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Hey all, I am thinking that I am going to get a severum or two, or maybe more for a 90 gal. tank. What would be a good number of them for a tank that size?

A 90 is about big enough for two compatible pairs, much more than that and at breeding times there will be fighting, the pairs will want that kind of distance between them, literally taking a tank end each, at least, thats what mine do, and dont forget when adult they are quite chunky. That doesnt mean of course that you cant have other species in with them, thats the advantage of severums, they will tolerate some other fish species where other cichlids of a similar size will not. I just wouldnt overstock with too many severums as there will be some competition between them. Make sure you get pairs sexed accurately.

I'd get just the one pair in there with other South/Central Americans. Personally, I'd go for the pair of severums, small shoal of uaru and some rainbow cichlids or geophagus.

I dont quite get the logic there, if your worried about bioload of severums how would a shoal (ie 6 plus) of uaru, a fish that isnt a great deal smaller,and is very sensitive to overstock work out, then take these primarily peaceful fish and put them in with geophagus that can be aggressive and will be the superior fighter in the aquarium.

All youll get will be ragged sevs, stressed uaru, and rainbow cichlids wishing they werent there. Rainbow cichlids and heros is doable too, but a 90 gal with sevs rainbows, geophagus and that many uaru altogether will be in critical overstock, wait till you see true adult sizes, youll see what I mean. The geo would not belong in that community.

Sevs and uaru are doable though, just not at that stocking level.I know what im talking about too, I have all of the aforementioned species.

Granted the geos are maybe too rough for the uaru but I wasn't worried about the bioload - worried about the territorial disputes of having more than 2 severums. Uarus are naturally peaceful and prefer to be in groups - hence 4 uaru and two severums, plus rainbows or geos (not both). My 5ftx2ftx2ft (plus sump system) copes well with the severums and uaru without any problems at all.

Fair enough, we have different opinions of what constitutes an uaru shoal, technically therefore we are both correct.

I do keep sevs and uaru together myself actually, but its 250 gals, with a few other fish. Did try a geo a few months back but he tried fighting with absolutely everything, so he went to live in an aquarium of his own to await a mate.He got replaced by an oxydorus niger who will be in there for growout for a few months competition free. (yes I do know how big he will get, ive got a big project coming up).

I'm really surprised to hear that you had an aggressive geophagus, Longhairedgit. the only geo i could ever imagine being that aggressive is a Geophagus brasiliensis, so could that have been it?

Another Eartheater you could try is a Satanoperca jurupari, or demonfish, as mine gets along quite well with my severum. In fact, my jurupari is a complete kitten, and is without a doubt more peaceful than even my congo tetras.

My male 6" severum is actually quite peaceful as well, and avoids any conflict whatsoever, just as long as his tankmates know who's boss

I would imagine that blue acaras, chocolate cichlids, and other cichlids of similar dispostion would also be good tankmates as well. And although theyre not cichlids, i have had great luck keeping severums with Trichogaster gouramis and leopard ctenopomas.

Also, IMHO, you're better off getting just one severum, which will elimanate any unnecessary problems, as they tend to not pair as readily as other cichlids.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I keep my severum and his tankmates in a 75g aquarium, just in case you're wondering.

Ive kept 5 larger species so far , the only one that wasnt a bit of a ****-kicker was the satanoperca, and he had off days and would perform chases, especially when getting competitive about feeding, all the others were foul, the braziliensis was bad, and the hondae by some margin,was the absolute worst, he'd have taken on a convict without hesitation, and probably would have won, he would take on anything, anyplace, anywhere, he would fght cichlids and non cichlids all the same, he wanted total aquarium exclusivity. Ive noted also that severums dont really get on with firemouths either, they have a compulsion to harrass one another.

The more I get into geos the more im realising just how many of them arent suitable for community, when you get past looking at juvenile fish and start looking at adults that aren't behaviourally suboordinated with lean feedings and poor water quality you start noticing just how many of them are stroppy fighters.

I think initially a lot of geos were recommended as suitable by people who either had no direct experience of them , and were working off unsubstantiated anecdotal evidence, and info written by beginners who didnt realise the behaviour of a yearling fish is not truly indicative. The more im seeing the really good condition fully adult fish, the less credit im giving to claims of numerous geo's having a peaceable nature, IMHO some do, most dont.

Also, IMHO, you're better off getting just one severum, which will elimanate any unnecessary problems, as they tend to not pair as readily as other cichlids.

I dont see the point of that personally, they are quite laid back, and they arent horribly persecutory when breeding, just seems a shame to have a sevvie lead a lonely life when it really doesnt need to. On mixing them with blue acaras, yup Ive found that combo does work as long as there is sufficient space, but again thats with about 3 feet at least between territorial areas as escape room, conversely though, theres a huge tank in a petshop near me where a green terror victimised several severums horribly.

Blue acaras and sevvies aint friends, thats for sure, been there and done that, but as long as theres enough room, thats do-able. I imagine chocolate cichlids would work fairly well, and the leopard ctenopoma sounds encouraging to me, as I was hoping my ctenopoma kingsleyii might be able to go in with the sevvies at some point though I had laid my odds on them needing a species aquarium really, they look like they would take a shot at anything when hungry and I dont want the worry of fin nipping.. My ctenopoma have proven to be fairly stroppy so far.

I think a lot of the peaceful claims are really about lack of personal condition in the fish limiting the range of normal behaviour, after all theres lots of cichlid keepers out there, just not that many top notch ones. The eartheaters will always be e to diet variety lacking in the invertabrate spectrum, and if they dont get it, I tend to think they lack normal hormone production, and that of course governs mood. Look at for example how many cichlids people have that they cant seem to get to breed, well thats just lacking condition. I bred every cichlid species ive ever owned.

i think i would put a pair of them in there with a pleco for a while and let them get used to their tank. when they were comfortable you could either put some dither fish in or (this is what'd i do) you could put in a slightly agressive big(ish) cichlid. (oscar, dempsey, firemouth, or sumthin that could stand up to the pair but not kill them)

Im thinking your not knowing your cichlid behaviour too well RLham3, thats your third post in a row thats well off. Dempseys and oscars could obviously make meat of severums quite easily, and severums dont react too well with firemouths when they get quarrelsome, often with the end result that the firemouth could get lacerated.

Any chance you could hold off on the cichlid temperament suggestions until you have a better idea of what your talking about? A newbie might assume you know what your talking about and inadvertantly kill or seriously injure some fish, and you wouldnt want that would you? Its one thing to be a fan of the larger more aggressive cichlids, but to suggest people try them in inappropriate communities is dangerous advice.

Please dont do that.

yup i aggre with lh!id get the 2 pairs,sevs are pretty cool even when bredding,just try putting something in the middle of the tank to break up the line of sight when they do spawn,this will help greatly with aggresion,alot of my pairs take 1 end of the tank each,it works well