My Severums (a report)

Nice report... just like mine... I had two, until one didn't like the way
the other looked... it was my fault, small tank, and one forced the other
out...

I think the extension of the fins is a type of stretching move done after
eating.... I've seen it several times, but it's not a sign of mating or
bonding, just full...

--

RedForeman ©®





"TZ" wrote in message news:3fcbf8ce$0$5427$afc38c87@...
I purchased 4 golden Severums as small juveniles about
9 months ago (in March 2003), they were about the
length of an adult platy. They went into my recently
set-up community 75 Gallon, accompanying 2 keyholes,
6 skirt tetras, 3 platys, and 6 zebra danios. I started off
feeding them the usual "I like my fish" food, flakes in the
morning, and frozen dried bloodworms/brineshrimp and/or
freeze dried Hikari Cichlid Gold "mini" pellets which were
too big for them to fit into their mouths so I got "baby"
pellets for feeding to them, in the evening.

During the first months, they were gentile fish. They were
peaceful, and playful amongst each other. They started
growing.

By July, they were comfortable eating the "mini" pellets, and
were able to consume a whole leave of Romaine lettuce in
about 2 hours. I started experimenting with peas and zuchini,
which they showed a little bit of interest in, but lettuce seemed
to be preferred. I also started feeding some broken up freeze
dried wardleys Krill, which they literally jumped out of the
water for when I put that in. There was clearly a dominant
one, who would chase the smaller ones away from the leaf
of lettuce, so I would break the lettuce into 2, and place half
into each side of the tank. They also were enjoying the algae
discs.

In September, their interest for veggies turned towards peas.
They still enjoy lettuce, but peas seem to be of more interest.
Taking frozen peas from the freezer, thawing them in a cup of
cold water, then peeling them, and breaking them into about
8-16 pieces, they would devour and fight over them (the smaller
pieces being eaten by the tetras and keyholes)! About 6 peas
would feed the entire tank at this point. Frozen bloodworms
and brineshrimps are still relished as well. The "baby" pellets
are like jellybeans, and the "mini" pellets are like popcorn,
they were eating them quickly. They also eat raw brocoli
flowerets. The larger dominant one is getting larger than the
others, and is excerting his dominance (I think he is a male,
the anal fin is pointy).

Just tonight (Dec 1st), the 2 largest ones are eating whole peas
in one shot (no biting / chomping). I'm now feeding about 20
frozen peas to the tank in a serving. The "baby" pellets are
mostly eaten by the smaller fish, the Severums prefer the larger
foods but will eat the smaller sized food if that is all that is given.
They also eat cauliflower, spinach, lobster roe, lima beans,
salmon (chopped up small), misc bugs in the house (house flies,
mosquitos, lady bugs, ants), the zebra danios, and a white shrimp
(people food). (They won't eat carrots, parsley, celery leaves,
peanuts, and pears.) The large male is definitely the dominant
one in the tank. There are 2 females in the tank if I go by the
fin patterns which I've read that them males have pointy anal fins.
Oddly, he is especially aggressive towards both of the females
(the 2 smallest Severums) and only partially aggressive towards
the other one, who I still am undecided as to whether it is male
or female, the anal fin is kinda pointy, not quite like his, but more
pointy than the 2 smaller females. I also now have 4 spotted
cory's in the tank to help play clean-up for all the missed food
particles.

I've also noticed, that when they are well fed, and the water
parameters are good (recent water change and pH is about 6.8
or so) that they like to extent their dorsal fin straight up. Is this
a sign of something?

They also have devoured all of the live plants in my tank.
Anarchis. Hornswort.
They also eat baby snails.

I just wanted to give my report, and see if anyone has anything
to offer on how much bigger or how much more food these
guys will be eating in the months to come? Any idea when I
might see them start to mate?

Regards,
TZ