I'm strongly considering upgrading my 55 gallon to a 125 gallon severum/geo tank...my question is about how many of each would work in a tank of this size? Would there be any room for a small school of silver dollars as well? I was thinking 3-4 severums with 5-6 geos and a small school of silver dollars. Is this OK or would it be overstocked? Any advice is appreciated, especially from those with similar stock. Thanks!
125 Gallon Sev/Geo Tank
- Thread starter frp13187
- Start date
There are a lot of different types of Geos... but to be compatible with Sevs you will want to go with a larger species. I'm not too well educated on the larger Geo species, but I would think 2 males 4 females would work (if the males will get along)...
You could pull off 3 female Sevs, but multiple males probably won't get along. Since they are pairing fish 1 male 2 females probably wouldn't work either, the females will fight over the male.
But...
If you went with Acaras instead of Severums, they stay a bit smaller but are otherwise quite similar... then you could also go with a smaller species of Geo.
You could probably pull off two pairs of Acaras, or a pair and a couple other females... and a larger colony of Geos with 3, maybe even 4 males and a nice herd of females.
You could pull off 3 female Sevs, but multiple males probably won't get along. Since they are pairing fish 1 male 2 females probably wouldn't work either, the females will fight over the male.
But...
If you went with Acaras instead of Severums, they stay a bit smaller but are otherwise quite similar... then you could also go with a smaller species of Geo.
You could probably pull off two pairs of Acaras, or a pair and a couple other females... and a larger colony of Geos with 3, maybe even 4 males and a nice herd of females.
Hi there... Don't know if you have been following my progress but I have a 4x2x2 120 gallon that is becoming a sev/geo tank.
What I've learned is that probably more than one adult sev will not work long term unless they are a pair. But again sevs are cichlids and their personalities really do vary. My little Rambo the juvie lip locked like crazy with the male adult sevs I rescued and put in the tank and I had to rehome the rescues. Others have large tanks with several sevs.. Just depends..
For geos, I'm getting some orangehead babies.. I've been told by the experts that they really prefer to be in a group of six. I do know folks keeping less successfully. But I guess it's similar to when I kept discus. Yes you can keep one or even 4 successfully but when you see them in a larger group you see their true behavior and they really seem to thrive more. Also depends on if you want them to breed.
Right now my tank has the juvie sev, an adult koi angel left over from when it was a discus tank, 4 female pearl gourami that everyone ignores, a bn and soon will have the 6 geo babies. I've also been told that I might be able to add a group of bolivian rams as well.. If I did that I would probably rehome the gouramis..
My tank is sand substrate, the few plants that the sev will accept and lots of driftwood. Temp 82/83 and ph around 6.8/7. If I get the bolivians later on I will reduce the tank temp to 81.
Can't tell you if it will work out but everyone seems to think so..and I'm loving the look of it. There are tons of beautiful geos out there and because you have the 6 ft footprint you have more options than I did.The daemon are also very nice.. just depends the size of adult fish you want in the tank. A lot also depends on your aquascape and commitment to water changes etc..
Remember those cute little sevs and geos grow into big fish faster than you think.
HTH Sue
What I've learned is that probably more than one adult sev will not work long term unless they are a pair. But again sevs are cichlids and their personalities really do vary. My little Rambo the juvie lip locked like crazy with the male adult sevs I rescued and put in the tank and I had to rehome the rescues. Others have large tanks with several sevs.. Just depends..
For geos, I'm getting some orangehead babies.. I've been told by the experts that they really prefer to be in a group of six. I do know folks keeping less successfully. But I guess it's similar to when I kept discus. Yes you can keep one or even 4 successfully but when you see them in a larger group you see their true behavior and they really seem to thrive more. Also depends on if you want them to breed.
Right now my tank has the juvie sev, an adult koi angel left over from when it was a discus tank, 4 female pearl gourami that everyone ignores, a bn and soon will have the 6 geo babies. I've also been told that I might be able to add a group of bolivian rams as well.. If I did that I would probably rehome the gouramis..
My tank is sand substrate, the few plants that the sev will accept and lots of driftwood. Temp 82/83 and ph around 6.8/7. If I get the bolivians later on I will reduce the tank temp to 81.
