Gold Severum In 240 Litre Tank?

[TheTankMan]

I'm wondering if a fully grown gold severum would do well in a 4ft long 240 litre tank with perhaps a large shoal of tiger barbs and a group of bengal loaches as tank mates?
 
Would like to hear from people who have owned severums themselves; are they active? what level in the water do they swim at (i.e top, bottom or middle?), do they eat plants, like caves etc?
 
Thanks
 

 

[Wills]

240 liters is too small for a Gold or Green Severum IMO. I have had quite a few sevs now and I wouldnt really want one in less than 400 liters with 300 liters being the bare minimum.
 
They are very active, very personable fish they will swim all over the tank and greet you when you come to the tank.
 
Plants will be destroyed... I have had some success with plants but its hard to pin down why they didnt eat them... Im hoping to try Anubis soon and see how I go with that.
 
Dont get me wrong, Severums are one of my favorite tanks but you just have to give them the space. I know it sounds nuts but they are very emotional fish, famous for sulking - for example I have a female Heros Severus (mouthbrooding severum) I just added a plec and some flagtail cats to my tank at the weekend and immediately she went and sulked, stopped coming to the tank when I came in the room, showed her face stripes more etc...
 
Wills

 

[TheTankMan]

240 liters is too small for a Gold or Green Severum IMO. I have had quite a few sevs now and I wouldnt really want one in less than 400 liters with 300 liters being the bare minimum.
 
They are very active, very personable fish they will swim all over the tank and greet you when you come to the tank.
 
Plants will be destroyed... I have had some success with plants but its hard to pin down why they didnt eat them... Im hoping to try Anubis soon and see how I go with that.
 
Dont get me wrong, Severums are one of my favorite tanks but you just have to give them the space. I know it sounds nuts but they are very emotional fish, famous for sulking - for example I have a female Heros Severus (mouthbrooding severum) I just added a plec and some flagtail cats to my tank at the weekend and immediately she went and sulked, stopped coming to the tank when I came in the room, showed her face stripes more etc...
 
Wills

 
Thanks for the advice  

 
I'm looking for a single centrepiece cichlid for my tank, one with lots of personality that will feed out of my hand, follow me around etc and as large as possible for my tank size 
 
Which cichlid would you recommend?

 

[Wills]

What about Rainbow Cichlids? They are quite responsive even in shops so I imagine after a while its going to really learn who everyone is. You could maybe even do a pair of them in this tank with things like a trio of wild type Swordtails, big school of something like Red Eye Tetras and some of the smaller Hoplo Catfish out there
 
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

A Jack Dempsey or a green terror would work. I wouldn't go any bigger than 10" though.
Severums are therefor a bit too big. not only are they very long (12") but they are quite tall fish as well due to their circular body shape.
 
Not to hijack the thread here but I have a question for wills. Are the smaller hoplos south or central American? I only ask because I've seen you recommend them for central American setups quite a lot and was just wondering where they were from.

 

[Wills]

Not to hijack the thread here but I have a question for wills. Are the smaller hoplos south or central American? I only ask because I've seen you recommend them for central American setups quite a lot and was just wondering where they were from.

 
Certainly some Hoplos are found in some Central Areas but equally species like the Dwarf Hoplos are southern but as armoured as they are I think would be okay with things like the Rainbows. And are easier to accommodate than their larger cousins. So it gives the look of the region although it is not strictly correct.
 
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

So... are you saying that there are central American hoplos that are rare or unavailable in the hobby so south American ones are used instead or are you saying that dwarf hoplos are found in both regions naturally? (or unnaturally as an invasive species) sorry, it's late and my brains partially shut down

 

[TheTankMan]

A Jack Dempsey or a green terror would work. I wouldn't go any bigger than 10" though.
Severums are therefor a bit too big. not only are they very long (12") but they are quite tall fish as well due to their circular body shape.
 
Not to hijack the thread here but I have a question for wills. Are the smaller hoplos south or central American? I only ask because I've seen you recommend them for central American setups quite a lot and was just wondering where they were from.

 
I thought the Gold Severum grew to 8 inches max?

 

[Wills]

 

A Jack Dempsey or a green terror would work. I wouldn't go any bigger than 10" though.
Severums are therefor a bit too big. not only are they very long (12") but they are quite tall fish as well due to their circular body shape.
 
Not to hijack the thread here but I have a question for wills. Are the smaller hoplos south or central American? I only ask because I've seen you recommend them for central American setups quite a lot and was just wondering where they were from.

