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* For the safety of our animals, we now ship live fish exclusively via UPS Next Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS Next Day Air as a shipping option during checkout *
The Sven's Eartheater Cichlid is another ultra-colurful and relatively small, peaceful cichlid that can be a major standout in the aquarium!
The Sven's Eartheater Cichlid (Geophagus sveni) is a very beautiful and surprisingly peaceful cichlid that is native to Brazil. It is regarded as one of the smaller and remarkably colorful "earth-eating" species. The entire Geophagus genus is known for its characteristic feeding behavior of scooping up mouthfuls of substrate, which it separates from any small invertebrate prey, and expelling the sifted substrate through its gills.
The Sven's Eartheater Cichlid requires an aquarium with a soft, sandy substrate and plenty of refuge such as clay pots, driftwood, and rock formations. Gravel and other larger substrates can damage the gills and organs of this fish as it feeds. Due to its digging behavior and occasional appetite for soft-leaved plants, it might not be compatible with some more delicate plants. However, it is fine with more durable plants that can be attached to rocks and driftwood. This cichlid is generally compatible with other peaceful fish as long as it has plenty of open terrain. Territoriality is typically at its peak during spawning, but this species tends to thrive and show its best coloration in groups of 6 or more. Subdominant specimens are more prone to bullying in smaller groups. Dwarf shrimp and other small, delicate invertebrates should not be kept with the Sven's Eartheater Cichlid, but more durable, larger shrimp and snails could possibly make good tankmates in a large enough aquarium Schooling fish such as large tetras and Corydoras catfish are good tankmates, as are suckermouth catfish and other relatively peaceful cichlids such as severums, angelfish, and even discus. If spawning is desired, tankmates of other species should be kept to a minimum or avoided altogether.
Feeding is simple for the unfussy Sven's Eartheater Cichlid. High-quality dry, frozen, and live meaty foods will all be readily accepted. Quality and variety are the keys to a diet that will ensure that this fish maintains optimal health and coloration. Due to its unique feeding behavior, this fish requires food of smaller size than many other cichlids. Even as it reaches adult size, it should be fed foods comparable to the size of bloodworms and small to medium size grade dry foods.
We are currently offering juvenile specimens of this incredible species which will mature to the striking adult coloration in a few months. We are also offering subadult specimens, which are already beginning to display this coloration.
What We Like About This Fish:
RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:
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For the safety of our animals, we only ship live fish, crabs, and select other inverts exclusively via UPS 1 Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS 1 Day Air as a shipping option during checkout. If other items are in your cart that can ship with 2 day or standard shipping options the only shipping method you can still select is UPS 1 Day Air.
UPS 1 Day is a description of the duration of time a shipment will spend in transit once it has been shipped. This does not guarantee the package will be shipped the same or next day from which the order was placed.
Shipping Schedule for this service
Current Handling Time:
1-9 business days
Here at Aquatic Arts, we consider the welfare of the live animals we are shipping to be of the foremost importance. This process is much more involved than simply creating a shipping label and affixing it to a box. Depending on the order, it takes from 4 to 7 people to complete this process properly. We check the weather conditions here where they fly out of the Indianapolis UPS facility and the destination for each shipment. We start early each morning and go through a multi-step process to have the day's shipments prepared in time for the UPS pickup. The volume of orders in our system also affects the processing time. Therefore our stated handling time is 1-9 business days.
Shipping Rate
Pricing is by size of package needed to fill entire order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.