herpetology!

As per the topic, what do you guys think? I was told they are fine alone but also they do school. I was also told they are not really a devoted schooler like a tetra though and are willing to hang out with other cichlids, angels, discus or any fish that doesn't harm them. I just grabbed one today, seeing if my Geophagus and Bichirs leave it alone. So far, so good!

Can you score me a 6-8 inch female Geophagus surinamensis (or at least a female from that complex)? Also, do you take fish for resale? I got unlucky on some babies of this species and they all turned out male. Need to rehome some of them! Thanks, can you PM me with info?

So I did a full treatment of triple sulfa and it cured all the visible symptoms. I put carbon back in a few days later and now the cichlids are scratching on the rocks and one of the bichirs is blotchy again. I've dropped $60 total on meds and they worked, but now it's back. What the hell is this crap? It responds to anti bacterials so logically that is what it is, but it comes back when treatment is done? It was even longer than a normal treatment. I started with 2 doses of Erythromycin and then did four of triple sulfa, all with carbon removed and doing the water changes as needed. Any suggestions? They are still active and eating like crazy, Is it possible that it's a nitrate issue?

In my experience keeping my dads pond comets alive when he brings them in every winter, this can be a few things. Bacterial infection or parasite are most likely. Are you seeing anything hanging off the fish? If you are unsure, you can always hit it with broad spec anti parasites and anti bacterials, Metroplex and Kanaplex are both good when used in tandeom even, they are what I've used to treat most of the issues I've ever had with hit giant, gross goldfish.

It's not very photogenic, it's too...well brown. Mostly just functional at this point while things are growing up.

Should I wait for the dose of meds? I've done the two 33% WC's and plan on another tomorrow. edit: The one that is most impacted by the affliction is out swimming about, no longer hiding in the corner. I take this as a good sign, I am going to hold off on the meds and keep with the aggressive water changes.

Heyo, I've had a very healthy and rapidly growing tank for months. I was stupid and bought some feeder from petsmart, as a food bonanza usually triggers some sort of growth. In this case, it is probably bacterial. My Rosy Barb, Synodontis and 4 Geophagus are all untouched, but my bichirs are infected (they ate all the feeds, durr.) The smaller of the two has the worse symptoms, but yah a cloudy eye appeared today. I thought the blotchy slime coats were from the normal bichir nipping bullshit that happens when they are courting, as they are doing all the normal courting behaviours and do so a lot more when I feed more food, but it turns out it's probably an infection of some sort. So, symptoms: Shy, reclusive smaller bichir suddenly (was once the more active of the two) blotchy slime coat cloudy eye A bit of heavy gill use Treatments so far: two 25% water changes in the last 3 days a change of some of the filter media (not all of it though, don't want to crash the system!) Aquarium Salt I am thinking probably something like Metroplex or Kanaplex, but just lookin for any thoughts before I grab some meds tomorrow afternoon! I'm not terribly worried as the larger of the two has had a similar issue almost a year ago and it turned out to be bacterial. So much for feeding feeders to them...they eat cichlid food like beasts, I have no idea what I was thinking. Ugh. The draw of watching them hunt is super cool! Thanks!

Does anyone know if these fish are impacted by heat/salinity/acidity/some environmental factor when determining sex in ovo/as fry?

yah I am finding the males are consistently a lot more territorial than virtually every source I've looked at will tell me. I mean it's fine cause of what's in the tank, more than half the time they don't care if he's all over them they just keep doing whatever they want. What I DO care about is trying to have a pair that breed for me. Right now, I'm tempted to just sell off every single one of theses idiots, get like 12 small geophagus and hope once again, for the third time, that one won't outgrow everyone and take over. At least my bichirs are into each other (the 69 smelling, displaying, etc) even if they are too small yet!

So I recently upgraded my 30 gallon to a 45 bowfront. Right now I just have two less than half grown senegal bichirs (a male and female that are paired, just waiting on breeding...probably need to get bigger), a half grown Synodontis petricola (or maybe more than half, they are a small species) and of course the Geophagus surinamensis. I originally bought 2 babies Geophagus, but one started heavily bullying the other and I got rid of the subordinate one, as I am pretty sure they were competing males. I then added 4 babies to the tank. One was bullied out already and another is on the process of being bullied. One isn't really growing but eats like a pig and doesn't get chased quite as much. The big male is digging pits and displays the black dot on his side for the other Geophagus. Ideally once I've got a pair of Geophagus I am confident are male/female, I'll get a much bigger tank for everyone. Right now they are all growing like crazy and there is plenty of room, so I'm not too worried about size for now. Any ideas on how I can tell when they finally pair up? Also, if this male doesn't bond with any of these up and comers, will I have to just get rid of all of them and buy like 8-10 babeis to start over so they can pair? I'd really like to avoid that as this male is freaking gorgeous. Thanks

I have two brand new Geophagus altifrons (sold as surinamensis) who aren't getting along. I finally took the mean one out and did a complete overhaul, having my Guianacara in the middle to defend her conch shell. I am getting some incredible dominance dancing right now from my 3 inch babies!

Yeah the one won't stop chasing the other. He is even fin nipping. I've changed the tank around 3 times, same one is butt hurt non stop. Suggestions?

Yeah it's getting more and more aggressive....though it's in with a juvi senegal bichir and an almost fully grown Bandit Guianacara so I'd love to see how that turns out for it. How can I intervene? I am down with changing the orientation of things. The Guianacara held its own against an Mbuna and N. brichardi....and is moving out more and more to tell them off. We'll see what happens. Don't wanna lose one to territory bs. Didn't realize they were so territorial, was told they were a smidge more passive haha. Edit: just changed decor. I will not tolerate my two new pretties hating each other lol

Hah. I've heard they are really hard to sex, was hoping that I lucked out and got one of each. Are they territorial? It might just be territory fights.

I just got a pair of Geophagus surinamensis which are about 3 inches long. They have settled in and are chasing each other around, I'm pretty sure it's one that is chasing the other consistently. Does this say something about sex or do they just do this for funsies?