Severum

[jave]

Does anyone have any experience with severums I have a gold spotted sev in a 60 gal tank and wanted to add a Red Neck Rotkeil Severum any advice would be a big help thanks.

 

[Andy Sager]

Does anyone have any experience with severums I have a gold spotted sev in a 60 gal tank and wanted to add a Red Neck Rotkeil Severum any advice would be a big help thanks.

Severums are Cichlids and as such, some can be real sweethearts to new tankmates and some can be real A**holes to new tankmates. If your Severum is a small or medium sized fish, I would suggest getting the new one a bit larger than yours and then redecorate your tank while you are acclimating the new fish so that both fish will need to declare a new home. If you have a Large Severum, I wouldn't try the new one. Your tank is not that large for 2 large Severums that are strangers to each other.
This is a pic of a Buddy's full grown Severum at his store. FYI, the tank divider is at 30" in a 100 gallon tank.

 

[jave]

Hi thanks for the help is there some other fish you would recommend I do like the rainbow fish as a stocking option instead of another sev I just want something to add some more life to the tank also my sev is fairly small compared to ur friends I would say around 4 inches if that even.

 

[Andy Sager]

Compare your water parameters to where you get your fish from when choosing fish. What looks nice may not do well in your parameters even if they may fit as tankmates. Some of the rainbowfish that get larger should do well with your severum provided your water will work for them. Don't depend on species information from the internet as that is for wild fish. Many of the fish we have to choose from are farmed and not usually kept in wild fish parameters. Over time, conventional wisdom has changed from matching water to the fish to choosing fish that match your water since chasing water parameters can often lead to disasters and frustrations.
If it's motion you are looking for, some other suggestions would be fish like large bodied tetras such as Exodons, Black skirt Tetras and the like or Pink tailed Chelseus, or a school of pimadella catfish ( i.e. pictus, ) and/or Cory cats or Giant Danios or other larger Rasbora species. If you are looking just for more color, blue acaras or other smaller Cichlid species would go as would smaller geophagus species. As you can see, there are a lot of options. Too many to list them all. LOL So I would start with comparing your water and go from there.

 

[jave]

Compare your water parameters to where you get your fish from when choosing fish. What looks nice may not do well in your parameters even if they may fit as tankmates. Some of the rainbowfish that get larger should do well with your severum provided your water will work for them. Don't depend on species information from the internet as that is for wild fish. Many of the fish we have to choose from are farmed and not usually kept in wild fish parameters. Over time, conventional wisdom has changed from matching water to the fish to choosing fish that match your water since chasing water parameters can often lead to disasters and frustrations.
If it's motion you are looking for, some other suggestions would be fish like large bodied tetras such as Exodons, Black skirt Tetras and the like or Pink tailed Chelseus, or a school of pimadella catfish ( i.e. pictus, ) and/or Cory cats or Giant Danios or other larger Rasbora species. If you are looking just for more color, blue acaras or other smaller Cichlid species would go as would smaller geophagus species. As you can see, there are a lot of options. Too many to list them all. LOL So I would start with comparing your water and go from there.

Does anyone know what this is on the bottom end of my eba it’s grown over time and not to sure what it is I know it’s where he poops from but it doesn’t look normal when looking at other eba fish anyway any help would be nice thanks.

 

[Andy Sager]

Does anyone know what this is on the bottom end of my eba it’s grown over time and not to sure what it is I know it’s where he poops from but it doesn’t look normal when looking at other eba fish anyway any help would be nice thanks.

Unfortunately, whenever I try to enlarge the pic, it doesn't get large enough or clear enough to make a definitive diagnosis. It could be a spawning tube, could be a prolapsed anus, could be an intestinal worm like Camallanus. Please try and take a clear larger close up picture of the area.

 

[jave]

This is probably the best I can get thanks for ur help anyway.

 

[Andy Sager]

This is probably the best I can get thanks for ur help anyway.

This one's good. It looks like a prolapsed Anus unfortunately. The fish looks well fed which can actually cause this. Sometimes this can be fixed and sometimes not but this is what I would do: In a separate bare hospital tank, place the fish in and do not feed for the first 2-3 days. Treat the water with Epsom Salt at a rate of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of actual water during the fast and watch for poop on the bottom of the tank. If you see poop, remove it from the tank and start feeding the fish soft foods like frozen ( not freeze dried) bloodworms or gut loaded brine shrimp to help the fish get rid of the foods in it's intestines. Once the fish is " flushed", you can start feeding a variety of foods but at a controlled amount in the hopes that the anus will retract back into the body.
If you see no poop in that first 2-3 days, you can do Epsom Salt baths at a rate of 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water. Place the fish in the bath for 15-30 minutes twice per day then place back into the hospital tank and watch for poop.
If the Epsom salt in the water or the baths do not work, there is a possibility that there is an internal infection that is causing the problem. I see you are in Manchester which is going to make treatment more of a problem. You would need an antibiotic that treats internal Gram - bacteria. You may need to see a veterinarian to get these however. Our Moderator Aiken Drum may have some names for you.

Hope this helps.

If you need help with setting up a Hospital tank, here is an article I posted. Look at post #2: Quarantine tanks and Hospital tanks, are they really different?