Surinam Geo's

[Gill]

Quick question, there are some surinam geos in and LFS nr me.
They have been there a few months now, and not one has sold.
I have been watching them and i have not noticed any growth, from what i can tell.

howbig should they be, as these golf ball round in the middle but still have the normal surinam head.
they almost look as if the are SB strain.

I'll get some pix on saturday when i am up that way.

 

[duncs]

Difficult to tell without the pictures but it almost sounds like they're stunted.

If they're true Geophagus surinamensis (which is actually quite unlikely), they should be achieving at least 10" TL.. probably more like 12".

It could be that they're actually (poooorly) mislabelled Geophagus steindachneri in which case they're much deeper and shorter, more like 8" TL.

Do any of the fishes have a nuchal hump on their foreheads?

 

[Gill]

Difficult to tell without the pictures but it almost sounds like they're stunted.

If they're true Geophagus surinamensis (which is actually quite unlikely), they should be achieving at least 10" TL.. probably more like 12".

It could be that they're actually (poooorly) mislabelled Geophagus steindachneri in which case they're much deeper and shorter, more like 8" TL.

Do any of the fishes have a nuchal hump on their foreheads?

Hi thanks for the Info,
they look exactly like >

And some of them have a Nuchal hump coming thru.

I'll get some pix on Saturday.

I might get some as i have always liked this species of geo. i have tonnes of tanks for them to live in.

 

[duncs]

Get some pics before you purchase them Gill, I'm a bit worried from the way you've described them. If they look like those juvenile G. surinamensis, they certainly shouldn't have nuchal humps.. or anything even approaching a nuchal hump.

What size are they?

In fairness.. if they're quality specimens.. they're such a rewarding fish. Be careful what you keep with them though, my sp. "pindare" will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, unlike my S. daemon which will happily live with nearly any fishes.

When you've got the pics, give me a PM and remind me about this thread in case I forget to check back

 

[Gill]

Get some pics before you purchase them Gill, I'm a bit worried from the way you've described them. If they look like those juvenile G. surinamensis, they certainly shouldn't have nuchal humps.. or anything even approaching a nuchal hump.

What size are they?

In fairness.. if they're quality specimens.. they're such a rewarding fish. Be careful what you keep with them though, my sp. "pindare" will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, unlike my S. daemon which will happily live with nearly any fishes.

When you've got the pics, give me a PM and remind me about this thread in case I forget to check back

No Worries, i'll get some pix in the morrow, going bright and early so i can spend the day sorting out fish and plants.
i will put them in a blackwater biotope, as i hear thats the best for them. have tonnes of IAL and Blackwater extract and lovely lefy plants and Bogwood the would love to hide in.

I will put them in the greenhouse to save on heating and space and they shoudl be fine in there.

yeah - they looked really weird- but if they are SB then it should be fine, this LFS has been getting in alot of SB specied lately and they are not selling.
They have tanks full of SB tetras and Rams ( tried these and they lasted ll of 2 hours - were comepletely smashed by the other rams)

 

[duncs]

Excuse my ignorance.. "SB"?

Rather than using the blackwater extract, you can just throw some peat in a filter bag, wedge it in your filter and everything is perfect Don't expected rooted plants to last long. Floating plants and plants attached to bogwood might work nicely, but anything else will just be uprooted. Are you intending to use a sand substrate?

 

[Gill]

Excuse my ignorance.. "SB"?

Rather than using the blackwater extract, you can just throw some peat in a filter bag, wedge it in your filter and everything is perfect Don't expected rooted plants to last long. Floating plants and plants attached to bogwood might work nicely, but anything else will just be uprooted. Are you intending to use a sand substrate?

Excuse my ignorance.. "SB"? = Short Body "Hybrids"

Ok i have lots of peat i can use.
oh i would use heavy duty silk plants so no worries there.
i dont think i will use a substrate to start with, will see how they get on.
they are 2 for £18.00, which i think is still a good price

 

[duncs]

Personally.. I would never touch any short bodied "hybrid". I could go on a huge rant.. but for your sake.. I'm going to try not to To summise.. their lifespans will inevitably be cut short, they are significantly more delicate and you will never have any chance of breeding them. Bear that in mind.

You need a sand substrate. It isn't an option. In the wild, the eartheating fishes feed by sifting through the sand and picking out small insects/crustaceans. In the aquarium, they will try and grab a mouthful of food as it sinks towards the bottom then they will eat the rest of their fill from the sand. If the food lands on glass.. they won't touch it.

 

[Gill]

Personally.. I would never touch any short bodied "hybrid". I could go on a huge rant.. but for your sake.. I'm going to try not to To summise.. their lifespans will inevitably be cut short, they are significantly more delicate and you will never have any chance of breeding them. Bear that in mind.

You need a sand substrate. It isn't an option. In the wild, the eartheating fishes feed by sifting through the sand and picking out small insects/crustaceans. In the aquarium, they will try and grab a mouthful of food as it sinks towards the bottom then they will eat the rest of their fill from the sand. If the food lands on glass.. they won't touch it.

ok will add a bag of play sand.
have loads of live food that i can seed the sand with.

i do like them and have always beena fan of SB species. will see what they look like int he morrow

 

[Gill]

Tooooo Hot for me to go out the house - its making my vertigo really bad - will try in the morrow, as they know i want them and won;t sel them.

 

[duncs]

Yes indeed, 24 degrees in Newcastle

 

[Esfa]

Tooooo Hot for me to go out the house - its making my vertigo really bad - will try in the morrow, as they know i want them and won;t sel them.

Vertigo is all to do with the inner ear.... how does heat effect it?

 

[Gill]

Tooooo Hot for me to go out the house - its making my vertigo really bad - will try in the morrow, as they know i want them and won;t sel them.

Vertigo is all to do with the inner ear.... how does heat effect it?

the heat makes it worse in my case - remember 7 illnesses' and 2 diseases complicate things