Ecks Vs. Severum

[The Village Idiot]

I've been poking around the site for a number of days now and I am thoroughly impressed. There seems to be a wealth of knowledge and a great sense of decency. I also appreciate there being a number of Severum enthusiasts, as these are fish I've always admired, but never kept.

Getting down to business, I have a 55 gallon and, other than my little girl bettas, I'm getting a little sick of the "community tank". I saw the post on 55 gallon stocking suggestions and I liked the severum with 16 red eye tetras. The only thing I didn't like was the red eye tetras, so I'm wondering about your policy on substitutions (I think it all goes back to when I was a child and my father was killed by a roving shoal of mongrel red eye tetras). In place of the red eye tetras, I would like to add either some neon dwarf rainbows, red and blue colombian tetras, or platies. I would appreciate your thoughts on which species would be a better choice, and how many I should be looking at.

I should say that this is speculative at the moment. I'm also considering a Blood Parrot (commence flaming) for a centerpiece rather than a Severum, and, of course, the entire plan depends upon my ability to part with my current fish. I don't think the Pearl Gouramis will be too hard to get rid of, but my little girl bettas will be a VERY difficult loss, which may require massive doses of Xanax and Bon Bons.

How many times am I going to have to edit this to get it right? Sheesh!

 

[markandhisfish]

hi welcome to the forum whats the tank dimensions as 55g is pushing it for a severum you really want 75+

 

[minxfishy]

Tank dimensions could as mark said help to establish if the tank is suitable for a sev. If it is (and only if it is ) I can vouch for the rainbows as I have various, including praecox, rainbows with my sevs with no problems at all.

No flaming here for blood parrots, nothing wrong with them if you like them

 

[markandhisfish]

nope we wont flame blood parrots we or at least i lol will just state the truth they are butt ugly and look deformed

 

[foley69]

i on the other hand will slate them only joking i just disagree with them an dthat they are dog angin...but a severum in a tank that is at least 40" long should be ok with maybe a BN plec and like minx said some rainbows but thats my opinion

 

[The Village Idiot]

hi welcome to the forum whats the tank dimensions as 55g is pushing it for a severum you really want 75+

Thank you for the welcome. The tank is a standard (at least in the U.S.) 48x12.

Tank dimensions could as mark said help to establish if the tank is suitable for a sev. If it is (and only if it is ) I can vouch for the rainbows as I have various, including praecox, rainbows with my sevs with no problems at all.

No flaming here for blood parrots, nothing wrong with them if you like them

I saw some pictures of your Severums in another thread with the rainbows. Great looking! As to the parrots, I'm not really sure if I like them, but I like their coloration and the fact that they should fit pretty well in the tank. My wife thinks they're adorable. I am, to quote the great 20th century philosopher Randy Jackson, "kind of on the fence."

nope we wont flame blood parrots we or at least i lol will just state the truth they are butt ugly and look deformed

LOL Nice!

i on the other hand will slate them only joking i just disagree with them an dthat they are dog angin...but a severum in a tank that is at least 40" long should be ok with maybe a BN plec and like minx said some rainbows but thats my opinion

LOL Yeah, I understand the objection to them, and I don't really like the idea of them myself, simply because they can't close their mouths. But I, like most people, have morals that will bend with what's convenient for me.

If my 48x12 tank is big enough for a Sev, how many neon dwarf rainbows would you suggest? I don't know if this is at all relevant, but I have a Rena XP3 for filtration, and I do weekly waterchanges of at least 50%.

Thank you all for the replies.

 

[foley69]

if its 48" inch then why not get some boesmani rainbows and get between 4-6 of them or if you was to stick with the rainbows you could easily have a shoal of 10 maybe more i have 6 in my 3foot tank and i might even add a couple more if needs be cos their blue shimmer looks top especially if they are well maintained they will colour up stunningly

 

[markandhisfish]

to be honest i think 48x12 is pushing it for a severum. lenthg is fine but the width could do with being 18 inches as the fish could reach 10 inches so a 12 inch wide tank wont give a whole lot of space once the fish reaches full size. some people would disagree on that but thats my take on it .

 

[minxfishy]

I would prefer a larger width too, but you may get away with it, be prepared to upgrade though if the sev reaches the 10" mark (which isnt usual in home aquariums, more 8" but it does happen with good feeding, good water etc).

