I have a dilemma on my hands

[Nothing]

I got 5 Red or Orange Head Tapajos from my LFS yesterday. I know it's a long read but please help! They are somewhat small so I figured they would be fine in my 37g for a week, as it is the only tank I have sand in right now. I'll be moving my 90g into my room this weekend and switching out the gravel for sand, at which point I was going to put them in the 90g. Here is where I need your help, wizards of the aquatic world! They've just been doing a lot of fighting, and I think I ended up with 4 males and 1 female. But I'm not sure. I figure the best way to find out would be to put them in the 90g so they have more room for territories and swimming around and stuff to make it easier to tell their gender. But will they be okay in a gravel bottom tank for a week? And will moving them from one tank to another in a matter of 24-48 hrs be too stressful for them? The return policy is only 5 days so if I have to take them back it has to be by Sunday. Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance!

 

[Perryuk]

Whenever you add cichlids your going to get some fireworks !!! Imo if they are captive breed an your water isn't so different to what they were in then switching tanks in your house would be ok

 

[josh7]

Whenever you add cichlids your going to get some fireworks !!! Imo if they are captive breed an your water isn't so different to what they were in then switching tanks in your house would be ok

Agreed! Btw those fish do look amazing but you shouldn't have issues moving them you will be fine.

 

[Nothing]

Thanks, they look even better than they did in the store I love them! And they'll be fine with a gravel substrate for a few days? And anyone know any sexing tricks besides venting and looking at the trailing fins?

 

[mikem691]

Is this just chasing and head butting if so its normal for young geos. I have 3 small ones and they bicker off and on all the time. Mine are in a 75 and can hide from each other but never do. They run around like little idiots together poking and chasing each other but never do any harm.

 

[mikem691]

Also I don't recommend putting them with gravel it could damage their gills

 

[josh7]

If it's just for 2-3 days they will be just fine get them over sand soon though.

 

[Nothing]

I figured there would be some bickering so I could live with that, they need to establish a hierarchy and stuff. They seem better now after about 24 hrs. Three seem to swim together and there's one dominant on the other side of the tank and one that kinda just goes with the flow. How imperator is it for red heads to have a proper gender ratio? I there's like 4 males and a female will they still make a fine group or will all the males just fight for the one female? I don't really care about spawning so if they will still be a peaceful group then I won't worry about driving the 45 minutes to go try my luck with more females. But if it's going to make a fair difference then I'll suck it up and hope to have better luck this time

 

[Freakgecko91]

Many of the surinamensis-type geos, like altifron, albalios, pindare, tapajo, etc. tend to like to be in groups when younger, but are more independent as adults. Just remember that geos are INCREDIBLY slow growers, so you have a lot of time before they are full grown at their 7-8" mark

They'd be fine over gravel for a short period of time, but moving them and then doing the switch out of the gravel would be a bit more stress than necessary. They will bicker in their group, almost like a clique in high school if you will

 

[Nothing]

Yeah I decided to keep them in the 37g for now, they seem to have calmed down a little bit. As for the gender question, will getting more females and removing some males reduce the bickering significantly enough or is it not really worth worrying about?

 

[Nothing]

Anyone know about the significance of the M:F ratio?