Is my Aquarium overstocked?Why did my Severum die?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I agree with others that say your 52 gallon tank is way overstocked, and believe you will soon see more deaths as the cichlids grow.
A 52 gallon tank is barely large enough for 1 adult JD, or pair of salvini as semi-adults.
In nature a pair of JDs with guard an area equivalent to the size of 250 "gallons" (almost 1000 liters).
Besides the territoriality issue, water quality will suffer with so many fish in a tank the size of a rut in the road, no matter how much filtration you have, and to keep up you will need to do daily or every other day 50% water changes.
If you don't the build up of nitrate and other metabolism by-products will cause chronic and scarring diseases such as HLLE (hold in the head).
If you want cichlids, you should stick to dwarf type, nothing that gets more than 5" as adults.
I also find trying to keep South American cichlids (like severums) together with Central Americans like JDs and salvini,is usually a losing battle. The Central Americans are much more territorial and aggressive and tend to make hamburger out of their more docile S American cousins.
Here is a video of JDs in a quite crowded, small Cenote in nature, even in a body of water of 10,000 gallons, note the torn fins.
027 zps4b102ffd
 
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Thnx for all the info guys, know any peaceful cichlids? Also I think I will try the 2 salvinis and 1 jack because i always see them roaming around together.
Wish for the best
 
Justepic said:
Thnx for all the info guys, know any peaceful cichlids? Also I think I will try the 2 salvinis and 1 jack because i always see them roaming around together.
Wish for the best
Click to expand...

Rainbow cichlids (h multispinosa) are quite mellow. Amatitlania Nanoluteus as well. These are both from central America.
Many south American cichlids are much less aggressive than the central americans; would generally be much better choices for a community in this size tank. Some examples would be: Blue acara, guianacara gaeyi, keyhole, geophagus sp. "redhead Tapajos", dwarf pikes like crenicichla regani, Bolivian rams, apostogrammas. Many options with SA cichlids. CA, you generally need a larger tank, or need to pick the few more docile species. For what it's worth, Salvini are considered one of the most aggressive for their size. The fish may be friendly now, but that can change at any time, especially since they are still young.
 
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~What if I got a 300 litre fro 200£ used in 3 months- that any good?
I mean i was going to get a nano reef but....
 
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300 liter would be a good home for them, though it's not a huge upgrade, so the risks are inherently the same. The difference would be that the tank is large enough for the eventual size of the Dempsey.
If I were you, instead of sacrificing your nano reef idea, I would bring all these cichlids back and replace them with less aggressive SA cichlids that won't need an upgrade. Would be more enjoyment from watching the fish, and less stress over aggression. And wouldn't need to buy the upgrade, could still do your reef. That, or I'd wait a bit and re-home all but your favorite salvini, then keep the salvini with your pleco an dithers.
just my .02
 
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I agree with the choices Gourami Swami offered.
One thing you have not mentioned is the type tap water you have.
If its hard, with a high pH above 7, the Central Americans are well suited.
If your water is soft, with a low pH (below 7), South Americans such as Apistogramma, Rams, or Guianacara would be more well suited.
In hard water South Americans are prone to chronic diseases like HLLE over time or at the least lapse in water quality.
In soft water Central Americans sometimes .suffer the same problems.
 
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Nvm i don't have space. I looked into my aquarium and I can see a salvini who is constantly hiding behind a filter and scares my severum. I will try to refund him and the severum. I don't they will accept my jacks back because they don't have anywhere to house them currently.

That leaves a salvini and 2 jacks.
I just saw your two posts; I will try to rehome everything and get apistogrammas and some other good-looking peaceful cichlid because jacks are gorgeous and rn i can't seem to match its beauty with any other cichlid.

Also I don't have freshwater test kit so I cant know the tap water. Once I rehome everything it will be christmas when I can actually do something.
 
I never trust any site that goes along the lines of "I'm going to tell you about this fish today!!!" If it is a blog then I stay away from it. Your best bet are to visit actual fish forums because we know our stuff about the fish we're talking about and if someone is saying wrong information someone will correct them rather quickly for the most part.
 
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How big do salvinis get? And can I keep 2 or 3 in there because it won't look nice if there are 2 small fish in a big aquarium (at least for me).
 
How do you feel about nano fish? You could have hundreds of nano fish and get to see some pretty interesting things.
 
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