Ok so i am redoing my 125g, will be finding home for my africans and turning ti into an amazon blackwater setup, so was wanting to get a pair of BGK (what are your opinions on having pair should i just stick with one?) an ornate bichir and then was originally thinking discus but then ran into severums when they were suggested by someone and they look like awesome fish, so my question is would severums be ok with ornate bichir and BGK and how many could i comfotably keep in a 125 (plan on having lots of driftwood in there for plenty of hidy spots but i always like for my fish to have plenty of room to swim and not overcrowd them. would 1 male and maybe 2 or 3 females work? would want ot get them young so is there a way to tell their genders when they are little?
Severum Questions
- Thread starter Sarah88
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I think you should be alright with that stocklist. worming on the face is the easiest way to tell if you got a male some males devolp this at a young age some take longer so there is know gauruntee until they are older.
I don't agree with the above post, not trying to sound rude.
South American and Central American cichlids don't work like africans do. Unlike africans, these cichlids do make pairs for life, unless of course the other partner is taken out of that environment. If you had two females and a male, the male would choose a mate, and the other female would mos likely die from being smacked up from the pair. Even 3 females wouldn't work. You won't be able to tell the sex until they are 5-6 inches, sometimes 4". Get 6 young and grow them out and let them choose their own mate. You will get a lot better breeding success that way.
Also, the black ghost knife pair idea, not good. One will dominate the other, no matter how close in size they are. Most of the time (95%) a BGK won't work with another BGK. Mine did luckily, but they were only small before the heater broke. You are better trying your luck. If you REALLY want to have two, then get two, but be prepared with another tank. You will need a huge amount of sight breaks and hiding places.
The ornate bichir should be okay. The only problem being is that it isn't from amazonia. But if it's what you want, then get it, just make sure you get it small when you have the small BGK and sevs, so they don't get eaten.
Severums are voracious eaters of plants, so you will have no hope of plants in that tank, so make sure you have plenty of sunken wood, much like the Rio Orinoco has. The substrate in the amazon is white sand, so replicate that. There isn't many plants in the amazon so you are lucky there.
I hope I helped you.
South American and Central American cichlids don't work like africans do. Unlike africans, these cichlids do make pairs for life, unless of course the other partner is taken out of that environment. If you had two females and a male, the male would choose a mate, and the other female would mos likely die from being smacked up from the pair. Even 3 females wouldn't work. You won't be able to tell the sex until they are 5-6 inches, sometimes 4". Get 6 young and grow them out and let them choose their own mate. You will get a lot better breeding success that way.
Also, the black ghost knife pair idea, not good. One will dominate the other, no matter how close in size they are. Most of the time (95%) a BGK won't work with another BGK. Mine did luckily, but they were only small before the heater broke. You are better trying your luck. If you REALLY want to have two, then get two, but be prepared with another tank. You will need a huge amount of sight breaks and hiding places.
The ornate bichir should be okay. The only problem being is that it isn't from amazonia. But if it's what you want, then get it, just make sure you get it small when you have the small BGK and sevs, so they don't get eaten.
Severums are voracious eaters of plants, so you will have no hope of plants in that tank, so make sure you have plenty of sunken wood, much like the Rio Orinoco has. The substrate in the amazon is white sand, so replicate that. There isn't many plants in the amazon so you are lucky there.
I hope I helped you.
oh ok thanks for your advice i didnt know that about them pairing up that way so that is good to know, and i was planning on deco with white sand and lots of vertical and horizontal driftwood pieces anyways so that department should be fine, also would it be ok for me to get that many sevs as the reason i was only thinking 3 or 4 in the first place was because i only have 125g tank will this be big enough for 6 sevs to swim comfortably their whole life? or should i get six let them pair up and then the ones that dont pair put in separate tank? also i know the bichir is from africe but it still needs pretty much the same water params right? so the soft water and tannins shouldnt hurt it right? and with the BGK im still up in the air over getting a pair or not but if i got that many sevs i def would only stick with one and would def get them all little and have them grow up together
I would get 5-6 severums and keep a pair. Or keep whatever 2 you like unless you particularly want a pair...I have 2 males in my 170 (same footprint as a 125) and they're fine.
My understanding with BGK is that they really don't do well with more than one, or with any other electric fish for that matter, so I'd really stick with one. Is there anything else you're thinking of stocking? Between the knife, bichir, and severums you've got the bottom and middle covered, but no surface fish.
My understanding with BGK is that they really don't do well with more than one, or with any other electric fish for that matter, so I'd really stick with one. Is there anything else you're thinking of stocking? Between the knife, bichir, and severums you've got the bottom and middle covered, but no surface fish.
oh ok yeah i will probably just stick with one BGK then, and i just want a few sevs that would get along without fighting so thought best way to do this would be a small group but if they pair up and fight with the others then i guess just keeping a pair would be best but then wouldnt i have to worry about them hurting the other fish when they get into mating mode? and also i thought with them the bioload would be pretty heavy though i guess if i only keep 2sevs then would have room for something else, what would be your guys suggestions for a cool kind of odd fish (different than you would find in the typical fish store) that would be good surface fish?
Hi.
A single pair of severums would be much happier than a pair that has to chase away other severums, so just go with the one pair. When your sic young have grown up and you have a definante pair, remove the others from the tank.
For a surface dwelling fish, why not go with a group of large splashing tetras, or some hatchetfish? maybe if you really want, you could have one or a few pink tailed chalceus.
A single pair of severums would be much happier than a pair that has to chase away other severums, so just go with the one pair. When your sic young have grown up and you have a definante pair, remove the others from the tank.
For a surface dwelling fish, why not go with a group of large splashing tetras, or some hatchetfish? maybe if you really want, you could have one or a few pink tailed chalceus.
thanks for the advice eric i think that is what i am going to do so stock list for mid-bottom tank would be:
sev pair (eventually after 6 grow and pair)
1 BGK
1 ornate bichir
ok and for the top level fish what tetras or hatchet fish would be big enough to not get eaten by the other fish i plan on putting in there? all ones i know of remain small and would easily get eaten by an adult sev, also i hadnt heard of pink-tailed chalceus before but they look like a very interesting fish, from what i read though it says they do best either alone or in groups of at least 6, def dont have the space for 6 of them lol but a lone one at the top could be an interesting addition to the tank....
sev pair (eventually after 6 grow and pair)
1 BGK
1 ornate bichir
ok and for the top level fish what tetras or hatchet fish would be big enough to not get eaten by the other fish i plan on putting in there? all ones i know of remain small and would easily get eaten by an adult sev, also i hadnt heard of pink-tailed chalceus before but they look like a very interesting fish, from what i read though it says they do best either alone or in groups of at least 6, def dont have the space for 6 of them lol but a lone one at the top could be an interesting addition to the tank....
those barbs do have some interesting colors to them anyone else have some other suggestions for top dwelling fish, also wanted to get your guys opinion on an oscar, iv had these guys before (usually just as a pair and then had smaller schooling fish like tiger barbs) and they were awesome little fish but always seemed to get popeye once they reached a certain size (checked water parameters everytime and everything was fine and no other fish would get sick, only the oscars and only when they reached like 6in would be fine before then (over a year) so was wanting to get your guys opinion on whether an oscar would be ok with the current stock list im thinking of and if i went with an oscar i would leave it at that and not add any more fish to the top or anywhere else, the ones i had before seemed to be fairly docile as long as they were raised with the other fish in the tank and i usually only fed them insects as live food instead of feeder fish