FoundMoney
Fish Crazy
I went to my usually reliable LFS yesterday to restock my tank. My recent attempts at taking care of Angelfish ended in disaster so my tank was a bit bare. Prior to going to the store yesterday I had a 30 gallon tank with 3 otos, 2 pygmy corys, 1 small clown pleco, 2 rummynose tetras.
I wanted to get a "centerpiece" fish or fishes and wanted something that was fairly hardy. The had apistos (too expensive and too sensitive), blue acaras (too aggressive), keyhole cichlid (I was going to buy this but it was very small and there was only one and wanted to get 2), angelfish (I've found them to be aggressive if you get more than one and they both turn out to be male) and a few other oddball fish, but I couldn't really decide. Then the sales guy pointed out what he called geophagus jurupari. He said they were hearty, not too aggressive and they wouldn't get too big for the tank.
They were very interesting looking fish but I had a few misgivings, not knowing anything about them. Here's an example of letting my fishkeeping enthusiasm get the better of me. I should have researched the fish and came back but Sunday is generally my only day to go to the fish store and I had my young son with me. We both wanted to come home with a new prized fish.
So we purchased 5 rummynose to go along with our 2 lonely guys at home and bought not one, not two but three "geophagus jurupari". When I got home I found out some things that the salesmen either didn't know or misled me about. This was unusal because I have been shopping at this store for about 4 years and have always gotten good service. It was especially unusual because one of the owners was there as well and he seemed to think what was going on was OK.
First, it seems that either there is no such fish as geophagus jurupari or it is so rare that it might as well not exist. Most fish stores sell Satanoperca leucosticta as Geophagus jurupari. If this was the only problem I could let that go, since it is a "eartheater" fish and Geophagus was apparently an older name and now the hobbyist name for the Satanoperca leucosticta. I looked at some photos online and I do believe the fish I have are Satanoperca leucosticta.
A rose by any other name...but there were two other potential problems that have me worried. First is the size. After doing some research it seems like these fish can grow to 10 inches. I can't have 3 ten inch fish in my 30 gallon tank. Well, I guess I could, but that seems overstocked to me.
Second is the substrate. These are "eartheater" fish and they feed, in part anyway, by scooping up the substrate and filtering out food. Not a problem in and of itself but I have a gravel subsstrate and I'm concerned the fish will injure themselves. The guy at the fish store said it wouldn't be a problem since they will take food from the water column. They do actually, so feeding them isn't a problem but if the fish exhibit their natural behavior they are going to sift the gravel through their mouths and gills. Or will they stop when they realize it's not sand?
Should I be worried about this? Have any of you kept Satanoperca leucisticta (or other moutheaters) in tanks with gravel substrates? I will be moving my tank soon which means having to take most, if not all, of the watter out. I suppose at that time I could change to a sand substrate. Is that necessary? Might I loose too much of my nitrifying bacteria if I change substrates?
Will the fish be overcrowded when they reach maturity? What size tank have some of you kept your eartheaters in?
I wanted to get a "centerpiece" fish or fishes and wanted something that was fairly hardy. The had apistos (too expensive and too sensitive), blue acaras (too aggressive), keyhole cichlid (I was going to buy this but it was very small and there was only one and wanted to get 2), angelfish (I've found them to be aggressive if you get more than one and they both turn out to be male) and a few other oddball fish, but I couldn't really decide. Then the sales guy pointed out what he called geophagus jurupari. He said they were hearty, not too aggressive and they wouldn't get too big for the tank.
They were very interesting looking fish but I had a few misgivings, not knowing anything about them. Here's an example of letting my fishkeeping enthusiasm get the better of me. I should have researched the fish and came back but Sunday is generally my only day to go to the fish store and I had my young son with me. We both wanted to come home with a new prized fish.
So we purchased 5 rummynose to go along with our 2 lonely guys at home and bought not one, not two but three "geophagus jurupari". When I got home I found out some things that the salesmen either didn't know or misled me about. This was unusal because I have been shopping at this store for about 4 years and have always gotten good service. It was especially unusual because one of the owners was there as well and he seemed to think what was going on was OK.
First, it seems that either there is no such fish as geophagus jurupari or it is so rare that it might as well not exist. Most fish stores sell Satanoperca leucosticta as Geophagus jurupari. If this was the only problem I could let that go, since it is a "eartheater" fish and Geophagus was apparently an older name and now the hobbyist name for the Satanoperca leucosticta. I looked at some photos online and I do believe the fish I have are Satanoperca leucosticta.
A rose by any other name...but there were two other potential problems that have me worried. First is the size. After doing some research it seems like these fish can grow to 10 inches. I can't have 3 ten inch fish in my 30 gallon tank. Well, I guess I could, but that seems overstocked to me.
Second is the substrate. These are "eartheater" fish and they feed, in part anyway, by scooping up the substrate and filtering out food. Not a problem in and of itself but I have a gravel subsstrate and I'm concerned the fish will injure themselves. The guy at the fish store said it wouldn't be a problem since they will take food from the water column. They do actually, so feeding them isn't a problem but if the fish exhibit their natural behavior they are going to sift the gravel through their mouths and gills. Or will they stop when they realize it's not sand?
Should I be worried about this? Have any of you kept Satanoperca leucisticta (or other moutheaters) in tanks with gravel substrates? I will be moving my tank soon which means having to take most, if not all, of the watter out. I suppose at that time I could change to a sand substrate. Is that necessary? Might I loose too much of my nitrifying bacteria if I change substrates?
Will the fish be overcrowded when they reach maturity? What size tank have some of you kept your eartheaters in?
