Uaru or severums

[Hendre]

Hello guys and gals of MFK, Hendre here.
I have done some reading on fish to keep if exodons don't work out for me.
I have snooped around and quite like the look of uarus and severums.

The tank is a 250 L long and is gonna be black sand and driftwood.

I would like to get a pair of one of these cichlids.
Which one would be better based on:
-care difficulty
-tank size
-personality

Please give me honest answers and have a nice day

 

[neutrino]

Tight quarters for a pair, either way imo. Besides size, uaru produce more waste, I'd want a larger tank. Personality of either one is similar and variable, so it depends on the particular fish. I've never bred uaru but have severum breeding experience and the thing with them is you can't count on putting any random two together and getting a compatible pair, they have to like each other or they may fight-- even pairs that like each other can fuss with each other, but it they don't like each other they can do some damage, especially in a smallish tank.

If it was me, and I wanted sevs, I'd do rotkeils in that size tank, they're one of the nicer looking sevs in adult color and a bit smaller, generally 8-9 inches ime. And if I wanted to end up with a compatible pair I'd either buy an already bonded pair (not a guarantee if they're going into a smaller tank than they're used to, but gives you a good shot) or grow up some juveniles and wait until you get two that pair off naturally. Just putting two random adults in a tank together might work and might not.

 

[Hendre]

Cool man. Any tips for maintaining a good water quality for these fish?
Rotkeils look awesome

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

What are the tank dimensions?

 

[Hendre]

48x18x18

 

[jonclark96]

I think rotkiels would be a better chance for a tank that size. Uaru get big, and I've read some places that they prefer to be kept in larger groups (although I cannot confirm that from first hand experience).

For water quality, just do large and frequent water changes.

 

[Hendre]

20% twice a week?
My LFS is awesome so i will maybe get 5 small ones and sell 3 when I get a pair

 

[jonclark96]

You will get lots of different opinions about frequency and amount of water changes. Personally, I usually do approximately 50% water changes weekly.

 

[Hendre]

I think rotkiels would be a better chance for a tank that size. Uaru get big, and I've read some places that they prefer to be kept in larger groups (although I cannot confirm that from first hand experience).

For water quality, just do large and frequent water changes.

It will be 40% a week. Maybe a floating raft aquaponic system will reduce nitrates and hardness and lower water evaporation

 

[neutrino]

There's really not a one size fits all answer for water changes. At my house (well water) I can do 95% water changes with no ill effects at all, so I'm free to do as large as I'm in the mood to, but for someone else it might stress their fish.

There are factors that can influence your results each way, so in a sense opposite camps (small vs. large, more frequent vs. less frequent) can be right in a particular set of circumstances that don't extrapolate to other circumstances. You can start with a general guideline, but it's best imo to tweak it to your tank and your circumstances. For example:

Keep a low ph, bare tank, high feed, high protein type of tank and, sure, you may need frequent water changes, perhaps daily, because that combination creates a tank with low biological activity and high nitrogen output.

Less than ideal tap water-- high nitrates, phosphates, metals, or other issues from the tap and you may want to do smallish but more frequent water changes to not unduly upset your tank chemistry with each water change.

Moderate and sensible feed, moderate to moderately high ph (roughly between 7 and 8, sweet spot for me is in the mid or upper 7s), sand or gravel, some combination of plants or driftwood, leaves, rocks, etc, and/or plenty of filter media capacity, good oxygen, and you should have a biologically active tank that, if not overstocked, and with good tap water, and once a week, larger changes are plenty.

Also, sevs don't need low hardness ime, not any I've kept. I've never had a problem with GH and KH in the low to mid teens, ph in the mid 7s, including a wild rotkiel I had that lived at least 14-15 years (based on how long I had it, plus, being full grown, its age was at least two when I got it). Also, I don't normally bring up food, and I use and like more than one type-- ime to some degree which one makes your fish look best can vary a bit with species-- but ime rotkeils love NLS, including Thera-A, and look really good on it-- just my experience.