Geophagus (other eartheaters)

Care at a glance

Eartheaters owe their name to the way they feed: they take a mouthful of sand, sift it through the gills and spit the cleaned sand back out. They are calm, elegant cichlids that roam open sand flats in groups.

So give them fine sand rather than gravel, generous open floor areas and a group of several fish so that tension is spread out. They react sensitively to poor water quality, which makes good filtration and regular water changes more important with this group than with most cichlids.

Good to know

• Digger — needs fine sand
• Outgrows most home tanks

Related species

• African butterfly cichlidAnomalochromis thomasi
• Redhump eartheaterGeophagus steindachneri
• Umbrella dwarf cichlidApistogramma borellii
• Surinam eartheaterGeophagus surinamensis
• Agassiz’s dwarf cichlidApistogramma agassizii
• Orangehead tapajos eartheaterGeophagus pyrocephalus