I would say the rainbows you could easily get away with 10+ and I would agree with foley, you could have some of the larger species of rainbows, boesemani, lacustris, splendida etc but keep to 6-8 of them as they can reach 5" (more like 4").

 

[The Village Idiot]

if its 48" inch then why not get some boesmani rainbows and get between 4-6 of them or if you was to stick with the rainbows you could easily have a shoal of 10 maybe more i have 6 in my 3foot tank and i might even add a couple more if needs be cos their blue shimmer looks top especially if they are well maintained they will colour up stunningly

Thanks for the advice. I have never seen an attractive dwarf rainbow, but I hear they color up as they get older. It's good to read another endorsement.

to be honest i think 48x12 is pushing it for a severum. lenthg is fine but the width could do with being 18 inches as the fish could reach 10 inches so a 12 inch wide tank wont give a whole lot of space once the fish reaches full size. some people would disagree on that but thats my take on it .

Honesty is the best policy...except when it isn't what I want to hear. Thank you for the input.

I would prefer a larger width too, but you may get away with it, be prepared to upgrade though if the sev reaches the 10" mark (which isnt usual in home aquariums, more 8" but it does happen with good feeding, good water etc).

That being the case, it sounds like I'd be better off going another route. I don't like to buy fish for the tank I plan to upgrade to, nor to tempt fate with things that may not work. Especially in this case, when the upgrade is extremely unlikely. Thank you all for your input, and I apologize for having wasted your time, but it looks like I'm going to have to find a different way to go with the tank.

 

[markandhisfish]

you havent wasted our time at all its nice that you take on board thee advice given and make a good stocking decision with the consideration of the fish coming 1st.
are there any other fish in the tank at the moment or aree you stocking from scratch?

 

[The Village Idiot]

It's currently a hodgepodge of what was left after a majorly stupid mistake. I added some river rock that I had found and which evidentally had some sort of toxin despite major cleaning. The tank suffered major losses. So I currently have 2 little-girl-bettas, 5 pearl gouramis (4 soon, probably), 3 cardinal tetras and a single panda cory. The panda cories probably would have all died anyway, since I've never been able to keep them alive, but I had been doing pretty well with the cardinal tetras.

I'm very attached to the little-girl-bettas, but could probably bring myself to part with them if the right fish came along. Other than that, I could take or leave any of the fish in there, so I'm basically starting from scratch, if need be. I like lots of color and, with the tank being in my bedroom, I prefer fish that are a little more docile over those that swim around frantically like the world is ending.

 

[markandhisfish]

ok if you plan on keeping the female bettas in this tank im stumped as for reccomendations as i know absolutely sod all about bettas . the pearl gouramis should be fine with new world cichlids i had 3 in with my sevs and blue acara no problems at all. assuming the bettas and cardinals werent in there tho take a look at these . very nice fish
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=178562

 

[Faythee]

ok if you plan on keeping the female bettas in this tank im stumped as for reccomendations as i know absolutely sod all about bettas . the pearl gouramis should be fine with new world cichlids i had 3 in with my sevs and blue acara no problems at all. assuming the bettas and cardinals werent in there tho take a look at these . very nice fish
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=178562"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=178562[/URL]

Great suggestion

You could always get a couple small tanks for the Bettas I have a girl in an acrylic 3 gallon with a small heater and filter. She is very happy in there. 50% water change weekly. It is easy to maintain.

 

[The Village Idiot]

I like those pretty well. What concerns me is what prolific breeders they are. I live about 40 miles from the nearest pet store and can't go there regularly.

I've been poking around for something different (I've always kept angels and like them very much, but I really am hoping to try something different...especially along the lines of larger cichlids) and found the blue dempsey. What I've read suggests 8" as a max. adult size, which seems reasonable for a 55 gallon. Thoughts?

Faythee - I do have a couple ten gallons I haven't been using but I'm trying to avoid more aquariums. Kids have a funny way of taking ALL your time. I'll probably keep one from the tank in my 40 gallon goldfish tank. I know, I know...can't mix goldies and tropicals, but the tank is maintained at about 75F and is cleaned at least twice a week. I'm very confident it will work. The second it starts to head south, I'll reluctantly set up one of the 10 gallons.