Suitable Additions?

[Linchy]

I'm after some advice on what possible additions would be suitable to my tank.

Within the tank there are:
2 Gold Severum (6 inches)
1 Blood Parrot (4/5 inches)
2 Firemouths (3/4 inches)
1 Red Tailed Black Shark (3 inches)
1 Catfish (3/4 inches)

The atmosphere is a fairly peaceful one with odd episodes of aggression (normally caused by one moody severum!) and I have been doing some looking into possible suitable new additions but thought I would see if anyone could make any suggestions based on this layout.

I've been finding such possibilities as Uaru Cichlid, Rainbow Fish, etc but they are an unknown quantity to me. I feel they need to be fairly big to defend themselves against the bullies in the tank!

Any sensible suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum. How big is the tank? You have some big growing fish in there and are after some more large ones so fingers crossed its a big one! Good taste in fish though

Wills

 

[Linchy]

Hi welcome to the forum. How big is the tank? You have some big growing fish in there and are after some more large ones so fingers crossed its a big one! Good taste in fish though

Wills

Hi thanks! It is 40-45 gallon from memory. I think just one more will max it out but don't want to get an expensive snack for one of the others!

 

[Wills]

#40## Thats a small tank for some of those fish. Particularly the Severums, Sevs are big fish and need big tanks when adult. Yours are about half way there now at 6 inches but will bulk up as well. Ideally you would want 75 gallons as a minimum for them. And for me an ideal tank size for all your current fish without adding any more would be around the 100 gallon mark.

What does the 3-4 inch catfish look like?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

Wills

 

[Linchy]

Yeh unfortunately did not expect the growth of the severums as much as that. Growth is usually held by the living space etc obviously but they seemed to bypass that! The plan is to sell them should they continue to grow, not fair on them otherwise.

With regards to the catfish I will now sound like an amateur when I say I don't know the specific breed! At a guess possibly Featherfin?

 

[FishBlast]

Yeh unfortunately did not expect the growth of the severums as much as that. Growth is usually held by the living space etc obviously but they seemed to bypass that! The plan is to sell them should they continue to grow, not fair on them otherwise.

With regards to the catfish I will now sound like an amateur when I say I don't know the specific breed! At a guess possibly Featherfin?

^ Featherfin squeaker. Not mine, but to help you identify.

 

[Linchy]

Yeh that's the one thanks!

 

[FishBlast]

Yeh that's the one thanks!

Seems like even more bad news:

Wild specimens can grow to a length of 30.0 centimetres (11.8 in) SL

Now this quote comes from Wikipedia, so not sure about that statement... but holy cow!
And they are nocturnal feeders and can get aggressive from what I've read.

 

[Linchy]

Hmm well like I say I may be wrong. We rarely see him but I can say I've never seen him show any aggression towards any of them he just lives in his own little world. Oh and he's certainly not getting any bigger he peaked a long time ago. So may be me misleading, apologies! On the other hand, Wikipedia lol...

 

[FishBlast]

Hmm well like I say I may be wrong. We rarely see him but I can say I've never seen him show any aggression towards any of them he just lives in his own little world. Oh and he's certainly not getting any bigger he peaked a long time ago. So may be me misleading, apologies! On the other hand, Wikipedia lol...

Synodontis Eruptera
Still not good news, normal length in home aquarium: 22 cm or so (8.7")

Or it could be a hoplo, which usually is around 4-5" (17 cm max I think).
Megalechis Thoracata

 

[Linchy]

Nah definitely not that. Unfortunately I'm doing this on my phone at the moment but when I get a chance I'll tempt him out and stick a picture up!

 

[FishBlast]

Nah definitely not that. Unfortunately I'm doing this on my phone at the moment but when I get a chance I'll tempt him out and stick a picture up!

Well, most synos grow quite big, if he is a syno, surely won't really stop growing unless he's not fed well enough or the space is stunting him (not sure if that cuts down lifespan, but some people say the organs keep growing and it hurts the fish).

 

[Linchy]

Oh right never heard that before that's something new!

 

[fluttermoth]

The thing about the organs continuing to grow in stunted fish is probably a myth, but stunted fish do suffer from deformities and a significantly shortened lifespan, IME.

 

[FishBlast]

Oh right never heard that before that's something new!

That's what most of the people around here will say too. Others will just say that fish grow to fit whatever container (such as a goldfish in a tiny bowl) but not sure how long they live like that.