Pearl eartheater

Geophagus brasiliensis

Also known as Pearl cichlid, Brazilian cichlid

FreshwaterFish

Pearl eartheater (Geophagus brasiliensis) — Cezary Porycki · CC BY 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–79°F (20–26°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 11 in (28 cm)
Minimum tank: 75 gal (284 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Easy
Rarity: Very common
Origin: Coastal drainages of eastern and southern Brazil
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

Keep them singly or as a mated pair in a tank of 284 liters or larger, since they need room and stay solitary rather than living in a group. They are mostly peaceful but territorial, especially when breeding, so expect them to claim and defend a patch of the bottom. They spend their time at the substrate, mouthing sand and spitting it back out to pull food from it. Water can run from 20 to 26 C at a pH of 6.5 to 7.5, which gives you a lot of room to work with. Feed sinking pellets, frozen foods like bloodworms and brine, and the occasional vegetable matter. Skip small tankmates and shrimp, since anything that fits in the mouth gets eaten.

In the wild

Pearl eartheaters come from the coastal drainages of eastern and southern Brazil, where they range over sandy beds in rivers and lakes, including cooler subtropical stretches that stay milder than most South American cichlid water. Give them a deep, fine sand bed so they can sift it the way they do constantly in the wild, with rockwork and driftwood to break up sightlines and mark out territory. Secure or pot any plants, since these fish dig and will uproot loose ones. Run a tank of at least 284 liters, with temperature anywhere from 20 to 26 C and a pH of 6.5 to 7.5. They handle that range easily and take cooler water better than most of their relatives.

Good to know

This is Geophagus brasiliensis, a large eartheater in the family Cichlidae, reaching about 28 cm as an adult. It is an easy biparental substrate spawner, with both parents guarding the eggs and fry. A healthy fish can live well over a decade. Most in the trade are tank-bred, though wild-type stock turns up too.

Did you know

The eartheater name comes from how they feed. They take in mouthfuls of sand, sort out worms, insect larvae, and other small bits inside the mouth and gills, then spit the clean sand back out. Watch a tank of them and the surface of the sand bed is never still, since they rework it all day long.