My year old orange heads were 5 inches. The breeder I got them from has some gorgeous 10" males. I think a 55g is a bit too small for a bunch.. You could do a pair if you can find one.
It's really gonna come down to what's available. The bottom two I've never seen for sale, the tapajos are great! But can be a bit pricey, but I'd say to go with these!. The "rio are" I'm unfamiliar with. I have "rio pindare", maybe you meant that? Lol
I'd go with the tapajos, and then add your GBRs, and maybe another small-medium cichlid species, like keyholes or cupids. A dither species (tetras, rainbows, etc) aren't necessary, but will still help them come out of their shell. Just remember these guys grow quite slow, so your 55 will look rather understocked for a while, unless you start with adults (not as much fun). For the tank, sand is a must. Obviously, if you break down the word "geophagus", you are left with geo, meaning earth, and phagus, to eat. So they are "earth eaters", they sift through the sand for insect, small crustaceans, etc in the wild. Driftwood is also another natural part of their wild habitat. Plants can be iced, but often get dug up or uprooted. Black sand will show colors best, play sand looks more like in nature.
As for your water, don't sweat it. Geos are very adaptable to water conditions. My tank was running a 8.4 and my wild caught geophagus sp. "rio pindare" babies were all fine till I moved them to a bigger tank at my dads house. They were in the 8.4 for about 4 months (in which the largest has grown like and inch at most, the ones that Fantastic Fins are withholding for a breeding project are growing at the same rate). Yours will be fine, but obviously RO never hurts
That sounds great! You could always grow out the fish, trade them in when they're adults, and start with babies or even a new species, that'll help with the limitations of the 55. Just a thought
Those are pretty sweet! There's so many earth eaters it's near impossible to know them all lol between geophagus, gymnogeophagus, and satanoperca, there's sooo many species to choose from, then throw in the related genera, like mikrogeophagus and guianacara and you're left with so many more choices even
Before you don't, let me check out Fins, I believe they were gonna be getting in babies for 11$, however that's if I remember correctly. I'd be more than happy to ship them up to you if you're not ale to make the trip down a flat rate box would cost WAY less than what aquabid sellers charge lol I may make the trip out there today
Before you don't, let me check out Fins, I believe they were gonna be getting in babies for 11$, however that's if I remember correctly. I'd be more than happy to ship them up to you if you're not ale to make the trip down a flat rate box would cost WAY less than what aquabid sellers charge lol I may make the trip out there today
After a bit of research, the one good sized tapajo that Fins has is a peach face (tapajo II), not that it matters, just wanted to clarify. I tried texting my friend who works there to no avail
Here is the one i was looking at it was 1 @ $25
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlids&1365080645
But this one is even better
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlids&1365081001
Here is an auction for F1's
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlids&1366154406
I'm guessing if you haven't heard of them they are hard to come by, lol. Well I browsed Aquabid last night and found some Tapajos Orange Head, a little pricy as you said but that is what I want I'm pretty sure. The seller was selling them 3 for $99 or $37 a piece I think it was. So how many can I keep in a 55g? If the profile I used to research them is correct they only reach about 5 inches. it's quite possible this next question is dumb but I have to ask.... What about keeping Cory's in with em?? I have a school of pretty large Peppered Cory's that would appreciate the footprint