Topic: over stocked

[leew]

Hi everyone new to the forum great site.please could you help me out,i have a 40gal(uk)tank which has 10 jewels 4 males 6 females juvies plus 4 fire mouths unkown sex at the moment and 2 golden severums juvies unkown sex with these as well plus 2 spotted doras male and female about 4 inch at the moment i know iam over stocked but iam setting up a 60 gal tank would you put the firemouths and sevs in there and one of the doras i know that i may need to get rid of some of the jewels would these setups be better. another question if i put the sevs and firemouths together could i put in two more red sevs or what would you suggest or will that be to much in a 60gal the lfs sold me all these, put reading up on here ive got to many please help plus could you recommend any algae eaters for both tanks or will the spotteds do the job just as well, or if i put say 2 fire mouths and say 5 jewels plus the sevs in the 60gal then 5 jewels plus 2 fire mouths in the 40gal would that be better thanks lee

[Maddy mad man]

Are the sevs boy and a girl or too young to tell?

I would leave the sevs in the 40G and moev everything else.

[Adam]

The firemouths and severums should be fine in the 60 though they will eventually outgrow that tank as they get bigger.  The 40 gallon could probably support 1 male and probably 3-4 females.  But I definitely wouldnt get any more severums for the 60 gallon.

[leew]

thanks for the replys guys so if i kept the sevs in the 40 gal can i keep my doras in with them ?
and how many jewels and fire mouths in the 60 gal plus what algae eater or should i get another dora, ithink the sevs are both males cannot really tell they both look the same on the subject of sevs what tank set up do they like  they are in with a lot of holy rock and a bit of bog wood
and coral gravel as substrate if i used the holy rock in my larger tank for the jewl,fire mouths and replaced them with more bog wood or artifical tree stumps would that suit them better .could i put one severum  in each of the tanks and split the fire mouths and jewels would that be a better solution

[Adam]

You might have trouble maintaining water parameters with your proposed tank setup.  If you're refering to texas holey rock, it is calcium based as is the coral gravel.  Those will both raise your ph.  But the bog wood will lower your ph.  I would steer clear of the holey rock and the coral gravel and stick with the bog wood.  If you want white colored sand/substrate use play sand from home depot/lowes.  You will need to be a little more careful when gravel vacing it but its really not that bad

[leew]

thanks for the reply Adam iam new to the game my ph is 7.0 neutral even with all that rock and gravel the tank was for a Malawi set up but changed my mind  . i have just set up my 60 gal today pea gravel,coral gravel and sand on top rock their called paddle stone rocks from the diy shop used plastic plant pots for caves and covered them with rocks theres six altogether 2x 8 inch 4x 4/5 inch is that enough if not i have two large artificial rock caves with  4 x 4inch openings which might look nice has the center piece would these be big enough when fish are fully grown .background home made looks nice when algae has grown on it ill put a pic up when the waters calmed down.
ive decided to do has suggested and keep the severums in the 40 gal put will have to change the decor,could i take some of the coral gravel out say 1 inch than use play sand on top without removing the sevs . im going to use the holy rocks(cost a fortune) and make large caves at each end of the tank and put a selection of plastic plants in the middle for them to swim around.or should i keep the middle open should i keep the doras with the sevs or in with the jewl/fire dont fancy getting them out of their caves the bloke i got them from was stung to hell trying to prise them away from their hiding place .so how many jewels to go in the 60 gal plus the 4 firemouths your feed back would be very helpful cheers lee

[Stormbringer]

When the Jacks are small they like to get right in the cave  but when older i had a plastic pipe that the fish outgrew but he was happy sitting in it with his head out 1 end and tail out the other  i almost thought he was going to end up wearing it tho

[Alex]

well with firemouths they can grow up to 15 cm, and will investigate anything in a 4m radius if they could. they like plenty of hidy holes and also like there open swimming space so mix the two and you have a good home for your firemouths. A 60 gallon could house 2 pairs in theory but just watch out for spawning.

Alex

[leew]

thanks for the replys both the sevs died today found 1 behind the heater not stuck then was watching the other all day then noticed it was getting bullied by the jewels the time it took me to get the net and bag it was all over must of gone into shock didnt see any bitting just sort of pushing just hope my fire mouths can put up a better fight ill see how they are over the next few days if their getting picked on ill take them back to the shop

[Adam]

Thats the problem with crowding a tank with less aggressive and aggressive species.  Severums are quite peaceful in general and jewels are pretty rowdy.  I wouldnt necessarily count on your firemouths being able to keep them at bay... so watch them very carefully.

[Ezekial]

Jewels are known for their ability to stand up to and in some cases bully much larger fish.  FM don't get that big so i agree with Adam, i wouldn't count on the FM's to fend off the jewels for long.  Good luck. 

[Stormbringer]

The FM's are wimps its all pure bravado usually and the jewels will kick their butts
so watch em mate
Sorry bout your Sevs tho

[leew]

cheers guys for the replys im going to to take the fms back to my lfs tomorrow gutted about the sevs lovely looking fish might get two more for the 60gal on their own with nothing else except a catfish spotted dora or similar cheers again by the way  can you put a gold and red sev together

[Adam]

The different color sevs are similar to diff color oscars or discus etc.  They are basically the same fish, just in different color variations.

[leew]

thanks for the info every one