New here and new to geophagus tapajos. Need some advice please.

[philipraposo1982]

Alot of good points are being make and its making me reconsider my whole idea of keeping a species only tank.

What tetras will work with the higher 81-82f? I can't find lemon tetras locally. What about rummynose?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I would look at hatchets if your tank has a lid.
Rummy nose tend to swim lower in the water column. What about penguins?

 

[philipraposo1982]

I don't have a lid so hatchets are out. I would prefer to keep it SA.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Penguins are s/a and swim near the surface.

 

[philipraposo1982]

So after receiving more advice on here and other forums I felt the right thing to do was to add some dither fish. I ended up finding some lemon tetras. Picked up 18.

I read that lemon tetras are found in the tapajos river with my geos. So they are a perfect fit.

They also live fairly long and shouldn't add much in terms of waste. Hopefully with a bit of time my geos will come out of they shells and gain some confidence.

 

[peathenster]

Lemon tetras are my favorite too, mostly because of the higher body profile - less likely for them to get eaten by peaceful but larger cichlids. I would have added some more but it's a good start. Good luck!

 

[NHKG]

If you see some differences in behaviour of your fish, please write about it here. I have big problem with behaviour of mine eartheaters. They are frightened when anybody move around tank.
I am thinking about some tetras too.

 

[philipraposo1982]

So literally 24 hours later and its like a different group of geos are in my tank.

They are out and about non stop, sifting constantly and explore ring like never before. The dither fish aka lemon tetras really did work and make a huge difference.

The only problem is I have lost 4 fish in 24 hours. I hope I didn't introduce something nasty...

 

[peathenster]

So literally 24 hours later and its like a different group of geos are in my tank.

They are out and about non stop, sifting constantly and explore ring like never before. The dither fish aka lemon tetras really did work and make a huge difference.

The only problem is I have lost 4 fish in 24 hours. I hope I didn't introduce something nasty...

Glad to know that and thanks for giving it a try

I think we forgot to mention - partly it's somewhat of a common practice - that you should QT new fish, especially if they are from lfs. I hope it's nothing serious and keep us posted.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Unfortunately I don't have a QT tank as I only got the one tank