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Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting mood ch

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  • Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting mood ch

    Thought I'd share an interesting scenario...I'm pretty new to fish but have learned alot in a short amount of time. I get kinda long winded so bare with me; I have a problem being overly detailed.

    So I put together a pretty nice 55gal and have equipped it with a few fish to get us started. As of now, the tank currently is stocked with a VC10, Electric Blue Ahli, Green Red Shouldered Severum, Jurapari, Hongi (2), African Rock Dwellers (2), and two other smaller Africans that I can't remember off the top of my head. I originally had 3 rock dwellers but one of them was extremely aggressive and literally tried to rip the scales off the Hongi as soon as we released the Hongi from the petstore bag so we had to quarantine him.

    The original severum seemed to be loanly in the tank and he seemed to always try and hang around the Jurapari. Since they are the only South American's in the tank and they came from the same tank at the store, I figured they'd naturally just hang around each other and they sorta did but the Jurapari is a serious loaner and doesnt' want to be bothered by anybody. We realized mixing the two could be "interesting" but I also know nothing is scripted so I figured we could give it a shot if we bought fish that were already similar in size to the VC and the Ahli since they had been in the tank for about a month already. The VC10 originally went after the Severum when we initially put them in and he relentlessly kinda went after him for a good couple of days. We even thought about quarantine but since there are plenty of hiding spaces, things seemed to calm down and all the sudden the Severum and VC were kinda hanging out one day and we never saw any other aggression from the VC.

    Keep in mind, the mood of this tank is plenty aggressive but all the fish basically keep to themselves. The smaller fish all kinda swim and seemingly play with each other and the bigger fish (keep in mind all the fish in the tank are still VERY young) just keep to themselves. The lady at the petstore told us the Severum and Jurapari were both moderate in tempermanent but we bought them slightly bigger than the Africans thinking this would keep things in check. Our assumption and hope was right and the tank has been performing flawlessly.....

    Until the other day when we decided to bring home another Severum and the two Hongi. Like I said previously, the Hongi weren't initially well received by the rock dwellers but after the aggressive one was removed, the other small fish completely left them alone and gradually accepted them into the "fold." The problem is the new Severum. This particular severum has more of a blueish face and is just slightly bigger than the original (bought like that on purpose hoping the size would help). We have no idea if the original severum is male or female nor do we know if the newer severum is male or female because the petstore said it was/is extremely difficult to tell....

    Apparently the older Green Severum was just fine being the only Severum in tank. As soon as the two saw each other, they just kind of looked at each other but there wasn't an immediate stand off. The new Severum swam off and found a place to hid and just kinda stayed there. Once the newness of the new fish settled down and the other fish started to come out from hiding, the older Severum went and located the location of the newer severum and hasn't stopped biting and terroizing the fish ever since. Since the VC kinda did this to the original Severum, I kinda have just been monitoring the situation and hoping the new severum will finally stand up and stop getting chased.

    The kicker is now the Green Severum is the new tank boss. This is the fish that use to run away from any and every fish (no matter size) and stayed in hiding. Now he goes after the newever severum every time he comes out and this triggers him to chase any fish in his warpath and they all scatter and scoot including the Jurapari who use to be the tank boss (he realized his size put fear into all the other fish so he immediately took over the tank boss title).

    It's all kinda weird and I'm trying to be a lil' patient since the tank has been working out so well. Just thought I'd share and hopefully get some feedback if possible. I've attached a couple pics so you guys can see how large the largest fish are and give you a better perspective. Thats the VC10, The Original Green "Red Shouldered" Severum and the Jurapari.

  • #2
    Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

    Welcome to the box Big Show.....love your choice of cichlids....I have a few severums in my tank too.... :)

    I don't see any signs of torn fins or missing scales, seems the tank is relatively successful at this point, fairly nice mix.

    Good Luck

    CF
    Truth is the cement that holds the bricks and stones of a sane and civilized society together. Remove the former and the latter will crumble.

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    • #3
      Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

      Well, I will defer to others on this one, as most of my fish aren't really aggressive at all. (No cichlids!   )

      But, I'm curious as to what you mean by "African Rock Dwellers?"

      I will say that sometimes with cichlids, rearranging the tank helps when you add new ones, since the "older" fish already had established territories in your tank.

      Hmm...or you could just get a separate tank for the Severums and another for the Jurupari, once you get him some friends.  :wink:
      "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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      • #4
        Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

        Thanks for all the replies and welcomes! I've actually been lurking here for quite a few months so I just got around to finally using my account to post. Would like to be more active but have alot of stuff going on.

        I've changed up the aquascape out of necessity and boredom a few times     .... but I actually did it more out of necessity. All of the fish have been added most recently so I had to change up things because these guys were getting territorial REALLY quick. Matter of fact, the title of tank boss has changed so many times I have lost count. This was also the reason I ended up with as many fish in this tank as I have because I initially was only going to have about three or four but the territory issues were just getting nerve racking. So adding the extra fish literally solved the problem in less than 24 hours. Was nice to see the variety of fish finally swimming around and not just sitting there and "guarding" an area they laid claim to.

        That pic shows the original severum which was never really nipped at. The VC would just chase him into hiding which is a common trend with 99.9% of all the fish in the tank. They will just chase and kinda "nose bump" the other fish until they go off into a cave or under/behind a rock and then they swim back to where they were and mind their own buisness. But the original severum has actually taken a nip of scales off the newer severum (not pictured). I think things will eventually settle down because the newer severum is now coming out for food and doesn't chase away as easy; he'll grab a couple nips of food before he goes and hides and then comes right back out. The original severum won't necessariliy chase him/her away right away now whereas before he would sit there, get bored and then go and chase the other severum. So we'll see....

        It's just funny to see this particular fish so aggressive since he was such a sissy before....

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        • #5
          Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

          welcome to the box big show.....
          it is peculiar to hear that kind of sevrum behavior....i have a few sevrums and they like my chocolate cichlids are very docile in their nature and majestic in their movements....it will be interesting to see just how they do settle for you ....keep us updated on their progress...

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          • #6
            Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

            Will definitely keep you guys updated...I'm sitting here now watching them and the VC just recently set the severum straight (ran it into the wall after it got tired of watching the severum chase the other severum) and now things have calmed down quite a bit. The other severum is getting hungry but the original severum relentlessly chases him back to his cave.

            I'm glad someone else came on here and verified their docile nature. I wasn't really beginning to wonder but wanted to hear some more real life experiences.

            About the rock dweller question, thats just the particular name that was on the tank that the fish were in (Meagan's Emporium). They were labeled "African Rock Dwellers" and they were three for $18 bucks.

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            • #7
              Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

              Welcome to the box :)  
              Nice pictures :)

              What fish do Jesper have
              180 WC T. Moorii Chilambo +1 Petro trewavasae.
              110
              Cyps, WC Xeno Spilopterus Kipili WC/F1/F2 T. sp red Kiku
              58 S. Decorus

              "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." -Margaret Thatcher

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              • #8
                Re: Green "Red Shouldered" Severum interesting moo

                Originally posted by Zulaab";p="
                Welcome to the box :)  
                Nice pictures :)
                Thanks! My gf is pretty amazing with the camera so I can only take joint-credit for the fish selection    That camera'work is all her....

                I think things are really going to be fine. This morning both severums were actually out together and the original severum still chased the other back into hiding but not nearly as violent or forceful. The newer severum would literally pop right back out after he was chased away and the other never immediately chased him back; they even were eating together in brief spurts  

                Just interesting to see the Green one so aggressive...

                Thanks again for the welcomes and look forward to hanging out and learning more. I can see why you guys have a bunch of tanks in your house because it has quickly become extremely addictive. I'll take some new pics soon so you guys can all see the tank. It lookin' really good....

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