SEVERUMS..lip locking?!!?!?

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BumbleBee Odyssey

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hi guys...
i have had 3 gold severums and 2 green for about 2 months now... all in a 3 ft tank they are all no bigger then 6cm and i got home from work the other day and the gold severums where locked together at the lips then i'd break them up nicest way possible then they'd swap between themseleves .... so all 3 (2 at a time) were getting in the liplock and swimming round in circles or it looked like pulling away from eachother.....

i was soo worried i seperated the one i thought who was instigating it all into my community tank... but i dont know what to do now... i was keeping all the severums together till they paired off and i was going to keep a pair...my three gold have formed squiggles on their faces the 2 green dont they have a flat blue colour on their face the biggest green keeps digging lil pits like its ready for breeding but no one else seems interested atm...

any advice guys as to why they are doing it and maybe a way of stopping it if its a big problem... i dont want anyone pulling lips off or anything really bad like that...

thanx guys
kel :-(
 
what are the other dimensions of your tank? severums, like all cichlids, are territorial and aggresive....how big are the sevs?
 
Sevs are one of the most docile cichlids.I would not consider them aggressive,perhaps very mildly aggressive....
I have two males and a female in a 55 gallon currently...liplocking is about the worst behaviour I've seen with sevs.
Your tank is not large enough however...I would suggest that you cut the numbers if you can't get a larger tank.
 
the tank is 3ft by 18in by 18inch... 50.49 US gallons

ohh noo i dont plan on keeping all of them just a pair with the tank to themselves eventually.... and as they grow slowly a bigger tank maybe 6months from now...

the severums are only 6cm big atm...

with locking lips do they do any damage to eachother? should i put the other one back and keep watching for a pair?

ohh no gys please dont get me wrong i dont plan to keep them all it would be cruel to have 5 in that size tank...when they are fully or even half fully grown...

thanx for your help
kel
 
There should not be any damage done by liplocking with sevs.
A pr would be ok in that size tank (full grown) I have two adults and a juvie in my 55g.I know others who have a breeding pr as well as some smaller fish in a 55g.
 
as stated before alot of sevs in one tank can be territorial.

maybe cut down to 3 sevs and see how it goes. :nod:

my bolivian rams always lip lock, no harm will be done,just a way to let out aggresion
 
Lip locking is often a pre runner to a pair forming and spawning together, although your severums sound a little small for this it could be that they are starting to practice the mating rituals that they will use in later life.
 
thanx guys.... i have decided to watch them.... if they go a little crazy i will seperate them and take 2 back... drop it down to three as mentioned by dwarf dude :)

thanx again i feel a little better knowing its something they do... i always heard its was a erious type problem liplocking but guess unless it gets out of hand then its harmless.. :)
thanx
kel :)
 

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