Blue Acara Or Severum

[joshjames]

well i havnt been around for a while and want to do a revamp on my 75 gallon and boot out the tetras and be a bit more adventuous.
i still dont want an aggressive tank and have heard i could get away with either a blue acara or severum and was wondering what are peoples opinions on these fish? which one should i choose?
also are they ok with my breeding pair of angels i have at the moment?
thanks

 

[minxfishy]

Severum Would be ok with Angels and the apistogramma you have in there (according to your signature).

 

[joshjames]

blue acara are more colourful and dont severums get quite big? especially if i was going to try and include a large shoal of rainbows and maybe a few more clown loaches ( i know how big they get ) would it still be ok?

 

[minxfishy]

Heros efasciatus (The most commonly available severum species) can reach 12" (male) 10" (female) but are generally a peaceful large cichlid, I have had mine with large shoals of rainbows with no problems at all.

Blue Acaras again are generally peaceful (ish) but maybe more territorial towards the apistogrammas than a severum would be.

 

[joshjames]

ok thanks and do you think they would be ok with perhaps a red tailed shark?

 

[Glenbo1981]

get both

 

[joshjames]

get both

i really have enough room for both

 

[minxfishy]

Possibly.

As for the RTBS, whilst young they are fine, but as the mature, they become territorial and aggressive and wouldnt really get alone with corys and apistogrammas.

 

[joshjames]

ok scrap the RTBS idea i wasnt that fussed about it anyway i was just weighing up my options

 

[minxfishy]

Having read your other thread in tropical discussion, I thought I would comment here as Ive already started on this thread, but no to the bala sharks, they grow rapidly and wouldnt be happy in a 75g, they need minimum 5ft, preferably 6ft and need to be in groups of 4+, the ones I had not long ago, grow over 1" a month, so if you got them at 2" (for example) they would be 8" within 6 months and 4 fish at 8" is too much for that size tank and they are not easy to rehome at that size.

Cant see a problem with the rest of the stocking list though.

 

[Glenbo1981]

Rainbow Sharks are more chilled out than RTBS, and a better option.

 

[markandhisfish]

severum all the way. blue acaras tho generally peacefull ( for a cichlid) get much more teritorial whereas sevs are much more easy going and a lot more fun to own .

 

[joshjames]

thanks for the input should i not get the blue acara then if there is a chance of aggression because i want none of that in the tank

 

[Glenbo1981]

I always keep them together... no problems here

 

[markandhisfish]

its all down to the individual fish at the end of the day, my blue acara started off fine but turned nasty once it grew a bit.