Red Severums Or Something Similar As A Centerpeice For My Tank? Opinio

[deanrar]

Hi, I tried this topic in the normal tropical discussions but thought I may get more joy in here.  I have had my trigon 350 litre for a few years now, but I lost my centerpiece fish my blood parrot cichlid and can't decide what to get to take over the reigns.
I have a fluval FX5 filter and the tanks inhabitants are 10 clownloach (6 juvinile, not even 2 inches), 10-12 various corydoras, 1 African butterfly fish, 2 bistlenose plecs, 3 balloon rams, loads of mts to mix up the sand (never really see them). The tank is mainly planted in the centre with amazon sword, java moss and java fern and a few moss balls hanging about and has various pieces of wood up the sides to give lots of cover for those that like to hide.
So what do you all think? I have had a few different ideas but now i'm leaning towards red severums as they are great looking fish, but i've never kept them so wondered if any1 thinks they would fit in well in the tank or may stir things up too much.
Cheers for looking.

 

[Wills]

Sevs might be okay - only issue could be the balloon rams but could see how it goes....
 
Only problem is they will eat your plants Most cichlids will dig as well so any thing that you could think of might still cause issues for your plants.
 
A group of Cupid Cichlids always make a nice center piece or a pair of Rainbow Cichlids?
 
Wills

 

[deanrar]

I've got to say i do really like the look of the cupid cichlids and yeh i've had some problems with my plants floating in bits before lol, but I think I will give the sevs ago, just wanted to make sure there was no1 out there to talk me out of them (with good reason ofcourse), i'll get some pics on here once I've found some of decent quality and price

 

[Wills]

It wont be a case of your plants being nibbled they will be eaten lol. Mine is sometimes okay with big plants but it depends... I love Giant Valis but she always chops it down in really straight lines until there is nothing left....
 
But yeah I think you should be okay Just watch the Rams.
 
Wills

 

[SouthernCross]

My Severums were ok with my rams but they DESTROYED my plants and my tank now looks terrible so they are being rehomed. If you like e planted look then forget Sevs.

 

[bricko999]

Agreewith the above post, I had a green sev once in a trigon corner tank and he nailed most plants including some lovely amazon swords

 

[Wills]

In defense of Severums, they are brilliant Really good characters and always interested in their owners. My Lilly is about 8 now I have had her for about 4 years previous owner had her 4 as well and she is wild caught so could be older.
 
Wills

 

[deanrar]

haha, i do have some amazon sword but its pretty tatty so they can munch it and i'm sure they will, went to get some this weekend but none of my lfs had red sevs so looks like i'll be going further afield to get them sometime this week, really gutted i could not get any

 

[SouthernCross]

Don't get my wrong, I love my Sevs and it was a tough decision to let them gon- only letting them go cos they are going to my brothers 6 ft where I can still keep an eye on them - and he has only plastic plants!

They even destroyed all my java fern, which is supposed to taste horrible and most fish leave it alone, supposedly. Not my Sevs!

Due to the loss of plants I'm noticing more algae appearing so I am keen to get my tank planted up again.

 

[char la]

theres always the good old fashioned angelfish option

 

[GShorty1981]

I kept and bred Severum's for years, very nice to look at, especially Red Spotted, Rotkeil and Notatus, they are not as interactive or as fun as centrals, but they are still great fish.