My husband and I are relatively new to the aquarium world. We have 2 Black-fin Sharks, 2 Green Severum, 1 Gold Severum and 1 Pleco. All get along well, but one of the Green Severums (the biggest one) just will not leave the Gold one alone. He/she chases the Gold one around and sort of "pecks" at it. Is there anything we can do to change his/her behavior? I feel terrible that the Gold one can't get a moment's peace.
Advice for Green Severum
- Thread starter FishMommy
- Start date
Sounds like you have two of the same sex and one is putting the other into place. Setting a pecking order.
Chances are the third severum is female.
What size is the tank?
One thing you can do that seems to work is re-establishing the territories. Rearrange the tank every two weeks or so.
This way any set territories will be removed and they will spend more time setting up the new territories than beating on the gold.
If that doesn't work then you will probably have to remove the gold or the bully green.
Chances are the third severum is female.
What size is the tank?
One thing you can do that seems to work is re-establishing the territories. Rearrange the tank every two weeks or so.
This way any set territories will be removed and they will spend more time setting up the new territories than beating on the gold.
If that doesn't work then you will probably have to remove the gold or the bully green.
The tank is a 29. I read a lot about Severums being territorial, but it just doesn't seem that way in our tank. He'll seek out the Gold Severum no matter where he is and chase him. The poor Gold one hangs around at the top of the tank most often. He's the friendliest of them all. He always comes over to us when we're near the tank.
I was hoping to avoid getting rid of the Green one. No matter how they act, we've grown very attached to them. We have asked the Aquarium Supply store if they'd take him back and they said they would, but they were hesitant.
I was hoping to avoid getting rid of the Green one. No matter how they act, we've grown very attached to them. We have asked the Aquarium Supply store if they'd take him back and they said they would, but they were hesitant.
Originally posted by FishMommy
The tank is a 29. I read a lot about Severums being territorial, but it just doesn't seem that way in our tank. He'll seek out the Gold Severum no matter where he is and chase him. The poor Gold one hangs around at the top of the tank most often. He's the friendliest of them all. He always comes over to us when we're near the tank.
I was hoping to avoid getting rid of the Green one. No matter how they act, we've grown very attached to them. We have asked the Aquarium Supply store if they'd take him back and they said they would, but they were hesitant.
He's probably claimed the entire tank as his territory. A 29g is quite small. In fact, I doubt it will be big enough to keep a single Severum. Considering they can reach 10" SL. Your other fish will also grow to large for a 29g.
I was only abel to keep one Green Severum in my 72 g. I started out with two, but eventually the dominant ended up killing the other, I even rearranged trying to get them to stop.
i traded mine in and got lots of little fish that do not eat every single plant in the tank, I am much happier and I hear that the fish is happy in a 125g tank.
i traded mine in and got lots of little fish that do not eat every single plant in the tank, I am much happier and I hear that the fish is happy in a 125g tank.
That's ok! I didn't want to have to get rid of him, but I guess it's our only option. These fish are very young: each severum is under 3" long. We'll have a while until we need a bigger tank, so we wanted to sharpen our skills on a smaller, less expensive one first.
Thanks for your input!!
Thanks for your input!!