How "big" Should A Chocolate Cichlid Be Before....

[Ryan_R]

...being introduced to the "big" tank with two 6" male severums?

Right now the little chocolate is perhaps an inch long, being treated in our quarantine tank for what we presume is velvet disease. Got him free from our LFS for just that reason. Assuming he survives, and after additional quarantine, should I wait for him/her to grow a bit more?... or will the severums "let it be" at such a tiny size?

Never fear! In the not-to-distant future, we'll get another tank (a 75 or 90 gallon), so the two sevs and the chocolate won't be living together permanently.

Thanks!
-Ryan

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Well I guess it would depend on how agressive your serveums are. How do they treat the tetras? I'd say you could try it out, just make sure there are some hiding spots and give it a go. I usualy introduce new fish and then watch them for a while to see if they are getting attacked anyway, but if it doesn't work, just net it out and leave it in the quarntine tank for a little longer.

 

[severum boy]

I would worry about the two sevs living together, let alone the chocolate. I would remove one of the sevs (the more aggressive one) and continue to grow the chocolate up till he is about 4".

 

[Tobigara]

you may want to wait to hear from some more experienced members but i think when it gets to about 1.5-2". some will probably disagree with this but, in my experience, big cichlids tend to ignore other cichlids that are too small to threaten them as long as they're not meal sized. so...if the chocolate is too big to eat but is still much smaller than the severums it should be good. just rearrange the tank ornaments. it worked for me.

i put 2 3/4" ebjds in with my 6" female severum, 5" festivum and 4" male severum. they don't get picked on at all.

then again every fish has it's own personality so i might've been lucky

 

[ox5477]

I will agree with your statement tobiagara. My Full grown male JD (8") pays no attention to my juve green sevs (both ~1.5 to 2"). Im sure once they get bigger, they he will start to put them in their place or maybe vice versa, but for now, they can swim right past his mouth and near him, even at feeding time without concern... hopefully this brashness doesn't get them into trouble one day is he decides to strike at them and gets ahold of one of them... could end up bad

 

[Ryan_R]

Thanks, everyone!

Indeed, the 75 gallon tank inhabitants are going to get split up in the next few months.... as soon as we get our hands on another 75-90 gallon tank. One Severum in each tank, and everyone else kind of split up between them. Acquiring the chocolate is a bit of an impulsive rescue operation from our LFS. All of its tankmates had already succombed to velvet, and this one wasn't too far behind... this guy seems to be doing OK in the dark quarantine tank, with acriflavine, some salt, and the temp nudged up.

Our severums really don't pay any attention to the other fish in the tank The tetra's don't pay much attention to them, either... even though they could be tasty tiny morsels if the severums wanted them to be. Plenty of places to hide in there, perhaps I can even build a little fort in the corner.

Thanks!
-Ryan

 

[severum boy]

Give it a go in the larger tank with the peaceful sev. It should do fine.