# Tankmates for an Aggressive Severum.....Please Help!



## ktluvsfish (Jan 13, 2008)

I recently added a Rotkeil Severum to my 80 gallon tank. I had him housed with angels, keyholes, bn plecos, and red irian rainbows. He was sick when I first put him in the tank. After three rounds of meds he is finally getting better. Now that he is feeling better he has become a huge bully. It was only chasing before, but when I turned on the lights of my tank this morning, he had beaten my large beautiful marble angel to a pulp (he's still alive, but may not be when I get home from work). I don't want to get rid of him, but I need to do some major re-arranging of my tanks. I am going to move the angels and keyholes out of the tank and leave my severum in with 5 red irian rainbows and a the two BN plecos. Now, what else can I put in the tank with him. I have heard that severums shouldn't be with fish that are too aggressive but mine seems like he can really hold his own. I have a juvie blue acara in my other tank that I might consider moving to the 80 gallon. Does anyone have any other suggestions of what I can add to the tank?


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## ktluvsfish (Jan 13, 2008)

Sorry for the double post, I don't know how to edit the last one........

Could I add some more rainbows to the tank and maybe another severum? That would give me:
2 severums
1 blue acara
school of rainbows (how many total?)
2 BN plecos


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

if the rotkeil is mean to other fish he would most likely be mean towards another severum unless its the opposite sex. the acara may work. give it a tey but depending on how large the sev is id wait till the acara is atleast 4-5"


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## ktluvsfish (Jan 13, 2008)

Yeah the acara is only about 3 inches right now. My sev is a good 7 inches. I will deffinetly keep them separate for a while. Maybe a female sev would be okay with him? I don't even know about putting the acara in with him at all though with how aggressive he is. Would something like a dempsey and a convict be too aggressive? I know that any fish that I put in with him is a gamble, but I don't want any more fish getting attacked


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

a con would prolly be fine. dont know about a JD. i had a small EBJD and he was aggressive to everything about the same size and him or smaller


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## ktluvsfish (Jan 13, 2008)

Maybe I'll go for a sev of the opposite sex and a convict. My blue acara is way to small to go in the tank with the sev at this point. Would the convict attack my BN plecos and rainbows though (I already have a female convict in another tank, so I would probably just transfer her over)?


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Your probably stuck with the Rottie as a solo cichlid . These guys get pretty big, so there isn't a lot of room for tankmates in that setup as far as other cichlids are concerned. Basicly he's seeing any other cichlid as trespassers in his tank. Putting more cichlids into the tank with him is just asking for more of the same conflict your starting to see now. Dithers like the rainbows should be fine since he likely doesn't see them as competition like he would other cichlids. That could change though depending on his attitude towards them as he grows and the space gets a bit tighter. For now I'd just keep him as a wet pet , because that 80g just doesn't give enough space for multiple territories with fish that can grow to 9" or more.


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

I agree with Joel. I would NOT add another severum. Conspecific aggression is the worst type in Severums, and if he's beating up other cichlids, he's gonna kill another severum. I'd work on stocking the tank with dithers that will hold up.

Rainbows will probably work ok. You could do silver dollars or tinfoil barbs, but those might eventually be too much for an 80 gallon. Giant Danios might be a good option. I have a bunch of tetras with my sevs, and those do well. Just make sure you get something bigger. Buenos Aires, Columbians, bleeding hearts all seem to work well.

Sounds like you have a wet pet on your hands!


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## ktluvsfish (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks for everyone who offered advise before. It was all really helpful. I am completely shocked because my severum has done a complete 180!

We moved about a month ago, and my sev was forced to share a large rubbermaid container with some of my other fish for a few days (the tub had a filter on it, so don't worry, lol). When I put him back in the tank, I added my two keyholes, my blue acara, and my convict cichlid to the tank along with a school of rainbows. He is VERY peaceful towards the other fish now and doesn't even bother chasing them.

I know a lot of people would speculate that he is sick if he is acting this way, but nope.... he is eating better than ever, active, alert, and healthy as a horse. He just seems like he has chilled out a lot and his bad attitude is gone, lol. I guess making him share small quarters with other fish for a few days forced him to accept tankmates. He is even more personable towards me and has started greeting me everytime I walk up to the tank.

I know this thread is old, but I just thought I would share. I have never seen a fish change its attitude and behavior for the better so suddenly.


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

Congrats. Always nice to see things work out. :thumb:


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## bachelor (May 16, 2009)

ktluvsfish said:


> my severum has done a complete 180!


 Just when I was going to suggest putting him in another container while stocking the tank, before returning him 

I do find often the solution is putting troublesome fish in a separate tank, and then reintroducing them later. What you did was better/lucky, and I have done the same thing in the past both by accident and on purpose. By putting them all in cramped quarters for a short time, they saw no need to compete for space, because there was no space to be had. The aggressive fish just wanted to be fed and not bump into his roomates, now that they are in a larger tank together after their ordeal they are just happy to have elbow room. That being said, sometimes old behavior can resurface, so keep a watchful eye. At least now you know one possible solution.

Take care to only have one convict though, or you will create another problem for sure.


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## beaker99 (Apr 15, 2007)

I've kept severums several times over the years. And the best dither fish I have found to keep with them are Tin Foil Barbs. They are fast and the severums just tire out chasing them after a while. Nice thing about it is that the Severum and Barbs both love their greens. I used to throw a few pieces of lettuse in the tank every other day and watch the feeding frenzy between Severum and the barbs. Note: the barbs like to swim in schools so I suggest a school of at least 3, 5 would be even better.


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## Xmegatron10 (3 mo ago)

mithesaint said:


> I agree with Joel. I would NOT add another severum. Conspecific aggression is the worst type in Severums, and if he's beating up other cichlids, he's gonna kill another severum. I'd work on stocking the tank with dithers that will hold up.
> 
> Rainbows will probably work ok. You could do silver dollars or tinfoil barbs, but those might eventually be too much for an 80 gallon. Giant Danios might be a good option. I have a bunch of tetras with my sevs, and those do well. Just make sure you get something bigger. Buenos Aires, Columbians, bleeding hearts all seem to work well.
> 
> Sounds like you have a wet pet on your hands!


 I'm Xmegatron10. I have a male jewel cichlid his wife will be a female salvini cichlid I will add 3 firemouths and 1single male rotkeil severum named mr. iven what do you think


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Welcome to C-F @Xmegatron10 !

What are the dimensions of your aquarium?


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