Please help with Severum ID

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Well I just received my order of Rotkeils from WetSpot this morning being that the ones posted in this thread have 9 bars and.... More 9 bar severums! I'll get some pics up later but they appear literally identical to the fish I purchased off another distributors list. I'm wondering if they're even the same batch. Last time I wasn't concerned because I got them locally and was all in at $10 but I paid overnight shipping on these to have them come all the way from Portland to Baltimore and appear not to be Rotkeils.
 


The one farthest to the left is the new "Rotkeil" and the one closer to the gold sev is the suspected efaciatus from another supplier.
 
Hope they turn out well! Still look lovely! What's your stocking plan and potential tank size?
 
Well original plan was 1 red, 1 gold, 2 Rotkeils, 1 Inridia, and one Chocolate in a 125 or 180. Currently I have the Choco, red, gold, Inridia, and 4 mystery severums growing out in a 75 which won't last long with this many fish. Luckily they're all still small. I was going to give away the first two 9 bar sevs from the first shipment since I thought the ones I was getting from wetspot would have the classic 8 bars now I don't know what to do! Tempted to set up a 55 gallon just to grow out the 4 mystery severums until they're big enough to be id'd and keep the others in the 75 for a few months.
 
Let them all grow out together and pick the ones you are happiest with to keep. Good luck.
 
mrrobxc said:
Let them all grow out together and pick the ones you are happiest with to keep. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Well as long as they're Rotkeils and not like regular green severum I'll be happy with any lol.

On a side note the Heros sp. Inridia is badass he's a keeper for sure. Ate 5 minutes after entering the tank.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrrobxc
Does anyone else have pictures of juvenile Rotkeils? I know I'm beating a dead horse here but since I've had all day to think about it I'm going to be pretty irritated if I paid to have fish over-nighted all the way across the US and they end up being a common green severum, a species my LFS literally always has in stock.

I called WetSpot to explain the situation and was told I would receive an email back about it which hasn't come yet. We will see.
 
MonsterFishCreeper said:
Does anyone else have pictures of juvenile Rotkeils? I know I'm beating a dead horse here but since I've had all day to think about it I'm going to be pretty irritated if I paid to have fish over-nighted all the way across the US and they end up being a common green severum, a species my LFS literally always has in stock.

I called WetSpot to explain the situation and was told I would receive an email back about it which hasn't come yet. We will see.
Click to expand...

Might be a bit younger than you want.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7467234/
 
I received a thorough response from the web-sales person at WetSpot. She wrote a pretty detailed explanation and assured me that this batch of fish was from the same supplier of all the tank raised Rotkeils they have sold over the last few years. She said that they had never received any feedback saying that they didn't grow out to be Rotkiels and said that if they did grow out to be something else to contact them and they would work something out for me. If these 4 fish from two different suppliers which all have 9 bars, grow out to be typical looking Rotkeil severums I think that its at least an indicator that counting stress bars it isn't a reliable way to ID Rotkeils.

Hybridization with efaciatus is a possibility, but there is also a possibility that there are fish from several collection sites with a similar red shouldered appearance that will prove out to be either variations of the same fish or possibly even different species. Wow, the Heros genus is a mess and needs some serious love!
 
Thanks for the thorough explanation :)

The Rotkeils tend to not grow as large as the Esfaciatus right? I'm under the Rotkeils tend to max out around 8 inches?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom