Trying to finally finalize my final stocking list

[Wills]

Personally I would recommend keeping them as a group. Geophagus are known to be gregarious fish and as a Geophine type fish it is how I would keep them if it were my tank.

I know there are other owners with different experiences and that would recommend smaller numbers or single members.

What size tank is this?

 

[HoldenOn]

Personally I would recommend keeping them as a group. Geophagus are known to be gregarious fish and as a Geophine type fish it is how I would keep them if it were my tank.

I know there are other owners with different experiences and that would recommend smaller numbers or single members.

What size tank is this?

This is a standard 29 gallon. Heavily planted and with plenty of flat slate. Also a large piece of driftwood.

 

[Wills]

Like I say based on my experience with Geophagus and Biotodoma species which are all relatives of Mikrogeophagus I would keep them in a gregarious group. I would be ok with 4 in a 29 gallon, you may want to start with more with the intention of finishing with a smaller group. It is important to build a community around these fish though, you will need dither fish to distract them from each other and a very built up tank with good hardscape as tall as possible and plants that reach the surface.

I know this is the opposite advice of other members here who should be listened to, it is just an area where there is a differing of opinion.

Wills

 

[HoldenOn]

Like I say based on my experience with Geophagus and Biotodoma species which are all relatives of Mikrogeophagus I would keep them in a gregarious group. I would be ok with 4 in a 29 gallon, you may want to start with more with the intention of finishing with a smaller group. It is important to build a community around these fish though, you will need dither fish to distract them from each other and a very built up tank with good hardscape as tall as possible and plants that reach the surface.

I know this is the opposite advice of other members here who should be listened to, it is just an area where there is a differing of opinion.

Wills

So this would be my stocking if I went for a group of 4. 7 peppered corydoras and 10 harlequin rasboras. Any other small shoals you would recommend? Also I have swords and anarchis so I have a pretty solid forest in the making. Have a friend looking at bolivians who just got a 34 so if they need splitting up i've got someone who can take them.

 

[Wills]

I probably wouldn’t do any bottom dwellers with them in a 29

 

[HoldenOn]

I already have 4 corydoras, I could get 6 to get them to a proper shoal. They know their hidey-holes, and I will monitor closely. If you think it really won't work I'll stick to 2 bolivians.

 

[Byron]

After doing more reading on bolivian rams (SF), I am curious as to wether I would benefit from keeping say 4 rams rather than 2, and downsizing my corydoras to 7. On SF they say to get a group and let them pair off, do I have the space for that?

This will not work, if we are thinking about the same fish, the Bolivian Ram which is Mikrogeophagus altispinosus. A single male (or female if you got that) in a 29g is fine. A bonded pair in a 29g is fine, though divorce can always occur down the road. A 29g is not sufficient space for a group (unless fry/juvenile) and certainly not for two (or more) mature males, there will only be one before very long. And the same fate may occur to any female if the male has not accepted her and bonded.

Observations made in the habitat suggest that this species lives in solitude (individual fish alone) apart from reproduction periods (Linke & Staeck, 1994). Single fish are therefore good cichlids for a community aquarium. More than one can be housed if the tank provides sufficient floor space for individual territories. The fish remains in the lower third of the water column, spending most of its time browsing the substrate for bits of food. A male will immediately see the entire tank as "his space," and enforce this on every fish in the tank; not a problem, so long as one realizes it.

Don't let the similarity in genus names mislead. Originally described as Crenicara altispinosa by Haseman in 1911, for a time it was considered in the genera Microgeophagus and Papiliochromis until 2003 when the Swedish ichthyologist and cichlid authority Sven Kullander placed it in Mikrogeophagus along with the closely-related species M. ramirezi; these are the only species in this genus that was established in 1968 by Meulengracht-Madsen. The genus name derives from the Greek mikr [= small], geo [= earth] and phag [= eat], literally "small eartheater." [The reference was due to the "rams" being monogamous (Apistogramma are polygamous) and substrate spawners.] The species epithet is derived from the Latin alt [high] and spinos [spiny], referring to the elongated first ray of the dorsal fin. The valid spelling is altispinosus, not altispinosa, to agree with the gender of the genus name.

 

[HoldenOn]

This will not work, if we are thinking about the same fish, the Bolivian Ram which is Mikrogeophagus altispinosus. A single male (or female if you got that) in a 29g is fine. A bonded pair in a 29g is fine, though divorce can always occur down the road. A 29g is not sufficient space for a group (unless fry/juvenile) and certainly not for two (or more) mature males, there will only be one before very long. And the same fate may occur to any female if the male has not accepted her and bonded.

Observations made in the habitat suggest that this species lives in solitude (individual fish alone) apart from reproduction periods (Linke & Staeck, 1994). Single fish are therefore good cichlids for a community aquarium. More than one can be housed if the tank provides sufficient floor space for individual territories. The fish remains in the lower third of the water column, spending most of its time browsing the substrate for bits of food. A male will immediately see the entire tank as "his space," and enforce this on every fish in the tank; not a problem, so long as one realizes it.

Don't let the similarity in genus names mislead. Originally described as Crenicara altispinosa by Haseman in 1911, for a time it was considered in the genera Microgeophagus and Papiliochromis until 2003 when the Swedish ichthyologist and cichlid authority Sven Kullander placed it in Mikrogeophagus along with the closely-related species M. ramirezi; these are the only species in this genus that was established in 1968 by Meulengracht-Madsen. The genus name derives from the Greek mikr [= small], geo [= earth] and phag [= eat], literally "small eartheater." [The reference was due to the "rams" being monogamous (Apistogramma are polygamous) and substrate spawners.] The species epithet is derived from the Latin alt [high] and spinos [spiny], referring to the elongated first ray of the dorsal fin. The valid spelling is altispinosus, not altispinosa, to agree with the gender of the genus name.

Makes more sense now. Back to my plan of getting only one. Thank you.

 

[Essjay]

If they paired off you could only keep one pair; the other two rams would need to be rehomed, even if they were to form a second pair.

 

[Byron]

The question in post #73 is also asked in two other threads, and members have responded in those. I think the issue is decided now, so further posts here on this question will only confuse (me, anyway, lol).

 

[HoldenOn]

The question in post #73 is also asked in two other threads, and members have responded in those. I think the issue is decided now, so further posts here on this question will only confuse (me, anyway, lol).

Roger that.

 

[Essjay]

I have merged two threads so all the replies are now together. Byron mentioned 2 other threads - if someone could post a link to the other one, I'll see if that one can be merged as well.

 

[HoldenOn]

I think it was only one other. I stopped using the third a while ago.