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How Small of fish will severum's Eat Would they eat bloodfin tetras??

My Wife like the Green Severums and I figured if they they wont eat my other fish then i could use a couple of them a centerpiece fish for my 120.

Bloodfin tetras are my smallest fish.

If the severum will not work what are some options for a center piece fish, i aam looking for something other than angels but something that can grow large enough to stand out compared to the other the fish but not so large that it ends up eating my tetras

Current Stock
8 Julei Cories
15 Bloodfin Tetras
1 Fire Red Dwarf Gourami


Fish I Plan On adding
4 SAE's
More Julei Cories
5 More tetras
Boesman's Rainbow's

First of All i would not recommend any SAEs... they tend to become territorial once you have had them for about 6 months. so i would recommend either some Apple snails or some Plecos.

other than that your additions should be fine.

also if the green Severums are at all territorial i wouldnt add them into your tank especially with the gourami. instead i would add a gourami of the pposite sex to form a mating pair, or add an interesting shoal of maybe neon tetras... also what are the parameters of your water and what is the size tank you own 120 gallons or litres?

another thing to keep into consideration is how much surface area your tank has (ie what is the area of the water top that interactws with the air) the rule of thumb is about 1 inch of fish per square inch of surface area and 2 square inches per one inch or cichlids or goldfish... although that is still smothing to those varieties. i try to keep the stock lower as to keep matinence lower.

however you might be fine depending on your parameters, your liking to matinence the tank, and etc.

hope this helped

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I am very good about maintaining my tank, i have kept fish for a few years but i used keeping arrowana, oscars, dempseys etc. It is a 120gal Long tank. My Parameters right now are 0 ammonia 0 Nitrites under 5 Nitrates. The tank was just recently cycled and is being restocked. It is soft water and is a planted tank with Low Light (1 WpG), so far i am sticking to java moss and anubius, but i plan to order more plants from az gardens.

My main concern is the severum, i have never kept one but i know the become territorial when breeding, the question is will they eat my tetras. As for the female Gourmai's i would to have a pair of them but none of LFS supply them, i have asked and they say there suppier does not sell the females any Ideas how to pick up a couple of girls for my gourami???

Hi,
Depending upon how old your fish are when you purchase
them, your tetras might be safe - for a while. However
these fish can exceed 7 inches and will eat anything from
plants to fish to anything they can get in their mouths.

I'm not sure how "planted" your tank will remain with
these fish in it. Like nearly all this species, they
seem to resent having plants get in the way of their
watching over staked out territories, and will rip them
up or eat them.

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichlid,%20Severums.htm

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Confusion there, SAE are not territorial, if anything they are intensely social, its CAE 's that go that way , and flying foxes too. SAE's are no harm to smaller fish, but they do move fast and can outcompete cories for food. Green severums are fine for around 18 months or so, by the age of two or three most tetras an inch or less will be on the menu, plus if you get a pair, and they decide to breed, a tetra going near the eggs will be killed.

the tetras WILL eventully end up in the sevs belly,and in a 120gal,the sevs will get to a good size too,and will have no probs with running your tetras down,and eating them,they will probly be ok at first,but once the sev/sevs stake out there place and get some size about them,the hunt will begin,ive herd of sevs being placid,but all the 1s ive had were the oppisite of that,they were kept with my dempsys,so that should tell ya how nasty they can be....if you still want to try them anyway,maybe you could put some hiddy places that only the tetras can fit into,but even then,i still would think,that the sevs would get em,sooner or later