 
I thought the Gold Severum grew to 8 inches max?
 

 
Golds and Greens are Heros Efasciatus which get to a chunky, circular 12 inches if not a little bigger. There are some species that stay smaller like the true Heros Seveus but some populations of them are still quite big and its a little unpredictable as to what it is.
 
Same with Heros sp.Rotkiel but again more and more populations of red necked severums have come into the hobby - true Rotkiel are pretty small but the others are just as big as the Efasciatus.
 
 
Wrightt3 - on the Hoplos, just had a quick google and I cant find anything right now but I know I have read and seen videos of hoplo cats in central american locations. What I was saying was that I suggest the dwarf hoplos so they are a sort of visual match of what is in the area if you see what I mean? More a theme tank than a biotope.
 
Wills

 

[pauloblade]

A rotkeil severum would be fine as a centrepiece fish. Iv got 2 in my 260l tank, had them since babies 2 years ago. amazing fish, they don't get much bigger than 7 inch,really peaceful aswell. as long as you've got good filtration they would be fine in a 4 footer.

 

[wrightt3]

A rotkeil severum would be fine as a centrepiece fish. Iv got 2 in my 260l tank, had them since babies 2 years ago. amazing fish, they don't get much bigger than 7 inch,really peaceful aswell. as long as you've got good filtration they would be fine in a 4 footer.

I'm sorry but I disagree! Severums WILL reach 12 inches unless their growth has been stunted. I'd imagine yours will almost double in size in the next year or two.
I suppose they could 'survive' in a 4 footer but they would not thrive by any means and two would certainly be overdoing it. 5-6ft is a more appropriate tank size.
 
 
@ Wills: thanks very much, it was just out of curiosity really.

 

[TheTankMan]

Would I be able to house an adult elephant nose in my 240 litre tank?

 

[wrightt3]

Would I be able to house an adult elephant nose in my 240 litre tank?

Yeah, you could put a single one in there but their size and predatory nature would limit what you can put in with them.

 

[pauloblade]

A rotkeil severum would be fine as a centrepiece fish. Iv got 2 in my 260l tank, had them since babies 2 years ago. amazing fish, they don't get much bigger than 7 inch,really peaceful aswell. as long as you've got good filtration they would be fine in a 4 footer.

I'm sorry but I disagree! Severums WILL reach 12 inches unless their growth has been stunted. I'd imagine yours will almost double in size in the next year or two.
I suppose they could 'survive' in a 4 footer but they would not thrive by any means and two would certainly be overdoing it. 5-6ft is a more appropriate tank size.
SoRotkeils do not get to 12 inch. They max out at 8 inch, in the wild they have been known to reach 9 inches but in the aquarium usually 7-8. I know the guy who has the parents of mine. They are both 7 inch and kept in a 6 foot tank. Wills: thanks very much, it was just out of curiosity really.

Rotkeils do not get to 12 inch. They max out at 8 inch, in the wild they have been known to reach 9 inches but in the aquarium usually 7-8. I know the guy who has the parents of mine. They are both 7 inch and kept in a 6 foot tank. Red spotted and gold sevs do get larger than the rotkeil roughly 10-12 inches

 

[wrightt3]

 

 

A rotkeil severum would be fine as a centrepiece fish. Iv got 2 in my 260l tank, had them since babies 2 years ago. amazing fish, they don't get much bigger than 7 inch,really peaceful aswell. as long as you've got good filtration they would be fine in a 4 footer.

I'm sorry but I disagree! Severums WILL reach 12 inches unless their growth has been stunted. I'd imagine yours will almost double in size in the next year or two.
I suppose they could 'survive' in a 4 footer but they would not thrive by any means and two would certainly be overdoing it. 5-6ft is a more appropriate tank size.
SoRotkeils do not get to 12 inch. They max out at 8 inch, in the wild they have been known to reach 9 inches but in the aquarium usually 7-8. I know the guy who has the parents of mine. They are both 7 inch and kept in a 6 foot tank. Wills: thanks very much, it was just out of curiosity really.

Rotkeils do not get to 12 inch. They max out at 8 inch, in the wild they have been known to reach 9 inches but in the aquarium usually 7-8. I know the guy who has the parents of mine. They are both 7 inch and kept in a 6 foot tank. Red spotted and gold sevs do get larger than the rotkeil roughly 10-12 inches
 


Ah, sorry. I must have missed the rokteil part. The OP was asking about gold severums so I immediately thought you were referring to them too.
I heard rokteils get closer to 10" but I will not argue with you as I have no experience with them.