Severum Questions!

[Jnoosh]

I think I have finally decided to get a Severum over an Oscar...

Just a few questions..

I have a "king of the tank" firemouth, about 4 inches long. He chases the other FM and the two convicts.. how big would a single Severum need to be to hold its own against him, and not get bullied? My LFS has some around 3 inches? would this be sufficient? or would the sev need to be bigger to start with?

How quickly do Severums grow? basically I currently have 3 "saved" guppies, how long before they would start to appear on the Severums Menu? My girlfriend would kill me if they were eaten, they hang out almost exclusively on the surface, the FM's and Convicts dont really pay any attention to them at all at the moment. (on another note, will fancy guppies ever appear on the FM/Convs menu? or are they too big with their fancy tails to look like food?)

I think my tank is just under 60g at the moment, planning on moving house at the end of the year and I won't be able to upgrade until then, but I should have a new tank before they are anywhere near fully grown, but is the current tank size likely to force more aggression?

Last question, I have no love for my live plants, but I do have a fair few of them, I hear that Sevs like to nibble on them? will this be a problem?

Thanks in advance!

Jnoosh.

 

[minnnt]

I would say the sev will be fine with the FM. The guppies won't last long imo... lol.

 

[Monty-2010]

i think the sev will be fine, your plants might not be they do nibble but they like to dig a lot more!!!

 

[Jnoosh]

lol, I am hearing the same news in another post about how the Fm/convs eating the guppies...

Looks like I will be getting the misses her own tank if she wants guppies!

 

[minnnt]

Yeah I think that might be the safer option tbh. Did the firemouth fry ever come off?

 

[snowflake311]

Get a severum that is a little bigger then the fire mouth. Or one that is smaller because cichlids of the same size fight more ime. Also when younare going to add the new fish do a big wc and move stuff around as much as you can maybe add a few new plants or rocks. That will help the new guy have a better chance at fitting in.

 

[minnnt]

Get a severum that is a little bigger then the fire mouth. Or one that is smaller because cichlids of the same size fight more ime. Also when younare going to add the new fish do a big wc and move stuff around as much as you can maybe add a few new plants or rocks. That will help the new guy have a better chance at fitting in.

Very good advice!!

 

[Davo86]

A tank of under 60G is not suitable for 2 cons 2 Firemouths and 1 Severum, especially if a new tank is at least 8 months away,

A 3" Severum will be at least 7-8" by then if not bigger

 

[Jnoosh]

Well that changes everything...

This is why its a good idea to research before buying!

Would losing one pair of the current cichlids make space? Or is a severum just not possible in under 60g?

If so what other singular fish would make a good center piece?
Cheers

 

[Jackiee]

I have a turquoise severum and he was a slow grower.. he's 7 inches and is a few years old, and was in a 125 gal before I moved him to my 90 gal so he had plenty of room to grow if he wanted.
He hasn't grown much more lately either.
Many of them take a bit longer than most fish to grow actually. They have a rep for being slow and steady growers, from what I've known and heard.
Look it up on the internet, maybe.

It usually takes a few years for them to reach maximum size. They usually grow fast til around 5 inches or so and then they slow down, but then again it just depends on the fish.

It also depends on what you feed them though. If you feed them live food for example, they're going to grow much quicker.

I think a sev would be fine with a fire mouth, and your guppies could or could not end up being fish food, it just depends on the fish once again.
I've had some fish that are known to eat smaller fish, and yet they never paid any interest when I had them in a tank with small fish, let alone even tried to eat them.

Also, my sev doesn't mess with plants very much, except for the occasional ramming of a plant that gets in his way, other than that, nothing serious.
He also doesn't move gravel around much or dig at all. He'll occasionally pick up a few pebbles with his mouth and spit them back out, but that's all.



But if not a Sev, I've heard of tank mates ranging from Blood Parrots, to Jack Dempseys, Blue Acaras, even Oscars, but all of those would probably eat your guppies, except for the blood parrot, in my experience at least. My BP pays no attention to litte guys.