# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cichlids >  My 3ft Geophagus altifrons tank

## iwishweallcouldwin

Taking the leap from 'dwarf' apistogrammas to 'normal' sized Geophagus altifrons, I decided to give these entry level juveniles a try, and my they're lighting up my entire tank! Enjoy the pictures.

PS: Pardon the dirt particles, did a rescape to the tank and was too impatient to wait for the tank to settle down before taking the pictures.

Whack!


Super greedy fellas!


Gulp! You were supposed to share man...


See what see?


I love their sheen. Too bad I can't capture it well.


Tankmates:

Pterophyllum altum


Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma


Corydoras pulcher - the culprits responsible for the bulk of the flying dirt and sand particles


Full tank shot


Thanks for viewing! By the way, any idea where we can get nice eartheaters besides altifrons and orange heads in Singapore?

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## Fingerling

Nice setup bro, great selection choice of tankmates and love the C pulcher especially. Do i see a betta in the last pic?


Am also very interested to know if there are more unique and interesting eartheater species out there. :Laughing:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> Nice setup bro, great selection choice of tankmates and love the C pulcher especially. Do i see a betta in the last pic?
> 
> 
> Am also very interested to know if there are more unique and interesting eartheater species out there.


Haha yeah that low grade DT is a gift from my brother's friend. It's totally off. But I can't bear to flush it down the toilet bowl so yeah, he'll just have to stay in that tank for now.

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## illumnae

Wow clint I love your tank! You're making me want to revamp my green discus tank into an eartheater one!

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## psp1000

eartheater tank is always nice, green tank look cool unless u got the time for it, else it will look more green :-)

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## iwishweallcouldwin

Thanks yi xiang, your tank is bigger than mine, more conducive for them :Grin: 

Thanks psp!

Any idea which lfs specialize in the rarer variants of the geophagus family? Seems like besides altifrons and red head tapajos, we seldom see other variants in our shores.

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## Fingerling

There's another species of geophagus variant carried by NKS - Geo Blazanii. 
Maybe these fishes are seasonal, or there isnt really a demand for them here hence there arent alot of eartheaters species we could choose from.  :Sad:

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## illumnae

My biotope tank is 3ft too clint  :Smile:  Currently housing green discus, L134 and baby eartheaters - biotodoma wavrini

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## Morgan01

is it typical for tank with lots of wood to have many floating particles? I am one who's experiencing this.

iwishweallcouldwin can share?

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> There's another species of geophagus variant carried by NKS - Geo Blazanii. 
> Maybe these fishes are seasonal, or there isnt really a demand for them here hence there arent alot of eartheaters species we could choose from.


Thanks for the info! Wow they look like the oddballs of the family! Cool! Will drop NKS a message.




> My biotope tank is 3ft too clint  Currently housing green discus, L134 and baby eartheaters - biotodoma wavrini


Alamak, pictures please!




> is it typical for tank with lots of wood to have many floating particles? I am one who's experiencing this.
> 
> iwishweallcouldwin can share?


Floating particles were present because I just did a rescape of the tank. After a while the water will clear up. But of course, with my corydoras team inside, I do see sand particles being stirred up once in a while, but not to the extend of constantly floating in midwater.

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## stormhawk

@iwishweallcouldwin:

Nice layout. Perhaps you can consider dropping in some ketapang leaves for more natural "feel"  :Grin: . Did you lay fine sand over the ADA? Africana? soil? 

I used fine sand in my 1 footer housing my wilhelmi pair, and I love seeing them sift through the sand when rooting around for food. As for Geophagus, I think I used to see them at Gan's fish farm. Occasionally C328 has a bunch of eartheaters, but species, I'm not sure of, because I don't keep them.

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> @iwishweallcouldwin:
> 
> Nice layout. Perhaps you can consider dropping in some ketapang leaves for more natural "feel" . Did you lay fine sand over the ADA? Africana? soil? 
> 
> I used fine sand in my 1 footer housing my wilhelmi pair, and I love seeing them sift through the sand when rooting around for food. As for Geophagus, I think I used to see them at Gan's fish farm. Occasionally C328 has a bunch of eartheaters, but species, I'm not sure of, because I don't keep them.


