Are brasiliensis a good community fish? Ive heard both sides to this. Some say brasiliensis are a great community fish. And then ive heard they can be terribly aggro and are in single species setups.
Geophagus brasiliensis in community?
- Thread starter Backfromthedead
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I had a breeding pair years ago. both males and females have the same level of coloration, just different body shapes typical of new world cichlids.
Theyre not much like typical Geophagus and act more like open water cichlids, for example they dont spend much time sand sifting.
Mine were a little pushy when breeding but they get along fine with other less delicate fish of a similar disposition.
I also found some evidence that they inhabit brackish estruaries in the wild and can tolerate both fast flowing riverine and still water habitats.
I have seen several morphs available, probably different localities.
I had one that was a pale yellow color throughout, and one that was more tan background with greenish blue body. Some can also have red fins or pale yellow fins.
An interesting fish species good luck!
Theyre not much like typical Geophagus and act more like open water cichlids, for example they dont spend much time sand sifting.
Mine were a little pushy when breeding but they get along fine with other less delicate fish of a similar disposition.
I also found some evidence that they inhabit brackish estruaries in the wild and can tolerate both fast flowing riverine and still water habitats.
I have seen several morphs available, probably different localities.
I had one that was a pale yellow color throughout, and one that was more tan background with greenish blue body. Some can also have red fins or pale yellow fins.
An interesting fish species good luck!
Gorgeous fish, I found mine pretty aggressive. Was the boss of a tank with a heckelli, thoricthys maculippinis, some others I can't remember. Wasn't insane, but definitely pushy nothing like most geophagus.
You’ll want a large tank and large, sturdy tankmates. Male brasiliensis are large-growing cichlids and they are in fact semi-aggressive to aggressive.
I had mine in s 80 and a 125, he was very peaceful with a bit of chasing others but when I added other cichlids he became more dominant and aggressive but no injuries to others until I added a big chocolate cichlid where he almost killed him, the chocolate didn’t fight back so the geo was very aggressive, they can hold their own and get more aggressive as they age, mine was only 4”. And a female. I would only recommend in a large tank with other sturdy fish, they will take on fish twice their size
Haven't personally kept Brazil geos, and I typically dislike comments that begin with I don't know much about them, but...
However, the following is relevant as a principle explaining cichlid behavior across multiple species of varying temperament...
You can't always extrapolate adult behavior from juvenile behavior or adult male behavior from female behavior. Some may not display much aggression for a while, even the first few years, because, despite reaching or nearing adult size, you don't see their full capacity for belligerence until they're fully ready to reproduce. In some large or long lived species this can take a few years-- and individuals may appear to be relatively mild until they're more mature. Or some species (or individuals) simply become more solitary and less tolerant with age. Or, as always, aggression is relative to tank size, what else is in the tank, etc.
It's a reason why someone can have a fish they thought wasn't so bad until it suddenly 'snaps' one day. Individual fish can vary within a species, not all live up to an aggressive reputation earned by wild, or higher aggression, individuals. But observing one to be fairly mild at 4,6... even 10 inches doesn't always predict what it will be like at 12,14 or more inches. Or having one for a year without much trouble doesn't always predict how it will act after 2,3 or more years.
Some will just vary, specific location/population, how far from wild, individual fish, tankmates, tank size... and you can keep them for a while and just be prepared to adjust if/when they decide to get more rowdy.
However, the following is relevant as a principle explaining cichlid behavior across multiple species of varying temperament...
You can't always extrapolate adult behavior from juvenile behavior or adult male behavior from female behavior. Some may not display much aggression for a while, even the first few years, because, despite reaching or nearing adult size, you don't see their full capacity for belligerence until they're fully ready to reproduce. In some large or long lived species this can take a few years-- and individuals may appear to be relatively mild until they're more mature. Or some species (or individuals) simply become more solitary and less tolerant with age. Or, as always, aggression is relative to tank size, what else is in the tank, etc.
It's a reason why someone can have a fish they thought wasn't so bad until it suddenly 'snaps' one day. Individual fish can vary within a species, not all live up to an aggressive reputation earned by wild, or higher aggression, individuals. But observing one to be fairly mild at 4,6... even 10 inches doesn't always predict what it will be like at 12,14 or more inches. Or having one for a year without much trouble doesn't always predict how it will act after 2,3 or more years.
Some will just vary, specific location/population, how far from wild, individual fish, tankmates, tank size... and you can keep them for a while and just be prepared to adjust if/when they decide to get more rowdy.
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I've kept both G braziliensus, and its close cousin iporuguensus. Both were aggressive with similar shaped, and colored (spangled) cichlids, and especially when water temps were warm (their normal breeding season) but when kept at temps in the low 70's high 60sF, were more docile. Coming from southern Brazil which is more sub-tropical (cooler) this made sense to me, and mine even spawning in out door ponds in Milwaukee where water temps dropped in the 60'F at night in summer.
As someone who has kept and bred "Geophagus" brasiliensis for YEARS, I can say that honestly, these fish get a bad rap. Someone above said that they tend to be more aggressive with similarly sized, shaped, and colored fishes and I cannot speak too much to that other than at one point I kept a group with a group of G. pindare with no issues, but HAVE kept them with MANY other fishes without any issue as long as the others didn't fit in their mouths. At one point I had a group of brasiliensis growing out with similarly sized angelfish, and had a pair mate spawn and keep a large chunk of their fry without hurting any of the angels, sure they kept them away from their fry, but never truly attacked them. I have ZERO qualms recommending these guys for any tank that does not include either fish that they can eat or swallow, or weak shallow-rooted plants (they may not sift a lot, but they can be diggers especially when they want to spawn).