than 90cm as adults! You may want to think about a bigger tank for the future as that is a phenomenal size, I know they are flexible and not particularly active but you need to be in the 500 liter range as a minimum to be fair to them.
In terms of a cleaner fish from your LFS, https://www.highwaygardencentre.co.uk/api-algae-scraper-for-glass go for this to start with, you cant rely on fish to clean the tank, there are some that can help but they are no substitute for regular maintenance. In harder water some options could be Panda Garras or Siamese Algae Eaters, your water could be too hard for the Garras though and some SAEs can become problematic as they get older.
It really is best to work out your stocking in advance of buying even your first fish and reasearching the hell out of them, this is what I'd recommend right now before you buy any more fish.
Lot of information here so worth reading through and seeing how next to plan your tank.
Wills
It doesn't have orange fins and is only some scales,I don't know how old it is I don't have any measure ments as I don't have a tape measure I only know the tank is a bit over 4 foot in length
I have an algea scraper but I have lost the blade on it so is just a rubber rectangle.i don't know how to work out water hardness
I have an algea scraper but I have lost the blade on it so is just a rubber rectangle.i don't know how to work out water hardness
Do you know the brand of your aquarium? We can find the dimensions from that if you do.
The hardness data is in the table in my post above - just need a bit of help from someone else to figure out exactly what you have locally. I suspect it is very hard water but would like someone to confirm.
Hopefully you could have an Iporagensis which is a big advantage as they are much hardier than the Surinimensis type geos like the Parnaibae and can do well in harder water. They are also ok with different types of substrate - though sand would be prefered. And they are suitable to stay in this size tank for life.
Have you had a think about what you are going to do with the rope fish?
Do you have any ideas on what other fish you would like to add?
Wills
The hardness data is in the table in my post above - just need a bit of help from someone else to figure out exactly what you have locally. I suspect it is very hard water but would like someone to confirm.
Hopefully you could have an Iporagensis which is a big advantage as they are much hardier than the Surinimensis type geos like the Parnaibae and can do well in harder water. They are also ok with different types of substrate - though sand would be prefered. And they are suitable to stay in this size tank for life.
Have you had a think about what you are going to do with the rope fish?
Do you have any ideas on what other fish you would like to add?
Wills
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