Thanks stormhawk for your suggestion, yup I put river sand over africana.

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## stormhawk

You're welcome.  :Wink:  I actually like seeing dead leaves over a sandy bottom. 

I used to have a setup with fine sand at one area, then ADA Amazonia for the rest of the tank's substrate. Drove me mad at one point, because the rooting habits of my Corydoras at that time, made the ADA soil go over the top part of the sand section, and the sand slowly seeping into the bottom layer of the Amazonia section.  :Laughing:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> You're welcome.  I actually like seeing dead leaves over a sandy bottom. 
> 
> I used to have a setup with fine sand at one area, then ADA Amazonia for the rest of the tank's substrate. Drove me mad at one point, because the rooting habits of my Corydoras at that time, made the ADA soil go over the top part of the sand section, and the sand slowly seeping into the bottom layer of the Amazonia section.


Oh yes, tell me about it. my sandy bottom is virtually gone haha. Would a leafy bottom be tough to maintain?

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## stormhawk

Just take notice of the rotting stage of the leaves. I usually fish the leaves out when they start to fall apart into smaller pieces. The leaves usually last a long time, if they're lighter colour. Takes awhile before those lighter coloured ketapang leaves begin to rot, so it should last for about a month or so before you have to change to new leaves. The darker brown ones / more drier ones will start to rot almost immediately once soaked in water.

I find the lighter leaves with the ketapang leaf shape still intact, do not leach as much tannins compared to the darker leaves.

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## SCOPE

Good try. these are very beautiful specimens and they breed readily. Hope to hear the good news soon.

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## barmby

Nice. Looks like a river. Natural. Easy maintenance. and prevent burn out..

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> Just take notice of the rotting stage of the leaves. I usually fish the leaves out when they start to fall apart into smaller pieces. The leaves usually last a long time, if they're lighter colour. Takes awhile before those lighter coloured ketapang leaves begin to rot, so it should last for about a month or so before you have to change to new leaves. The darker brown ones / more drier ones will start to rot almost immediately once soaked in water.
> 
> I find the lighter leaves with the ketapang leaf shape still intact, do not leach as much tannins compared to the darker leaves.


Thanks for your suggestion. Maybe I would drop some ketapang leaves in to try try first.




> Good try. these are very beautiful specimens and they breed readily. Hope to hear the good news soon.


Thanks Joe. They're still juveniles so I wouldn't count on them to breed so soon. Nonetheless I know that they have an incredible growth rate. Trying out an alternative to apistogrammas...  :Grin: 

By the way, does anyone foresee any issue with placing apistogrammas and adult eartheaters in the same tank?




> Nice. Looks like a river. Natural. Easy maintenance. and prevent burn out..


Thanks! I find myself sitting in front of my tank and just staring at my fishes more often these days... Not to mention feeding them more frequently as well...  :Grin:

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## SCOPE

Thanks Joe. They're still juveniles so I wouldn't count on them to breed so soon. Nonetheless I know that they have an incredible growth rate. Trying out an alternative to apistogrammas...  :Grin: 

By the way, does anyone foresee any issue with placing apistogrammas and adult eartheaters in the same tank?



i used to put apistogrammas and adult EE together in the same tank.
adult apistogramma is definitely no problem....i only worry on the fries...they may be suck up by the EE

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## iwishweallcouldwin

Thanks for your advice Joe. Planning to transfer my Wilhelmi pair over. Not enough tanks already.

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## stormhawk

You could create one corner with just Java fern on driftwood/coconut husk and add in a breeding cave just for the apisto pair. That should give the apisto enough hiding spots, if they don't like to be in the open with the bigger Geophagus. Plus the ferns on DW/CH, and the breeding cave gives you the option of mobility, should you decide to get another tank later for the apistos again. 

