Geophagus for discus tank?

[dkeef]

Now that im planning to go with pool filter sand, i wanna get some geophagus group for shifting the sand.
Which ones do u recommend?
Also would they upright the plants such as stem plants or dwarf sagittaria?

[YSS]

I have altifrons with my discus and for the most part, they are fine together. You would need at least a 6 foot tank and no more than 4 geos in the tank.

[dkeef]

Im thinking of red head tapajos. R they hard to find?

[Second Hand Pat]

I had red head tapajos in a 100 gallon and re-homed them as they were super busy fish and out competed the discus for food.

[discuspaul]

I had red head tapajos in a 100 gallon and re-homed them as they were super busy fish and out competed the discus for food.

I'm not surprised that you say that, Pat. I wouldn't keep them with discus.

[dkeef]

Ok so any slower geos with great colors?

[discuspaul]

Sorry, David, can't help you there. Suggest you research Geo species to find a strain that is of a smaller size, peaceful, and a slower-moving, gentle disposition (and one that is readily available and colorful - might not be easy to find).

[Ryan]

The only Geos smaller than red heads are G. parnaibae and G. pindare. They are not as colorful but top out around 4 - 6". They still do best in groups and will be active all day, sifting and chasing each other around. I don't usually recommend Geos for a discus tank but it can be done. Keep in mind that you're adding a bunch more bioload to your tank.

They will not overturn a deep sand bed. They're only going to sift the top 1" or so at the most, probably even less than that unless they're spawning and digging a lot. If you are only interested in them to help with that, I'd pass. Since they dig, they will certainly uproot plants that don't have large/strong root systems.

[Elliots]

I have 4 Jurupari about 3". They have a funny looking face and green metallic highlights. I would not call them very aggressive eaters like my Rams but they are much bigger. I have large sword plants and they have not dug them up.
I like watching them. They are bottom feeders but they eat flake food as it drops to the bottom. I have a lot of bottom feeders that people on SD call clean up crew but I have them because I like them! I always feed enough for my bottom feeders I think. I feed enough so that there is still food in the tank in 10-15 minutes. If they get real big and become a problem my LFS will allow me to trade them in. I think they can reach near a foot. I have seen 6-7" ones but not in my tank.

[dr.nick73]

Now that im planning to go with pool filter sand, i wanna get some geophagus group for shifting the sand.
Which ones do u recommend?
Also would they upright the plants such as stem plants or dwarf sagittaria?

hey david whats up? i had geo altifrons in my tank when i did the overhaul on the tank they were great for the first week then they got real comfortable in the tank and would out compete the discus for food. they never bothered the discus but feeding time they attacked the food and the discus became real skittish. i had to take them out they were really great fish too bad they could not share food with the discus. i got mine from Ichiban Tropicals they do have other varieties and customer care was awesome… hope this helps
nick

[Ryan]

I have 4 Jurupari about 3". They have a funny looking face and green metallic highlights. I would not call them very aggressive eaters like my Rams but they are much bigger. I have large sword plants and they have not dug them up.
I like watching them. They are bottom feeders but they eat flake food as it drops to the bottom. I have a lot of bottom feeders that people on SD call clean up crew but I have them because I like them! I always feed enough for my bottom feeders I think. I feed enough so that there is still food in the tank in 10-15 minutes. If they get real big and become a problem my LFS will allow me to trade them in. I think they can reach near a foot. I have seen 6-7" ones but not in my tank.

Yes, jurupari will grow large. They are also technically not Geos, but Satanoperca.

[dkeef]

Dang. Geos will come up to water surface also and outcompete food?

[Ryan]

If Geos are hungry, yes. They are cichlids. They may prefer mid-to-lower levels of the tank, like discus, but will gladly eat from the surface. Mine all greet me at the top for pellets.

G. altifrons will end up being too large and boisterous for a discus tank, IMO. You're talking about a fish that can grow over 12" long and gets quite territorial and aggressive. Most of the Geo species are large-growing and active.

[Tautog]

I raise Red Head Trapajos with my Discus. I started with a very young colony of 5. my tank is the 150G XH with 4x2 feet bottom dimensions. This was too many for my footprint so I waited until I could generally tell gender. After only a month, 2 paired off and spawned so I identified at two for gender... then I noticed I had two more that were a little more aggressive to the other Trapajos so I traded them reducing my numbers to a small colony of 3 with one male and two females.

As for living with my Discus. They are all wonderful together. Both species poke at each other and if my Discus want something, and a Geo is in the way, they take it anyways... no intimidation.

These are very fun fish and they do the absolute best at keeping my substrate very clean. They do dig around the roots of my long stem Radican Swords... I have to fix those over the weekend each week but its a great tradeoff considering the do way more than a whole school of lazy catfish ever even consider doing...

Here is a picture of them together...

[Elliots]

Ryan, you are correct. Jurupari were classified as Geophagus but not any more. They certainly are earth eaters. I do not know why they were reclassified nor do I care. The Juruparis I have seen for sale at various LFS for the last few years were all called Geophagus. I also do not know what Discus species I have. I call them Stendkers and the wilds I call by where they came from. What species is a Stendker or a Tefe?