Multitude of Guianacara

[Kingster]

So i contacted of my LFS for Bandit cichlids, they said I could chose one of the following:

Guianacara:
Owroewefi 1” to 1 ½”
Geayi 1” to 1 ½ “
Dacrya 1 ½” to 2 ¼”
Spenozona Suriname Red Spot 1½” to 2 ¼”

and one back up choice incase the other one is sold out.

So my questions are: Which is the best looking in your opinion? Which is the biggest/smallest? Rarest/hardest to find? Least aggressive/most aggressive? and FINALLY Is a group of 5 big enough Harem to act natural, I know in the wild they would never be in such a small group of 5, but idk? is that sufficient?

duanes MrsE88 tlindsey

 

[duanes]

They all look similar, they all get about the same size, same demeanor. Can't say one would be better than another.
Mine were sold as geayii, but may have been orowefi or sphenozoa, I never found out, because they were so variable from day to day, in pattern, and colors,
They 1st spawned at about 3".
Here are some of the patterns, all the same fish.



I started with about 20 x 1" juvies, but gave 10 away.
Great fish, I kept them in a 150 gal with Acarichthys heckelli, although the 150 became too small for the heckelli, int was perfect for the Guianacara.

 

[Kingster]

They all look similar, they all get about the same size, same demeanor. Can't say one would be better than another.
Mine were sold as geayii, but may have been orowefi or sphenozoa, I never found out, because they were so variable from day to day, in pattern, and colors,
They 1st spawned at about 3".
Here are some of the patterns, all the same fish.



I started with about 20 x 1" juvies, but gave 10 away.
Great fish, I kept them in a 150 gal with Acarichthys heckelli, although the 150 became too small for the heckelli, int was perfect for the Guianacara.

i knew i could count on you for help, thanks, sooooo the best-looking one appears to be Guianacara Owroewefi, do you think 5 is a good enough Harem? thing is i got 4 uaru, 6 apistos, 2 keyholes, and soon to get 8 checkerboards, could i possibly add 6 guianacara Owroewefi? I read a guy who got a buch and that these guys literally were super peaceful in spawning, kinda said they dont tend to be the best parents, I got a tonne of leaf litter.

 

[MrsE88]

I would take duanes advise. I’m not familiar with any of those guys.

I’m also not sure what size your tank is, but it sounds rather full. Try not to get too carried away. It might look pretty empty when the fish are all 2” or less but once they put on size you don’t want problems.

 

[Kingster]

I would take duanes advise. I’m not familiar with any of those guys.

I’m also not sure what size your tank is, but it sounds rather full. Try not to get too carried away. It might look pretty empty when the fish are all 2” or less but once they put on size you don’t want problems.

i understand your wise words. I am thinking it might be much. my tank is a 5 foot 120 dual overflow. To i think i will keep with this stocking for now. Of my 4 uaru, should i sell 2 once a pair form, or keep them? do adult Uaru tht have paired off like to stay with the group, or do they enjoy only the 2 of them? Keep all 4, or no?

 

[duanes]

Mine spawned in a community tank, with very little overt aggression.
They hid the dark green eggs under a log and both stood guard.

Your tank seems to be good size, and the tank mates perfect, although 4 Uaru may need a bigger tank at some point. If it were me, I'd just move all 4 to a larger tank when the time comes.

 

[duanes]

The eggs blend and are camouflaged with the algae that was already on the log.
Here I torqued out the colors and brightness and they are still hard to distinguish.

 

[MrsE88]

i understand your wise words. I am thinking it might be much. my tank is a 5 foot 120 dual overflow. To i think i will keep with this stocking for now. Of my 4 uaru, should i sell 2 once a pair form, or keep them? do adult Uaru tht have paired off like to stay with the group, or do they enjoy only the 2 of them? Keep all 4, or no?

Like duanes said the uaru are the ones that might need to be moved in the future. He gives good advise and if I were you I’d listen to him over me. He has experience in this area. I do not.
Best of luck with your tank and stocking. I’m sure it will look great.

 

[neutrino]

I had what were sold as sphenozona with reliable provenance, but they weren't Suriname red spot. Cute fish but never colorful in any mood, without provenance you wouldn't know what they were. Which brings me to my point, yes, less colorful populations are really hard to distinguish, even blotch markings, etc. aren't much help because they change with mood. But imo they don't all look the same, it depends on collection point. I've seen some nice Suriname red spot and some colorful Owroewefi that mine never compared to in any mood, including spawning.

Mine were pushy little buggers when they could get away with it (with red head Geo Tapajos), but polite toward fish they respected (rotkeil sev pair and large, wild Peru scalare). It's not exaggerating to say it was a wild scene when mine initially paired up. They temporarily turned into raving psychos before eventually settling down into two homemaking pairs and an extra female that stayed grumpy ever after.

 

[Kingster]

The eggs blend and are camouflaged with the algae that was already on the log.
Here I torqued out the colors and brightness and they are still hard to distinguish.
View attachment 1357685

I had what were sold as sphenozona with reliable provenance, but they weren't Suriname red spot. Cute fish but never colorful in any mood, without provenance you wouldn't know what they were. Which brings me to my point, yes, less colorful populations are really hard to distinguish, even blotch markings, etc. aren't much help because they change with mood. But imo they don't all look the same, it depends on collection point. I've seen some nice Suriname red spot and some colorful Owroewefi that mine never compared to in any mood, including spawning.

Mine were pushy little buggers when they could get away with it (with red head Geo Tapajos), but polite toward fish they respected (rotkeil sev pair and large, wild Peru scalare). It's not exaggerating to say it was a wild scene when mine initially paired up. They temporarily turned into raving psychos before eventually settling down into two homemaking pairs and an extra female that stayed grumpy ever after.

Iam split between 2 types:

1. Guianacara dacrya

or

2. Guianacara Owroewefi

I will go with my personal choice, but which would you guess would look great in a black water setup? Plus which do you guess is less common?