Got My First Sev At Last!

[fishnovice]

I just got a Sev and would welcome some advice on care and feeding. Waited three weeks as former owners kept on cancelling at short notice but fianlly got him/her today. it's a real beauty and definitely a showpiece fish -looks like the photos of Vinnie!The only thing is, s/he's (how do you sex them?)a total wimp. Spent 5 hours hiding behind the filter and only ventured out at midnight. Hasn't shown any interest in food so far either. I thought since he's much larger than cons and jewels he would boss them around but looks like the opposite is true. Also, how much food do thye need, dont want to over feed or starve him?

 

[snowflake311]

Severums are Peaceful fish for their size. They also don't like to be moved around and will hide when added to a new tanks it can take a few days to a week for them to get over being moved.

Once he adjust you will have no problems feeding them they love to eat. These are my number one fav fish and I have only had my green for 8 months and is 4". I have a little 2" Red severum who is also great.

How big is yours? Do you have photos? Let him adjust to the new tank. If the other fish are realy beating up on him you might want to move stuff around or even take some out and let the Severum get use to the tank with out the little bullies.

 

[minxfishy]

Severums are good sulkers and they do not like being moved or have their homes changed once they are settled either.

You need to give it time to settle in and adjust. It can takes days for them to feel secure again and just as long for them to eat anything. Keep the lights dim and try not to startle it too much. If its in with overly aggressive fish it wont be happy either, whilst they are more than capable of standing up to some aggression on the whole they are fairly peaceful.

 

[hamfist]

I am relatively new to Sevs, but have also been amazed at how some of them can sulk. In my limited experience though, greed usually seems to get the better of them after a while (can be weeks though !).
I have a little green sev that stops feeding for weeks when he is moved or if you add fish to the tank. I think he may be a real slow grower !
My latest red-spotted gold, I have only had for about a week and a half so far. She is inherently rather timid, but greed gets the better of her every time, and now I am regularly getting to tempt her right up to the surface to beg for food. Although she still quivers at the back if anyone moves to quickly near the tank. I'm sure she will settle in much more over the next few weeks.

 

[markandhisfish]

sevs are indeed champion sulkers , but for me that is part of their appeal , also they are very mellow for their size , some ( yes vinny im talking about you ) are complete fairies. imo jewels are not ideal tankmates as they are a tad agressive. the tankmates i have found to be most suited to sevs are blue acara , sajica , geophagus surinamensis,firemouth,angels . kribensis, and for non-cichlid tankmates , i found that tiger barbs worked very well but should be in a large group of 10 or more, pearl gouramis mixed very well too.

this is just my experience of keeping sevs , i have tried them with all kinds of different sa cichlids and also some ca cichlids as well as rainbows,barbs and tetras. they are also fine with corydoras/plecos/other small to medium catfish such as pim pictus
no doubt other members will agree or disagree with what i have suggested , but then with all fish, especially cichlids it comes down to the individual fish.

 

[fishnovice]

My sev is 6in and about 10 months old, easily the largest fish in the tank about5x bigger than jewels/cons. There is no reason for Sev to be scared, maybe he's just sulking as he comes out at night and the others ignore him. Added 2 large barbs at the same time (sev's former tankates) and my cichlids ignored them. Barbs are feeding and swimming all over the tank happily.

My cichlid tank is relatively peaceful (fingers crossed!) -a little chasing but no biting or injuries. Sometimes ASBO, the biggest jewel, has a "staring contest" -loser swims away- with a con or the little Malawi who is growing fast. Tiny Tim, ASBO's little brother, is the one who gets bullied by everyone. Had him for 8 months and he's much smaller than his siblings. Never seen him come to the surface to eat but he must be getting enough food to survive and has grown bigger though not turned red like the other two.

I can't really set up another tank with different cichlids just to keep seve happy -no room for more tanks. If he doesn't eat, should I transfer him to gourami tank? Don;t really want to move him again so soon after he's been rehomed especially as the move to my place may have been the cause of his sulk.