Green & Gold Severums!

[Juannie]

Yipee I finally purchased a gold severum which is in my tank with my green one, kribs etc. I'm trying to find out more info on them, he's pretty shy so far, but he's eating well and loves to hide amongst the plants - can anyone help with any links.

THANKS!!:19:

[Lady Hobbs]

I hope you have a large tank because they get rather large. I read that the gold doesn't breed as well as the greens but that doesn't mean it's true by any means. Just something I read on the net.

[Severus]

Congratulations! They are from the Amazon River Basin so my 100gal is themed almost to be like a river. They seem to like it and display great coloration.

[Juannie]

They are seriously gorgeous. They're both pretty small at the moment in a 4x1x1 foot tank which I have just heavily planted on the weekend - seems they love it as the green one's colouration is a lot brighter than before. I was told they take a long time to get large so I'll be moving them too a bigger tank later on.

[Severus]

Yea, give them a month and they will be a lot larger than they are now. My guys grew relatively quick. Not as fast as an Oscar, but still pretty quick. Good luck with them!

[Lady Hobbs]

Congratulations! They are from the Amazon River Basin so my 100gal is themed almost to be like a river. They seem to like it and display great coloration.

Sure would be nice to see that mystery tank in the TOTM.

[Severus]

Haha. i know. I need to snap some pictures one of these days. I havent had a camera for the longest time now and it has almost become a way of life. I feel out of the circle here on AC because i cant post up any pictures.

[Lady Hobbs]

Juannie, I don't know how a planted tank will work for Severums. I think they will tear it up pretty well for you as they grow. You may want to do a tank switching for them and keep them in a tank without plants.

[Juannie]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. My little green severum has hardly grown in the last 6 months I've had it but eats really well. They have been pretty good in the planted tank so far, I have lots of hiding places and rocks but I'll keep an eye on the plants. It's a very very mixed tank so a bit of trial and error. Fingers crossed I can sell some of the kribs I have, they're all hitting around 3-5cm long and it's only a 4foot tank so getting a little full.

The gold severum is now out and about, feeding well so I'm very happy, can't wait to see them grow!

[Severus]

What are you currently feeding them?

[Juannie]

Sorry I've been away, I"m actually feeding a mix of shrimp pellets, Cichlid & Tropical flake, bloodworm. I do have kribs in there (because I can't get rid of them) so they'v been pretty greedy. My gold severum is getting huge & I've only had him a short while. I've been trying to hand feed my green one to ensure he gets food and he's slowly growing - but very slowly. My tank is only 4x1x1 foot & I've just purchased a 4footx18x18 tank which I'm setting up this weekend - hopefully this will help a lot as well the other one is getting too small. How many severums can you have in a tank together? I'm unsure of what to put in a tank with these guys, though I have gourami's, tetra's (just lost my bala shark, he got caught in a log & drowned overnight).

[Lady Hobbs]

Check the compatiblilty chart on them here.

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10cichlid_severum.htm

I would think one in a 55 gallon and two in a 75 gallon should be OK but I don't have severum (wahhhhhhhhhhhh) so don't take what I say as firm advice. I think all fish should have some sort of veggie matter even if in the form of Spirulina flakes. It's the fiber thing, you know. :)

Your new tank has the footprint of a 75 gallon altho not as tall so 2 should be fine in there. The kribs are probably, OK, as well as it works as a dither fish for them.

Large water changes to avoid HITH, as well. I am so happy you are so pleased with your guys and I am stinking, rotten jealous!

[Juannie]

Check the compatiblilty chart on them here.

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10cichlid_severum.htm

I would think one in a 55 gallon and two in a 75 gallon should be OK but I don't have severum (wahhhhhhhhhhhh) so don't take what I say as firm advice. I think all fish should have some sort of veggie matter even if in the form of Spirulina flakes. It's the fiber thing, you know. :)

Your new tank has the footprint of a 75 gallon altho not as tall so 2 should be fine in there. The kribs are probably, OK, as well as it works as a dither fish for them.

Large water changes to avoid HITH, as well. I am so happy you are so pleased with your guys and I am stinking, rotten jealous!

Thanks Lady Hobbs, altho I'm going to sound stupid, what is a dither fish? They have a larger filter on there tank now and I'm doing more water changes so it's definitely making a difference, fingers x my little green severum starts putting on more weight, I've noticed a slight change but they're such scaredy cats!

[jeffs99dime]

Thanks Lady Hobbs, altho I'm going to sound stupid, what is a dither fish? They have a larger filter on there tank now and I'm doing more water changes so it's definitely making a difference, fingers x my little green severum starts putting on more weight, I've noticed a slight change but they're such scaredy cats!


dither fish are fish that typically are not shy and spend their time out in the open areas of the tank. they in turn, encourage more timid fish to come out into the open. a good example of timid fish would be an upside down catfish or a "little green severum" lol, for instance. an example of a dither would be a a zebra danio or most species of tetra

[Drumachine09]

Dither fish are just fish that show shy fish taht its alright to come out. zippy fish like danios are good. If the fish is shy, it will learn from the danios that there are no predators out


...exactly what jeff said...lol


In my severum tank i have

5 tiger barbs D.D.F. (designated dither fish)
2 green severums
4 albino corys
1 bristle nosed plecos.

[Lady Hobbs]

Any fast moving fish to draw attention. Rasbora's, danio's, tetra's......

[Juannie]

Aha, now it's all making sense, I just purchased more tetra's on the weekend & the tank is looking much better. My green severum is feeding really well now too so I'm a much happier mum!

THANKS FOR EVERYONE'S HELP & ADVICE

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, i wish my severum could go with anything! he wont allow any other fish in the tank

[Juannie]

It's funny how they are, my gold one has gone back to hiding a bit more now, but originally he was out all over he place (perhaps it's a PMS thing) lol.

[cocoa_pleco]

Mine has gotten better. Before, he would always be out, but when id come he'd hide, but now he stays out all the time

[tieu]

lol, i wish my severum could go with anything! he wont allow any other fish in the tank
lol bad luk. ummm i bought my gold sevs for over a year now but they are stillll soooo small lol. they are still no greater than 8cm. isit true that they might be scared to grow? this is because in the tank i have 4 flowerhorns(20cm+) and a saratoga(40ish cm) and another 5 gold sevs (all 20cm+), common pleco (30cm+) and 2 lil clown loaches(<5cm) and 5 albino catfish
(5-8cm) they never fight and get along very well but not growing the color on the small ones are realllllly gold and not white like LFS sells them. and yes they are hard to breeed!! i put a pair in one thank for 3 months nothing happend got pissed so put them bak in the 6 ft with the rest. gold sevs are realllly cool fish and look really nice when big! i hand feed mine most of the time with color enhancing pellets twice a day and about 10 bloodworm cubes. some how my planted tank is not being destroyed by them duno why. i bought plants 2 weeks ago for them to munch but there not eating lol.
heres few pics of tank.

[cocoa_pleco]

Those are nice fish!

I think the reason for no growth is that tank is cramped! try to get another tank to even the load.

What size tank is it?

[Juannie]

WOW! That is a lot of fish in the one tank, is that an oscar in there as well? I'm only now learning what you can put in with severums, whilst they're small I'm doing ok, but i guess another year or so and we'll be up sizing again!

[Lady Hobbs]

Those fish are way over crowded. You will see growth start when they have more room.

I don't have these fish but this seems like a lot of blood worms to me.

[tieu]

Those are nice fish!

I think the reason for no growth is that tank is cramped! try to get another tank to even the load.

What size tank is it?

6 by 2 by 2.5

[cocoa_pleco]

if im right, thats 225 US gallons