Guess I'll never know. I couldn't see any visible signs of illness or injury. And definitely agree that 6ft is minimum. We have a 300g Marineland extra deep, so dimensions are 72 x 36 x 27
Trouble keeping Severums alive
- Thread starter LT Connell
- Start date
I'm sorry to hear your Red-Spotted Severum died. Severums in my opinion are hardy fish, so some type of health issues had to be present for them to die as i've seen in my experience with them. Any other incidents in the tank or with the tankmates may be related.
This is our second one. Don't think I have the heart to ever get another one. They are beautiful fish; however, it hurts to find them dead in the bottom of the tank. Our first one was a trade in at the LFS, so his age was unknown. This one we bought as a small baby and grew him out in our 75 before transferring to the 300. There have been no other incidents that we witnessed and everybody else is eating/acting just fine.
Acarichthys are found in more diverse water conditions, white water, clear water, and black water rivers.
I kept mine in pH 7.8, and 250 ppm total hardness parameters, and they did well, although I tried to do 30-40% every other day water changes to make sure nothing was left to chance.
Not all waters in S America are the same.
Waters from west of the Andes tend to be more alkaline, as do waters of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
And I do agree though that with your well/tap water, Central American cichlids would be more fitting, or those South American cichlids from outside the Amazon basin.
I have kept and bred Heros in Florida tap water for 20 years. As long as you do frequent water changes to keep their nitrates and dissolved organics low, Heros are perfectly adaptable to Florida’s hard, alkaline water. The only exception is Heros severus which is a blackwater-restricted fish in the wild and gets HITH easily if conditions are poor.
Start with good stock, quarantine any new fish properly, and make sure they are not being harassed by tankmates. You mentioned your fish was pouting after adding some acaras but pouting is not normal in Heros. It happens in oscars and chocolate cichlids, but established Heros should not pout. That sounds to me like something was wrong. They should always be active and hungry if they are healthy.
Start with good stock, quarantine any new fish properly, and make sure they are not being harassed by tankmates. You mentioned your fish was pouting after adding some acaras but pouting is not normal in Heros. It happens in oscars and chocolate cichlids, but established Heros should not pout. That sounds to me like something was wrong. They should always be active and hungry if they are healthy.
Sometimes line bred fish just have invisible problems. I lost my first severum (gold) to a horrific prolapse that came out of nowhere. The fish was kept in pristine, neutral water with a high quality diet and no aggression in the tank. The day before the prolapse, he was looking better than ever and really starting to show some personality. That was over 7 months ago and I'm still upset about it.
agreed on the behavior of the fish being suspect. today i moved my young heros out of his growout because he was getting too aggressive. several scrapes later from running into decor and now being low guy on the ranks. he was still smashing food as it hit the water about 20 mins after the transfer.
Absolutely. I kept them in Florida also-- in fact, over the years they've been reported as found in the wild in Florida-- and I've kept them in my present location in varying pH from mid 7s to higher. An exception or two may do better in softer water, as noted, but all told I've kept several types over 25 years and they've been robust and fairly long lived for me. I've had some live well over 15 years.
Don't know the answer to what happened to your fish and I understand your reluctance to get more of them, but they're generally hardy fish ime.
