Gold Sevrum

[Philuk]

Hi there. My Gold Sevrum doesnt look well.

Lazy is the best way i can describe it. he doesnt rush for food and isnt eating loads and he doesnt seem to keep a good posture. with his tail floating downwards and his head pointing upwards he is sometimes bent over to a side. he has got some faint black spots on him now and i dunno what is up with him. any ideas?

 

[Wills]

Sounds like a stressed Severum to me - do you have a water testing kit might be worth while working out what your readings are.

What size tank and tank mates does the Sev have?

Also have there been any recent changes to the tank? Severums are famous for sulking and it could just be a case of that but I dont want to rule other things out without other info.

Wills

 

[Philuk]

his friends are along the lines of parrot fish, firemouth, pair of kribs, green severum, mono, pair of dollars, silver shark and 4 gouramis. its a 120L tank. bit overstocked atm i kno but im getting another tank to split it up a bit, there wasnt anything thats changed and no other fish were introduced when it started. and nothing was changed. i did a water test last week and everything was fine. i couldnt tell you what the readings were cause id be lieing but they havent changed for nearly 9 months so its not that. the green severum used to be the small one of the 2 but has now grown and is bigger than the gold one.

 

[Wills]

To be honest its a very over stocked tank. Like just so badly overstocked you need to do something quick!

If its been with that stock for 9 months even if they started off as fry the fish in there should be a decent size by now.....

I would guess that either your filter cant cope with the bio load and as such you are getting some ammonia or nitrite or it is keeping up with them but the amount of bio load is getting processed upto a ton of Nitrate which is harming your fish.

Equally in the tank you have so many fish that can be and are agressive or lash out or just get mixed up in the speed of it all..... I can easily imagine that this fish has had some kind of damge done to it and if its not able to keep boyancy I and going to guess that its got some kind of internal damage which is not un common in cichlid fights.

Im sure you know by the way you were talking but just to point out the sized of your fish as adults -
parrot fish - 6 inches +
firemouth - 6 inches
pair of kribs - 3-5 inches (plus breeding aggression)
green severum - 10-12 inches
mono - 10 inches (also brakish fish and a schooling fish so not suited here at all)
pair of dollars - 6 inches (also a schooling fish needs to be in groups of 6)
silver shark - upto 14 inches (also a schooling fish and needs to be in group of 6)
4 gouramis - depending on species a lot of variety but I am going to guess either blue or gold opalines so around 5 inches each.
And the Gold Severum in question here - 10 inches

Just to tot that up thats around 100 inches of big stocky fish in a 30 gallon tank and I know the inch per gallon rule is a bit stupid but it does have its use in quick working out before thinking and even without thinking this is just a bit silly really

So far as the ill severum here is concerned I think its either your water quality has slipped because of the massive over stock over 9 months or its been on the loosing end of a fight and has sustained a serious injury.

As soon as you possibly can I would start looking to buy a much bigger tank at least 4 or 5 times the size of the one you have now something like a 4x2x2 120 gallon tank would be a good start But I would also look at rehoming the bala shark just because of the eventual size and activity of this fish and also the Mono due to it being a brackish/marine fish rather than a freshwater.

Wills

 

[Philuk]

maybe my calculations are wrong then? this tank is 3x2x18" ish... i was told it was 120L but it cant be that little? ive never worked it out for myself justr went by what i was told but now thinking about it i feel a bit dumb! those fish havent been in for 9 months. maybe 3 or 4. i meant the water qualities havent changed in maybe 9 months with fornightly/ 3 weekly tests going on. my LFS is quite good in the fact if the fish get too big for me he will take the back in exchange for me the bala shark is currently maybe 3 inches long! poor little buggar! lol

 

[Wills]

Okay fair enough if you can keep replacing the fish if thats the route you want to go down but realistically I think you are just going to keep hitting this problem of growing up agressive fish in extremley cramped conditions their temperments can change quickly as they mature and I think thats whats happened here to be honest the green has grown up and taken it out on the gold who is now injured - though with the other tank mates it could easily have been any one of them.

I hope it pulls through

Please reconsider the way you are keeping fish, if you much prefer the bigger species get a big tank if not there are simple compromises you can make to get a community similar to the one you have now but that stay at a smaller size it just takes a bit of learning and a bit of searching for the right species in the shops. I would really like to help you with this if this is something that you want to do but you will keep running into issues if you keep fish like this. And its just a stressful way of doing things for the keeper as well IMO.

Wills

 

[Philuk]

i keep looking for a bigger tank but its always the funds that dont allow! and space! lol what sort of size tank you these be best of going into? 4 ft you rekon?

 

[Wills]

4 foot minimum I would go 5 or 6 foot to seriously satisfy what you want from the hobby ND aquatics have a budget rage for a 180 gallon tank for £480 but there are smaller ones available but for a decent price and a good finish.

Some good tanks in the classified section here and dont forget to try ebay and aquarist classifieds

Wills

 

[Philuk]

would everything i have in the tank now go ok in a 6 foot without any further issues?

 

[Wills]

Yes apart from the Mono which is a brackish fish so is not suited to a community tank, I would also reconsider the shark as it starts to grow - if you like that kind of fish and have the right sized tank the dension barb might be a good option for you Also if it is a 6 foot tank I would get an other 4 dollars

A 6 foot tank would be the best option for you IMO to be honest we have similar tastes in fish and Im about to finally get my 6 foot and I feel that will make me happy for quite some time

Wills

 

[Philuk]

what are you currently running? im looking at tanks now. might have to wait a couple of weeks as im waiting for the wheels on my car to come back from refurb and i need some new tyres! lol

 

[Wills]

I currently have a roma 240 which is a 4 foot tank but to be honest I probably have half the amount of big fish like you. But I have a Fluval FX5 on it at the moment which is a huge filter for this size tank.

Believe me I know about having to deal with other expenses before a tank haha!

Wills