Aggression!! What to do??

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snk_anindya

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 11, 2011
10
0
0
Bangalore, India
Guys,
I'm providing a detailed description of the situation in my 5 footer tank. Hope to get some inputs from you.

The setup
===========
Tank: 5 footer tank. 60' x 18' x 24'
Decor: White sand. One huge driftwood. Two clay pots
Filter: Dophin C1300
Fish:

Green Severum (5 to 6 inches) (2)
Gold severum (3 to 4 inches) (2)
Geophagus sp tapajos (about 2 inches) (4)
Silver dollar (about 2.5 inches) (4)
Golden algae eater (1)


The problem
============
1. The gold severums are getting harassed by the green severums because they are smaller. Sometimes they chase each other also.
2. Main problem. One of the slightly bigger green severum seems to be harassing the other smaller green severum. Every other day i find some scratch or scar on either one of them. They dont bother any other fish though. But I'm afraid they are hurting each other.


What to do?
============
1. I'm thinking of giving away the smaller gold severums.
2. Thinking of increasing the stocking level by adding some more larger fish, so that the aggression can be distributed.
3. Another option may be to try and find few female severums, since all that I have seem to be males. Will this be a good idea?

Do you think this will be a good idea to increase the stocking? If yes, how many more fish can i add?
Should i add more severums or maybe some other big fish? I was thinking about Uaru, but not sure if I can find any. Any other options?

Any other opinions / suggestions ??

Regards,
Kishore
 
Severum are conspecific aggressive, I had two that would constantly bicker and were both males. I also have 2 rotkiel and one male one female and no difference really the male chases female all over
 
Severums are a crapshoot in my experience. Some can be very docile, but occasionally you will get an aggressive male. My suspicion is that the larger aggressive fish is a male, and he is staking out his territory in the tank. I have a very similar set up as you do - same size tank with sevs, uaru, and chocolates with a few smaller geos. My dominant male sev is one of the aggressive ones and is constantly duking it out for dominance in the tank. I would try to sex your severums (males will have squiggles on the face, females will not) and either get all of the same sex, or pick a pair and remove the other fish. Again, I have the same problem as you and I have decided to keep two male sevs and get rid of all the others with the hope that removing the female will reduce the amount of territorial behaviour.

You could probably add another few fish, but I wouldn't add any more severums. Uaru are awesome and I would get some if you have the opportunity.

Good luck with the tank.
 
Yeah,
I guess severums are totally unpredictable. I had read that they are generally not very aggressive. But I dont think they are very peaceful either.

@jonclark96
I love the Uaru too.. and I'm trying to find them here in India. But not able to :irked:
If I find Uaru, then maybe the severums will be out of my tank.
 
I think i'll trade the smaller ones for some other fish. By the time the smaller ones grow big, the already bigger ones would have grown much more bigger :P
 
Guys,
Just remembered something!!
I think i know why the aggression has increased recently :P

Earlier I had 3 more big fish in this aquarium. 2 Blood parrots and 1 Jewel cichlid. All of them were around 5 inches, and were giving tough competition to the severums. About one month back I sold those three fish since I wanted to have genuine South american cichlids only. Since then the two green sevs have become the biggest fish in the tank. All other fish are way too small ( around 3 to 4 inches max). Hence, I think they are fighting to get the top spot in the tank.

So, if I'm right, adding more fish that can stand up to these severums must solve the problem.
Now the question is whether to add more big severums or some other fish??

I'm uploading few pics and a video. Comments welcome.

This one is the full tank shot. As you can see, since the drift wood is huge, there is not much scope for rescaping. Let me know what you think.

P7120149.JPG


The silver dollars.

P7120172.JPG


The geos..

P7120180.JPG


More shots showing the Severums in action.

As you can see here, the one on the left is the one being chased.

P7120016.JPG


Shots of the rogue ...

P7120026.JPG


P7120028.JPG


P7120030.JPG


P7120036.JPG


Here, the one on the right is the victim ...

P7120037.JPG


P7120038.JPG



This is the video ..

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoAQ4sUHCSA[/YT]

Please let me know what you think about the fish.. And also any stocking ideas??


Regards,
Kishore
 
That's a real nice tank.. Keep the Severum, get rid of the algae eater, buy a couple Bristlenose pleco's, have you considered a chocolate Cichlid?
 
@Justin
Ok abt the pleco... And never considered a chocolate cichlid.. Sometimes i feel that it looks little bit dull.. Also, not sure if I can get one near my place.. need to check
 
Looks to me like you have a pair of sevs. The first several pics are definitely a male. It may just be that he is wanting to breed and the female isn't ready for him yet. I'd add some more hiding spots to give her somewhere to go.

Chocolates are great fish as well. They are big enough to hold their own yet aren't too agressive themselves.
 
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