Here we go again, and It's all about the Severums

[djm761]

At one time I had 4 tank's up and running, a 30 gal 2x45 gal and a 55 gal. Then about 6 years ago I was unemployed so I took a job driving truck, we let our fish numbers drop over the years and then combined the 4 tanks into 2. I bout a 90 gal for the man cave and my wife Marilyn kept 1 of the 45's, and every one was happy, then on 4/25/11 Marilyn's 16 year old cockatiel died and she decided that a new bird or a new tank would go in that corner, I voted for the fish tank, we had never tried cichlids before so that's what we decided to do.



Long story short I picked 3 Blue Rams, she picked 3 Gold Severums the 3 severums are small about the same size as the rams, and she fell in love with them, she then went on line and learned they also have Green Severums, so she went and bout 2 of the greens. Then she told me she had to go to Wall Mart but then came home with a 5" Gold Severum she put it in my 90 gal tank and then told me if any of my fish bother her they're out of here. We had a little talk about this and I ask her what are we going to do with all of the severums we have 5 of them in a 36 gal tank, she said if every thing go's well she will put a 150 gal tank in the dinning room. And that's when I said Oh boy here we go again. but the truth is I to love the Severum she put in my tank, and I will do all I can to help if we do get the 150 gal.



PS. Marilyn says I can have the 36 gal if and when she gets the 150

 

[MdngtRain]

Nice. ;-) my wife recently fell in love with cichlids... if the new goldfish go bust I'm getting some cichlids.

 

[djm761]

Finally the 150 is up and running. To start we used 200 pounds of pool filter sand white in color, two FX5 fluval canisters hooked in series, the first canister is filled with Eheim mechanical medium and is then fed into the second canister for polishing , we also have a Aqueon 75 used as a carbon bank. for cycling purposes I pulled one tray from each Fluval 405 on other tanks 3 total that filled the top tray of the first FX5, I also pulled one used cartridge from the 45 and the 90 gallon tanks for use in the Aqueon 75, I also added 20 gallons of water from the other tanks, I think the tank should be fully cycled for the number of fish in it, we have 4 small severums 2 small firemouths 2 large angels and a feather fin. we are thinking of adding a pair of silver dollars today. does anyone think adding two more fish would be a problem ???????????????

 

[KcMopar]

If you are dedicated to at least weekly water changes you can. I have my 150G over stocked (see signature) and I am on a bi-weekly water change schedule.

 

[djm761]

If you are dedicated to at least weekly water changes you can. I have my 150G over stocked (see signature) and I am on a bi-weekly water change schedule.

I always do a 10% weekly water change, but I'm thinking of bumping that up to a 15% weekly, so far my Nitrate level has always been below 5.0 ppm, can one go by the nitrate level or could the water be considered dirty for the fish even with a low nitrate level?????????????

 

[Orion]

Im not sure about running the canisters in series like that. My concern would be if one motor failed , then it would put an aweful strain on the working motor till it gave out , then you'll have no filtration. Its a good idea , but to me just not practical due to the chance. Now I've never had a decent canister fail, but it could happen and oddly enough over the years they seem to have gotten more expensive rather than cheaper.

As far as your stocking , I think you'll run into some problems with the sevs as they mature and start looking to pair off. They are a great fish , but look into how to setup the tank to try and give as many teritories as possible. You can keep a community of them ,but you may have to keep an eye on the aggression leven of the sevs.

Smaller tank mates or those less aggressive probably will bot do well long term. Ive had good luck with clown plecos and other sa cichlids with a similar size and temperment .

 

[djm761]

Im not sure about running the canisters in series like that. My concern would be if one motor failed , then it would put an aweful strain on the working motor till it gave out , then you'll have no filtration. Its a good idea , but to me just not practical due to the chance. Now I've never had a decent canister fail, but it could happen and oddly enough over the years they seem to have gotten more expensive rather than cheaper.

As far as your stocking , I think you'll run into some problems with the sevs as they mature and start looking to pair off. They are a great fish , but look into how to setup the tank to try and give as many teritories as possible. You can keep a community of them ,but you may have to keep an eye on the aggression leven of the sevs.

Smaller tank mates or those less aggressive probably will bot do well long term. Ive had good luck with clown plecos and other sa cichlids with a similar size and temperment .

Tomorrow I will be separating the two FX5's and running them independently, the problem I'm having is that they cant purge properly, and the water level actually rises in the tank.