FishProfiles.com Message Forums

it depends on the tank mates. my uncle has two large gold severums that are doing great with neons, rainbows, and at one point, flower horns and an arowana. so for the most part i think they are peaceful, but i have never kept them b4.

However, my ph is around 7.4 I believe so its about borderline for both species, the africans would most likely like it higher, the americans lower,

Just wanted to pop in to say that, yeah the africans would probably like the ph a bit higher but the severums should be perfectly fine as well as the firemouths. the firemouths, in fact, would be fine in a ph anywhere from 7-8+. My ph is 8.4 and all my american cichlids (mostly central american) are doing great. What a lot of people don't realize is that the waters in Mexico (one of the countries where firemouths can be found naturally) varies throughout the year, and at times the waters can be very similar if not identical to the waters of Lake Malawi...very hard and very alkaline.

Kidsmom, I said earlier that I've had my sev for about a year and a half now, and he was the first American I put with my Africans, so thats how long the two have been together and I've seen no problems between them.

So you are telling me that you have American and African cichlids together in the same tank?

Thanks for the information I am in the process of redoing my tank and I was wondering about stocking a firemouth with some African cichlids.

Regarding the Firemouths, has anyone experienced them digging up plants, or otherwise being destructive? I read that their mouth is shaped so they can root around the substrate.

I was thinking of adding one to my tank, but it's pretty heavily planted.

The part about firemouths mouths being shaped so they can root around in the substrate is true, but I don't think they will hurt plants. My firemouth never goes after the fake plants I have in my tank. On the other hand, severums are plant killing machines. Mine destroyed my amazon swords and now is after the plastics. All the plants in my tank were attached to a cave on one side of the tank, but he has ripped a bunch off. Now there is one plant that is just floating around and if it goes anywhere near his territory it gets taken by a leaf and shoved out of the way.

my firemouths and other Thorichthys have never bothered plants...live or fake. I have 3 T. helleri in a planted 20 long till the helleri need to go in a bigger tank. The platys nip at the plants but I've never seen the helleri do it.

Okay, thanks!

My severums have also eaten my Amazon sword, as well as most of my java moss. I started giving them romaine lettuce every day, and that pretty much keeps them occupied.

Well, I had heard that sevs did okay in higher ph waters, but not firemouths. That makes me feel better then. Kidsmom, if you talking to me, yes I have electric yellows and a zebra, in with my sev and firemouth.

bettachris
how big is your uncle's tank

How long have you had the two together?

Well, to tell you the truth, the water conditions could be better for my cichlids, and if I would have known better at the time, I would not have mixed the two. However, my ph is around 7.4 I believe so its about borderline for both species, the africans would most likely like it higher, the americans lower, but they are all healthy so I don't really see a problem.

fisheidude you have an electric yellow in with the other cichlids and everyone is fine, wow. I thought they could not go together because of the different types of water?

I have the oddball firemouth, not a nice fish at all. He's quite nice looking but has been mean since I first got him, even going after fish more that twice his size.

I call him Grumpy



Theresa_M attached this image:


~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Well the firemouth...he has been named dufus by my dad for a reason. Now I have a mixed batch of American and African cichlids, and just to clarify, they do go together just fine and are all very healthy. The firemouth is basically pushed around by my severum and my zebra cichlid, but just because he can, he picks on the little electric yellows. Basically though, he has a, what I've heard before about them, live and let live attitude. He's definately also a fish I would recommend.

Last edited by fishiedude at 13-Mar-2005 14:30

fishiedude does your firemouth bother anyone????

Thank you.
Actually there is just one severum named Bashful, there are just pics from different times on there so he looks different. My tank is a 55 gallon with a mixed batch of cichlids.

Fishiedude your severums are great, and I like your firemouth also. What size tank do you have?

Thank you, he's probably around 7 inches now from nose to the tip of his tail, and the earliest records of his size I have are from the end of October, 2003-he was 3" at the time- so I think I've had him for about a year and a half now. + how old he was when I got him, hes probably at least 2 years old.

Edit: I added a couple crappy, but new, pictures that I just took this morning so you can get an idea of his size now.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/habes1016/album?.dir=43f0&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/habes1016/my_photos

Last edited by fishiedude at 12-Mar-2005 13:43