Multiple Severum In One Tank

[karin]

Hi all.

I am enamored with severum. Of course I want more than one. As I read and research there are stories all over the board about severum being aggressive, semi-aggressive, and good community tank members. I suppose this speaks in part to the fact they are cichlids and it all depends on the individual. I am wondering if you can all share your stories about your severum and if you tried more than one, what type, experience with tankmates and the size of the tank. I'm planning a 5x2x2 this summer and currently I have on female Heros sp. Rotkeil. I'm wondering if there is any hope for more in that setting.

Thanks.

P.S. I do understand the theory of one individual per species to reduce aggression, btw. Just want to know what people's experiences have been.

 

[micko]

I have two, golden severums. Looking at getting a red spotted one as they're amazing looking. My two get on grand. The new one I want to get will obviously have to be in or around the other twos size.

 

[karin]

I have two, golden severums. Looking at getting a red spotted one as they're amazing looking. My two get on grand. The new one I want to get will obviously have to be in or around the other twos size.

Hi Micko. Thank you for the response. Can I just ask what size and sex are your two sevs and what size is the tank? Cheers.

 

[micko]

They are two males as far as I'm aware. Have been told by 3 different people anyway. I have them in a 350ltr tank with two oscars who were going to be flushed down the toilet if I didn't take them. They're lovely too. The severums are about 3.5 inches and the oscars are nearly 3inches. They all will be put into a bigger tank soon.

 

[mattlee]

i had 3 severums in a 6.5x2x2 with no trouble. 1 x gold, 1 x rotkeil and 1 x red spotted severum. they were all adult and varied from 6 inch up to about 8+ inches and were all pretty calm and sociable fish so go for it

personally i would try and get all the same species as i think it looks so much more natural.

 

[micko]

Any reasons as to why you wouldn't mix them again mattlee apart from the look? I really like the red spotted.

By the way, keith looks amazing

 

[hamfist]

I never got it to work with more than one sev per tank long term, except for once when I had a male and female pair up.
I know that other people succeed sometimes as I have seen the tanks and heard other people's stories but I suspect that for every successful story there ar several unsuccessful ones.
The best chance of success involves getting them in the same tank absolutely as young and as early as you can, and get them to accept each other at that early age.
Once a sev takes a dislike to another cichlid, it will almost never change how it sees that fish, in my experience .... and they defo get grumpier with age.

No reason whatsoever that you should not mix sev types in a tank ... apart from the obvious issues about what fry might look like if they spawn.

 

[mattlee]

my only reason to keep the same species of sev or any fish really is purely for looks. when my tank was fully stocked with cichlids it was a mish mash of different species and although the tank had immense colour i much prefer groups of the same fish, it just seems to look more natural whether its a huge group of cardinals to a group of 6 sevs.

as i said my sevs got on ok just the odd stand off as with any cichlid but no serious aggression.

 

[always4lora]

my only reason to keep the same species of sev or any fish really is purely for looks. when my tank was fully stocked with cichlids it was a mish mash of different species and although the tank had immense colour i much prefer groups of the same fish, it just seems to look more natural whether its a huge group of cardinals to a group of 6 sevs.

as i said my sevs got on ok just the odd stand off as with any cichlid but no serious aggression.

I would be botherd about differnt strains pairing up and ending up with some hybrid.

buy a proper pair or buy a bunch of them and let them pair off.

 

[GShorty1981]

I grew out 12 in my 6x2x2 (gold, red spotted, rotkeil, notatus, green, turquoise, appendiculatus)

At one time i had a 8" male with multiple Severums at 1", everything was fine.

As they matured the males would lip lock....then i sold on to friends/shops and kept a few before i sold my 6ft tank.

I have just 1 juvi (red spotted) in my 4ft tank now.