how many severums in a 500 gallon (with tank mates) help :)

[pisalious]

Hello all ,

I just wanted to ask how many severums can i have in tank that also has an asian aro , flagtail , 6 geophagus altifrons and a few dither fish. Tank is 10 feet long almost three feet wide and 3 feet high .

I was thinking four...

 

[pisalious]

the dither fish are 30 denison barbs

 

[predatorkeeper87]

as per the last 2 threads in 15 minutes about this, 4 is fine.

 

[pisalious]

ok thanks

 

[neutrino]

If 500 gals is not a typo, the correct answer is quite a few. I've had up to 8 adult rotkeil severums in a 135 and they did quite well together-- keeping in mind rotkeils tend to be a bit smaller than most other types. So, in a 500 gal tank you could do quite a few.

 

[pisalious]

No not a typo fortunately ....Yeah i am thinking of how aggressive to each other cause i never had more than one severum at a time..

 

[neutrino]

From my experience, then, you could have a nice sized group. Most people don't think of keeping adult severums in groups, but ime it can be done as long as the tank is large enough for the number and size of fish. Unless you had something like two compatible pairs, I would do more than 4. Basically, ime keeping severums in a group is similar to other cichlids you can keep in groups, 5 or 6 tends to be a minimum group number to keep aggression low. When I had 8 in a 135 there was almost no aggression, even when a pair spawned they'd pick out a corner and go about their business but no real fighting.

Of course, severums can vary in temperament, so it's possible to get a mean one now and then, but what I've found is when you give them a large enough tank most severums are good citizens. I once took home a wild rotkeil that was killing anything they tried to keep with it-- they had it in something like a 25 gal tank-- took him home and put him in a 75 and he was never a problem for me, not even with angelfish and tall bodied tetras.

 

[ryansmith83]

At one point I had ten adults in my 210 but I had to weed that out as they reached their maximum size. I find that their aggression is more evenly spread around when they're kept in groups of 6 or more. They will definitely pick out spots in the tank to spawn, or you can just keep an all male tank. I eventually removed all my females so the chaos would die down, and most of the males lived fine together.

 

[pisalious]

so you guys think my tank is big enough for 5-7 of them(with the tank mates) ?

 

[teqvet]

i still stand by 8-10 like i said in your other thread.