So I have a 135 gallon tank with 1 red spotted sev. 3 geophagus sveni and 10 congo tetras. . I was under the impression the sevs are pretty peaceful.. let me tell you this guy is an ass. He is constantly chasing the geophagus during feeding and always trying to eat thr congos. Is there something wrong here or did I just get a jerk off sev. I feel bad for the other fish and really debating getting rid of him
Red Spot Severum problem
- Thread starter Nyrkorey
- Start date
It's sad to get rid of a beautiful stunner fish. But anyways, when people refer to the aggression of a cichlid species, half the time it isn't accurate. Like humans, each individual cichlid has its own level of aggression that you can't predict. For example, I've kept chill Jewel cichlids and Salvini (typically hyper-aggressive fish), but I've also had killer swordtails and fire mouths (supposedly mild-tempered fish).
Getting rid of him is last resort, I love him in the tank, he really is a beautiful fish. And it's not like he is crammed he got a huge tank but I guess it's just his personality unfortunately
Is there anything I can do or just stick it out and see, I keep him well fed so it amazes me he's like this
Maybe remove the Congo tetras, since he's always trying to eat them. You can try larger dithers like silver dollars that the sev can't eat. To be honest, your 135 has room for more diverse and interesting South American cichlids that you can add to spread out aggression like Acara's, keyhole cichlids, festivum, or more geophagus.
Maybe I will do that, I always like the blue acaras and i wanted to get more sveni my LFS didn't have anymore when I went Saturday. I'll look into those chiclids. How many more chiclids could I keep?
With a 135, I'd say you can go 1 sev, 5-6 geophagus, 1 blue Acara (please get the natural variety), 1 keyhole, 1 festivum. From there, you can add or subtract depending on your ammonia and nitrate levels.
Actually scratch off the blue acara. I just realized that it looks too similar to the Green Terror, so he might get bullied. You can try yellow banded acara instead.
Okay very good!.. I do like those keyhole chiclids, are they ok individuals or the need a small school?
The sveni will typically be happier, make a better display, and you'll see more of their natural, social behavior with two or more added to the three. Otherwise, once you get an adult pair, the group is optional, as a pair is usually content without a group.
Heros can be funny, most I've had were quite peaceful, but (as mentioned) they can vary... not so much when it comes to small tetras, though, when you can often ignore their reputation as vegetarians.
Heros can be funny, most I've had were quite peaceful, but (as mentioned) they can vary... not so much when it comes to small tetras, though, when you can often ignore their reputation as vegetarians.