75 Gallon

[Oddities]

So my dad is looking at purchasing a 75 gallon tank and asking what I would like to place in it. I was thinking a Severum but my mom (aka the boss) thinks its a waste to have such a big tank for only 1 fish so my question i suppose is... Would that be big enough for a breeding pair of sev's and if so would the get 6 while they are small wait for them to pair off and return the other 4 way work? or would you be able to place a school of say silver dollars in there with a single sev? I have always loved red hooks. If not are there any smaller cichlids that have the personality that an oscar/severum would have? We had a Oscar in a 55 gallon for the longest time (i was like 5 when we got him and 10 when he died do to a power failure) and my family loved his personality and attitude.

*Edit* also do any color varieties of the severums stay smaller then the others or are they just that and only color varieties?

 

[Wills]

Hi a 75 is a decent size to mix Severums with other fish - most Severums are pretty placid. First thing about Sevs is there are a couple of species around now and some do stay smaller than others and IMO I would go for one of the smaller ones. Rotkiel and Mouth Brooding Heros Severus both stay quite small at about 8 inches where as, Greens, Golds and Super Reds are more likely to get to 10 - 12 inches.

In a 75g maybe the Red Hooks are a bit big as they are quite a larger species of Silver Dollars - if you can find them though Spotted Silver Dollars are quite nice and on the smaller side of the species. The other option could be a larger Tetra species like Columbian Tetras or Buenos Aires Tetras both of which have slight Silver Dollar traits, though are no relatives. Diamond Tetras may also work

What other cichlids do you like? A Rotkiel Severum would be a good starting point IMO and maybe some kind of Acara and a Firemouth or relative like Ellioti would work nice - or you could do the Sev with a group of small growing Geophagus like Pindare or Iporogensis (Spelling) With a school of those tetras and maybe some Hoplos

Wills

 

[Oddities]

I currently have a firemouth in my 29 gallon with a group of 6 diamond tetra's. So if i went for a roktiel severum i could possibly move my firemouth and diamond tetra's in with it? what about rosy barbs or tiger barbs? Also i have read on a care sheet or two that sev's can actually be used to cycle a tank? Is this true? Also my dad saw a beautifully done 110 gallon tall african tank and loved the slate rock work that was done in it? i know this isnt ideal for things such as silver dollars but what abotu sev's would this work? if nothing else i could do a small portion of the tank like that and fake plant the rest as i have read that sevs will just eat any live plants.
Also if i were to do the slate rock work would i use a glue to insure safety or would i need to use a silicon based glue? if so what type would you recommend?

 

[Wills]

Moving the FM and the Diamonds upto the 75 sounds like a great idea! But depending on how big the Firemouth is kind of dictates how best to add the Sev if the FM is quite large and a few months/years old add a young Sev if the FM is not that old and you can get a similar sized Rotkiel add them at the same time.

The Ruby Barbs or Tigers would be good additions but make sure if you go with Tigers you get a good sized school to offset their nippy reputation.

With the using Severums to cycle a tank - no, you should never use fish to cycle a tank always go with the fishless cycling method which you can find in the beginners resource section - it sounds like you and your family have been keeping fish for a while so might not have heard of this method but its using house hold ammonia to cycle the tank rather than fish poo and it saves you loosing any fish or the risk of disease.

A slate set up for sevs would be fine just avoid any kinds of rocks that will up the Ph - and yes as you say Sevs will eat most live plants

Wills

 

[Oddities]

I used to have a 55 gallon that i took great care of until i went to college, when i went to college it had 2 fire mouths in it. When i got back it had 1 firemouth in it and the water was so dirty you could barely see through it. Mom at the same time decided she wanted the 55 gone so she decided to get a 29 gallon for me to place in my room, long story short the firemouth ended up in there and got some new room mates. As for the barbs i asked because my mom just bought (much to my protest) 5 tiger barbs, 2 skunk cory's, and a pair of rosy barbs to place in her 15 gallon hexagon. (I protested so much that she got legitimately mad at me and blew up at me when i got home) so i was wondering if i could possibly use this as an excuse to save the rosy barbs. Right now I'm only thinking about the possibilities of what to do with this tank so pardon all the questions, but hey better to seek wise council now on the matter then to foolishly jump into it then beg for help right? Also i have a question about a pair of convicts going in the tank. if that were to happen if i just left the fry in there would they eventually turn into feeders? Would a breeding pair of convicts be to aggressive for a 75 gallon tank with other fish in it? I am pretty sure a breeding pair of sev's would need a 75 to themselves already so im not gonna bother asking.

Also the firemouth i have is at least 2.5 years and is about 4.5 -5 inches i want to say. I feel bad for the poor guy. He is incredibly skittish when it comes to people being in a room with him and he has the scars from a bought of hole in the head he has been recovering from while in his new 29 gallon.

 

[Oddities]

One more question, my family has a love for oscars ever since we had the one in the 55 gallon. would they be pretty much interchangable with the severum or would they require more room? (i realize that bigger fish would need to go in the with the oscar in accordance to the if it can fit in their mouth it will kind of rules