Though with all the fish in the tank, in particular the tetras, I doubt any fry will survive. You can always siphon out the fry if necessary.  :Wink:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> You could create one corner with just Java fern on driftwood/coconut husk and add in a breeding cave just for the apisto pair. That should give the apisto enough hiding spots, if they don't like to be in the open with the bigger Geophagus. Plus the ferns on DW/CH, and the breeding cave gives you the option of mobility, should you decide to get another tank later for the apistos again. 
> 
> Though with all the fish in the tank, in particular the tetras, I doubt any fry will survive. You can always siphon out the fry if necessary.


Great idea. maybe I'll place a few bunches of nanas around the tank. Will be transferring their caves too. But something tells me that the apistos won't be pushovers...  :Laughing: 

No more fries please!! The reason why I need to shift my wilhelmi pair over is because they can't stop breeding! No more tanks for them already.

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## stormhawk

Haha, you got non-stop action, mine are just eating, displaying and doing nothing else. Maybe I need dithers.  :Laughing:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

Hi guys, a mini-update of my new buy - Geophagus steindachneri! Very interesting fishes. Pardon the grainy and off focus pictures. Tried snapping them under low light without flash.

Tank under LED light


Red hump eartheater!


Alpha male


The defeated one (Beta male), but he will be back soon. Doesn't know when to give up contesting Mr. Alpha (his damaged scale - masterpiece of Alpha :Mad: )


My observations suggest that these cowheads are way more aggressive to their counterparts, even more so than my altifrons. But once they established their territory, they seem to settle down well. They are extremely peaceful to other fishes though, despite the size difference. The smallest steindachneri seems to enjoy grouping together with my altifrons.

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## Fingerling

That is one solid looking alpha male you have there.  :Cool:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

Update of my latest addition:

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## stormhawk

Are those two _Gymnogeophagus balzanii_? I read somewhere that these guys are more aggressive than the other _Geophagus_ species.

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## MTtank

Very nice _balzanii's. 
_

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## iwishweallcouldwin

Hi guys!

Did a slight revamp on my tank to include more plants and less tankmates. Enjoy!


Full tank shot




Balzanii -biggest of the lot but really gentle giants, alpha male at around 6 inch TL



Steindachneri - always the first bugger to rush out and greet me each time I stand near the tank, 4.5 inch TL



Altifron - the smallest but has the best appetite, 3.5 inch TL



Totally in love with them! Full of character and highly interactive!

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## SCOPE

WOW! these pictures are super! Esp. the photo on the "Kok head" Geo! Very Nice!

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## Fingerling

Small and fat altifron, no wonder he has the best appetite. Nice rescape, that floating plant is a cabomba?  :Confused:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> WOW! these pictures are super! Esp. the photo on the "Kok head" Geo! Very Nice!


Hey bro Joe, thanks for your compliment! These photos are nothing compared to what the photography kings in this forum have to offer! You referring to the Steindachneri? He's my favourite at the moment because of his distinguished 'kok' and 'garang'ness, but my CO doesn't like him that much, says he looks like a luohan!




> Small and fat altifron, no wonder he has the best appetite. Nice rescape, that floating plant is a cabomba?


Thanks Fingerling, those are hornworts (those that always come with shrimps) I think, got them foc from a lfs, so I just weigh them down inside the tank, instead of letting them float around as I get irritated with floaters especially during water changes. From what I know its not advisable to plant them? First time trying them out.

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## Misery

> Thanks Fingerling, those are hornworts (those that always come with shrimps) I think, got them foc from a lfs, so I just weigh them down inside the tank, instead of letting them float around as I get irritated with floaters especially during water changes. From what I know its not advisable to plant them? First time trying them out.


those plants , they grow at an incredibly fast rate , i use to keep it in my 1ft shrimp tank , but i threw them all away . They made my 1ft tank look like a forest . nice fishes and tank you have  :Smile:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

> those plants , they grow at an incredibly fast rate , i use to keep it in my 1ft shrimp tank , but i threw them all away . They made my 1ft tank look like a forest . nice fishes and tank you have


Thanks!

Yeah I've heard of how scary the growth rate is. But to someone who has absolutely no green thumbs, I figured the plant would act pretty well as a morale booster :Embarassed:

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