Can't tell you if it will work out but everyone seems to think so..and I'm loving the look of it. There are tons of beautiful geos out there and because you have the 6 ft footprint you have more options than I did.The daemon are also very nice.. just depends the size of adult fish you want in the tank. A lot also depends on your aquascape and commitment to water changes etc..
Remember those cute little sevs and geos grow into big fish faster than you think.
HTH SueI would recommend one pair of sevs or one pair of urau's along with group of geos. Getting 3 sevs will lead to a pair and the outsider getting beat to death.
Almost any of the geo's will be fine. I like altifrons, red heads, heckilies (a member of the green terror family), and pindare's the best. You could do a group of 6-8 of them with either one species or 2-3 different species with a ratio of 1 male to 2 females.
Maybe
1 pair of Sevs or Urau's
3 Geo. altifrons
3 A. heckilie
And some schooling fish of your choice.
Almost any of the geo's will be fine. I like altifrons, red heads, heckilies (a member of the green terror family), and pindare's the best. You could do a group of 6-8 of them with either one species or 2-3 different species with a ratio of 1 male to 2 females.
Maybe
1 pair of Sevs or Urau's
3 Geo. altifrons
3 A. heckilie
And some schooling fish of your choice.
frp13187;2586057; said:
Provided the Sevs do not turn out to be two males... I think that would work well...
I personally do not like Silver Dollars as dithers as due to their larger size, I feel they take up room that I personally would rather use to keep another Cichlid. Just food for thohught...
I have a SA tank going now... it's a 210 (7 foot) and I quickly found out that multiple Severum in the same tank is a bad idea. I had 4 in the tank (two pairs) and the largest pair bullied the smallest pair constantly... No real damage was done, but the larger pair never bred either. Once I separated them, it was a much calmer tank.
My Uaru swims around with the Sevs... seems to think they are a school. The Chocolate cichlid is a big wimp and avoids everyone.
I've got 6 brasilenesis Geos (3 inchers) and 8 altifrons (4 inchers) in the tank as well... they are not full grown yet, but thus far there is ZERO aggression in the Geo part of the tank...
Hope this helps...
My Uaru swims around with the Sevs... seems to think they are a school. The Chocolate cichlid is a big wimp and avoids everyone.
I've got 6 brasilenesis Geos (3 inchers) and 8 altifrons (4 inchers) in the tank as well... they are not full grown yet, but thus far there is ZERO aggression in the Geo part of the tank...
Hope this helps...
Oh... almost forgot. I had a school of Buenos Aires Tetras in there for awhile. That worked rather well. They are fast enough, big enough, and add a touch of red.
I have a 125 with 3 redheads(orangeheads) and 4 altifrons. Works very nice the way they are, though I may add some cheap small dithers to get the altifrons to stop the few chases they perform throughout the day.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196259
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190504
The redheads in the links are pretty much full grown(7") and the altifrons when those pics were taken were from 2-4". Now they are about 3-5" and starting to fill in the tank nicely.
I would not suggest silver dollars, I have some in another tank with my redhead growouts and they tend to hog the food and are freightened easily(lights cutting on/off, etc.)
Just stock it with your most desired first, wait a month, and stock some more if you see fit(and if you think you have the room) I won't lie, all of my tanks are overstocked except the one in the link. Those fish are far more healthier and happier than ones in my other tanks. I do keep up with all maintenance but I can tell during feeding time that those guys like the extra space!
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196259
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190504
The redheads in the links are pretty much full grown(7") and the altifrons when those pics were taken were from 2-4". Now they are about 3-5" and starting to fill in the tank nicely.
I would not suggest silver dollars, I have some in another tank with my redhead growouts and they tend to hog the food and are freightened easily(lights cutting on/off, etc.)
Just stock it with your most desired first, wait a month, and stock some more if you see fit(and if you think you have the room) I won't lie, all of my tanks are overstocked except the one in the link. Those fish are far more healthier and happier than ones in my other tanks. I do keep up with all maintenance but I can tell during feeding time that those guys like the extra space!