I have a 40 gallon tank with Severum and 3 rainbowfish. I plan to get a 55 gallon tank. Could I mix the Severum and rainbowfish with African cichlids with a ph of 7.5?
Mixing south American and African cichlids
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people here tend to think a single severum needs a 75 gallon, I however would say ones fine in a 55.
I mix african and american cichlids but to make it work you have to know what can work with your stock, severums are quite peaceful and most africans don´t fall into that category and I could tell you some africans that would work, but you would need a larger tank.
as for P.H it isnt so important with captive bred fish because they are born and raised in different water chemistry. just out of curiosity, which african cichlids were you thinking of mixing with your severum? There is a guy on here who is a pretty awesome guy called Clownknife, I know hes another person other than me who mixes african and american cichlids, hopefully he will join in here, if not then send him a message!
I mix african and american cichlids but to make it work you have to know what can work with your stock, severums are quite peaceful and most africans don´t fall into that category and I could tell you some africans that would work, but you would need a larger tank.
as for P.H it isnt so important with captive bred fish because they are born and raised in different water chemistry. just out of curiosity, which african cichlids were you thinking of mixing with your severum? There is a guy on here who is a pretty awesome guy called Clownknife, I know hes another person other than me who mixes african and american cichlids, hopefully he will join in here, if not then send him a message!
maybe a better idea would be to get more rainbow fish,6 is the minimum for a schooling fish,8-10 would be better.then enjoy the severum as a solo fish in the 55,with lots of movement from the school
The PH would be fine, you'd just have to worry about aggression levels. If I were to mix a Severum with an easily find-able African Cichlid I'd probably go with a couple Labidochromis caeruleus (Electric Yellow), in my experience they tend to be pretty docile. Same goes for Pelvicachromis pulcher (Kribensis), might be a good option as well.
Although I agree that increasing the amount of Rainbows would likely be a better option.
I have known L. caeruleus to be aggressive at times, I never understood why their latin name means blue either...
there are a few less aggressive african species but they might need more room. my Champsochromis caeruleus is docile but he also gets 16-18" long. like I say your best bet is talking to someone who has raised both together like Clownknife. because africans act differently towards eachother than americans, Africans can be much more aggressive and territorial so unless you can mix a similar temprement american with a similar temprement african you should be fine but there still is sometimes aggression as some fish can just be meaner than others. you might even find that your severum picks on the yellow labs because when they are young they do tend to be really timid and hide a lot.
Yeah, as always it comes down to the personality of the individual fish but I've found them to be less aggressive as a whole than a lot of other Mbuna's.
Agreed, I also find most of the haps to be peaceful, like blue dolphins and peacocks but you couldnt keep a lot of haps in a 55g, thats the problem. and Mbuna are just a no no, too territorial.
Don't you have to over crowd the tank if you're mixing?
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thats also where things get a little fuzzy. african Mbuna like to be crowded and mixed to reduce aggression. american cichlids don´t like being crowded it causes them to be more aggressive