Severum tank size

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I agree with many of the points made by Ryan but here are some additional comments based upon many years of experience with Mesonauta:
First and foremost, festivums grow bigger than you may realize. My males were 8"+ when I got rid of them. Yes, females stay considerably smaller in the 4 - 6" range, but you can't guarantee the sex of your fish at the store and so you don't know which you'll end up with. At this size they were active and fairly aggressive, so even in a 210 gallon tank they caused a lot of commotion and were constantly chasing and nipping other fish. A lot of people here claim festivums are peaceful, but they are still cichlids -- as they grow larger and get older, they tend to be more pushy.
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I agree that at least one species of festivum ('festivus' I believe) does get quite large. I have a male presently at 8"+ and a female about 6". But if you can obtain 'insignis', they max out at a considerably smaller size (M-4-5", F-3-4"). But smaller size doesn't mean less feisty. Regarding their peacefulness, they tend to, once they pair up, be very aggressive towards conspecifics. A pair bond, once formed (from my observations) is strong. It's true that they can dominate a tank so putting in some other target fish is a good idea. They tend to ignore geos since Mesonauta tend to occupy the upper portion of the tank, and geos, of course, the substrate.
Second, festivums are a shoaling fish. They do best in groups of six or more. You can sometimes get away with four, but to spread out the aggression it's best to have six. You can keep a single festivum if you want, but then you miss out on their interactions within a group, which is what makes festivums interesting in my opinion.
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I find that festivums do tend to stick together (not sure if you would call it "shoaling") when they are young and not sexually mature. But they split off once they pair up - - and become rather unsociable with others of their kind. I don't mean to overstate the aggression factor. I will just say that they can "look after themselves" or "hold their own" with even larger, more aggressive fish. Mine tend to do best in tanks with plenty of driftwood and plants. Here's a video of a pair of my 'insignis' in a 180 g tank of SAs. It's true that they are guarding a newly swimming spawn, and they are at their 'defending best'
They are a wonderful fish.

[video=youtube;ga7McZGHFrc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga7McZGHFrc[/video]
 
okay. i am getting the convicts. i am planing on 2 tanks. yes i can maintain them. this morning i spend hours cleaning my tanks. Well i will not get a festum if it really can't fit. I kinda like the idea of a 30 gallon tank. Any fish simaler to severums and festum for 30 gallon tank???? thanks!!!!
 
I don't get how a 40 gallon would be insufficient for a festivum. Even if you do have one that manages to get to 8" (which I doubt is a common occurrence, considering that the largest I recall ever seeing were more like 6" at a public aquarium), I don't see any reason why a 36x18x16" (or the long version- 48x12x16") wouldn't be enough.

OP: The closest I can think of would be a convict or Honduran red point cichlid. Either of these would be fine in a 30 gallon, kept either singly or in a pair. And a male salvini would need a slightly larger aquarium, but I think a female might work for a 30 gal.

Edit: Keyhole cichlids would be another option to consider.
 
drgnfrc13 said:
I don't get how a 40 gallon would be insufficient for a festivum. Even if you do have one that manages to get to 8" (which I doubt is a common occurrence, considering that the largest I recall ever seeing were more like 6" at a public aquarium), I don't see any reason why a 36x18x16" (or the long version- 48x12x16") wouldn't be enough.
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I'm basing it on personal experience with three different species, wild caught, that I raised in groups of six over a three year period. Females stayed small but all the males ended up being as large as my male severums.

I think a lot more goes into tank size than just the size of the fish. You also have to consider things like attitude, activity level, etc. I raise out a lot of fish in 40 breeders and 55 gallon tanks, but there are a lot of cichlids I wouldn't keep in them as adults.

If you are looking for adult cichlids for a 30 or 40 gallon, try a pair of rainbow cichlids (H. multispinosa), keyholes, a small group of Bolivian rams, a pair of dwarf pikes (if you can find a compatible pair that won't kill each other), etc.
 
ryansmith83 said:
I'm basing it on personal experience with three different species, wild caught, that I raised in groups of six over a three year period. Females stayed small but all the males ended up being as large as my male severums.

I think a lot more goes into tank size than just the size of the fish. You also have to consider things like attitude, activity level, etc. I raise out a lot of fish in 40 breeders and 55 gallon tanks, but there are a lot of cichlids I wouldn't keep in them as adults.

If you are looking for adult cichlids for a 30 or 40 gallon, try a pair of rainbow cichlids (H. multispinosa), keyholes, a small group of Bolivian rams, a pair of dwarf pikes (if you can find a compatible pair that won't kill each other), etc.
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I understand the many factors that go into determining tank size, but festivums are peaceful, not terribly active, and relatively small fish, so I am still left wondering what it is that makes a 40 gallon insufficient. I could sort of understand a larger recommendation for fish with a higher activity level and territorial issues, but not for fish like festivums.
 
Except that in my experience, they do get more aggressive and actve as they get larger. That was the point of my original post. They were attacking adult discus and severums in my large community tanks, to the point that I had to remove them. They made my other fish skittish and uneasy.

I think it's important to hear various personal accounts so that people can make an informed decision. Maybe others have not had that experience with festivums, but it was the same for all three groups of mine. Any time I see a question about Mesonauta, I always weigh in to let people know what they may experience.
 
I was only going to have 1 festum. So we do not have to worry about aggression. how do you vent them? i will ask my pet shop if they can vent them for me. if the females get considerably smaller than i will try to get 1.
 
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