Fire Mouth Vs Severum

[hobby5]

The keyholes will be ok, no worries, but I don't know about the guppys though Imho in 55G there should be no problem at all. But I would advice against fancy guppy males with large tails, they might swim too slow.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi Keyholes are fantastic fish but I found mine were very shy and as hubby works near the tank they spent most of the time hiding. I had guppys and other small fish with them and they were great .
I had to find mine  keyholes a new home because of this as realised this was not fair to them so now have 2 firemouths and a severum and have no problems with them .

 

[bricko]

rotkeil (sp) Sevs are placid and smaller than your standard sev. plus theye are much  prettier.  Keyholes are nice fish but wont get nearly as big and are VERY shy fish.  I had a pair with my Festivum and even in a heavily planted tank they were very stressed to the point I took them back to the shop and swapped for a Blue Acara my blue acara is gorgeous by the way and fine with torpedo barbs and zebra loach, hes only 4 inch at the moment but hold his own with the Festivum who is fully grown at about 10in

 

[snowflake311]

I had 2 keyholes and they were not shy. It all depends on the fish cichlids are full of personality. I have had my Severum for almost 5 years. I love him he is a pet. He is mellow and gets along with his tank mates but is bossy with other cichlids. He lives with a Uaru and 4 silver dollars in a 100gal. It's a good group of fish. But I can't keep live plants in the tank because they all love to eat plants.

I loved watching my Severum mature from a 1" baby to an 8" beast. They are great fish but I don't think I will get another. Big fish are boring when they get older. They don't do much and are slow. But they have personality so it's fun.

With a 55gal the keyholes will allowe you to have different kinds of tank mates. It's a good pick.

 

[AeonMapa]

you can keep a mated pair of severums in a 55. I love my severum, and lots of owners do too. They definitely have the potential to be a very personable fish, and a good aquatic pet

 

[Jesse]

For me it depends on what you keep with the firemouth. I have three of them in two different tanks. I used to have all three in one tank with my jack dempsey, salvini, and two blue acara. One of the firemouths kept terrorizing and beating up everyone. I moved him to a 30 gal with two convicts and now he keeps to himself. Usually you have to balance out the aggression with more aggression when it comes to firemouths.

 

[AeonMapa]

Firemouths are definitely more aggressive and can really mess up your other fish. Severums on the other hand are big, tough cichlids that can probably do more damage but tend to be more defensive. My severum never attacks other fish but when they rush at him he just stands his ground and they back off. Also, my severum is a wonderfully sociable fish that follows me around the room, stares right at me when I sit in front of the tank, and is trusting enough to let me scoop him up in my hand!
 
I think the red severum is also a very beautiful fish that gets to a respectable size, and is hardy, not like the discus. Here's a pic of mine