Location: south america, They are found in Well planted Rivers of bahia barzil.
Size: M 11" F 8" these fish have large bodies
tank size: 60+ for one. 100 gal or bigger is best. These are large fish.
Ph: 6-9
temp: 75F - 80F
diet: Anything. They'd are not picky will eat cichlid pellets live food and plant base flakes. In the wild they eat bugs,larva,snails and other stuff they find in the sand.
Colors: The Bahia red has green eyes, red fins with blue specks, the base color is a light pinkish color with shiny blue specks. The red or nose will be redish or pink. They have a black spot on the side and will some times have a black stripe throw the eye depending on the mood.
Tank set up: well planted with wood and sand. They spawn in the substrate. They are earth eaters so then like to sift in the sand. Will dig under stuff so make sure rocks will not fall over is dug under. Plants must be well rooted or potted. Will not eat leaves just dig them up.
Sex: Very hard to tell when young. But mature males will be larger have bit of a hump.
Temperment: They are tough fish. Some more so then others. Some can be aggressive others submissive. I found mine to do better with semi aggressive fish. I rescued her from a tank of aggressive African cichlids that ripped her fins up and stressed her out. They do well with other south American cichlids.
Tank mates: Severums, oscares, large plecos, Blue acara, Jack Dempsey, larger catfish, or other semi larger American cichlids. WARNING they can be aggressive to their own kind and other GEOs.
Breeding: easy. If you have a pair and you keep them happy they will spawn for you and at a young age they only have to be 2"-3" to spawn. The bigger and older they are the more eggs they will have. They are great parents and souls be given a cave to spawn under.
Illness: they can come down with HITH aka hole in the head. But if you feed good food keep the water clean and have the right tank mates it should not happen. Just know they are pro to it.
Just note that these are cichlids and don't read the books. When some are semi aggressive other could be more aggressive. All and all this is a very hardy and tough fish. That is a beauty when given everything it needs.
This is my rescue Bahia she was in bad shape but is getting better. So the fins are not perfect. The flash also make the eye color yellow but it is green. She is 4.5" here. Still young.
1/21/2010, 5:48 pm
