Got new fish yesterday: 6 Severum cichlids (and a Siamese algae eater).
This has bee a very long time coming. Not only have I been thinking of taking my tank in a new direction for the last couple of years, but trying to keep some of the larger cichlids is something I always wanted.
Going for Cichlids
Why? Well, if you know nothing about fish keeping but hear or read about it, you quickly note the cichlid hype: Large, beautiful fish with interesting behavior and lots of attitude. Generally not too demanding, as long as the tank is big enough and the water is clean. “Generally”, I write – there are some notable differences : )
So it is natural that keeping cichlids are on the bucket lists of many fish keepers (and to many it becomes the end of one bucket list and the beginning of a new cichlid-centric one).
In my case I have been circling the issue for a long time, trying out various smaller species with varying degree of success (mostly low). A key challenge has been either a poor choice of species or water conditions. My tap water has pH 8 and hardness 22 dKH, which does not work well with South American fish, most of which come from acidy, soft waters. South American dwarfs like Apistogramma and Rams have had short, while kribs have fared better (even spawning twice in my large community tank). But my first feeling of succes was with the cupidos I have kept for the last four years. They are wild caught in Peru, but have done quite well (I have lost some, and some may not have grown optimally due to periods of less-than optimal water conditions). The difference may be in the food. Before the cupidos I fed mostly flakes, while the cupidos have been fed alsmost exclusively frozen food. So I could have revisited the dwarf species once more. But then again, there are other things on my aquarium bucket list.
Why severums?
I was looking for fish that is
- large enough to be the centerpiece(s) of a large tank – which rules out the dwarf cichlies: I want a fish I can watch from the sofa accorss the rtoom, although I don’t need a 50 cm wet pet.
- one that that isn’t totally mainstream, ruling out Scalare and even discuss (so that visitors ask “whaht a beutiful fish, what is it?” instead of “oh, you have discus too, don’t they come in all sorts of colors?”)
- one that is able to coexist with other fish and don’t necessarliy eat everything green – ruling out many otherwise beutiful and interesting species. Maybe later (the convict is on my list)
Out of those criteria came my list of usual suspects:
- Firemouth
- Blue acara
- Severum
- Nicaragua cichlid
all of which might fit my criteria, but reading sources on the internet I also know that milages vary. Regardless of the choice, the other fish in the tank may or may not be fine and the plants remain. There is only one way to find out.
In the end it came down to what was available in the local fish store. There were severums (H. nonatus and H. efasciatus (wild caught)), (Electric) Blue Acara and a couple of Nicaraguans. No Firemouths. Since I want a small school to start out with and am no big fan of culture forms like the Electric Blue Acara, and since my latest good results were with wild caught fish, the choice was clear:
6 Heros efasciatus ‘Rotkeil’ ‘Rio Yacali’
It will be interesting to see how that plays out, time will tell.
(As for the algae eater: Great fish for doing just that – highly recommended.)