tropical freshwater tank mates

Question
I was told at one pet store that it was ok to mix mates.  I have a 55 gallon tank set & working well for the last 8 months.  Members: 5 long skirt tetras, 7 neon tetras, 4 scissortail rasboras, 6 platys, about 6 rosy barbs, 2 dwarf male gouramis, 2 moonlight gouramis, 2 pearl gouramis, 3 rams, 1 green severum, and 2 male swordtails, and 4 female swordtails, and 2 small algae eaters.  At another pet store, I was told the severum would get up to about 1 foot long and would eat pretty much everyone else in the tank.  he is such a cute little fellow and seem so very sweet and shy.  I wanted to add at least 1 more like him (probably female).  With this other info, I am rethinking even keeping him.  Help!  I know that I am at a limit to add anymore.  What do I do with Perry the severum and not to mention the rams.

Answer
Hi there!

I love Severums. They are so beautiful and such great cichlids.

They do not commonly grow to 12 inches long. It is a great rarity in fact. So don't worry. I would give a good educated estimate of about 8-9 inches at most that Perry will grow. The aquarium is quite well-stocked. But the plus side is most of the fish are small species and at least its not cramped like some people's tanks are with many large cichlid species or large bulky catfish.

As far as Perry's future behavior with the current tankmates. Being that he is young and growing up with the tetras and other fish he likely will not eat them. It seems fish that grow large and have the potential to be predatory---when raised from a young age with other fish they do not consider them as food when they are bigger. I have kept a 6 inch Severum in a large community tank including barbs, danios, tetras, gouramis and cories before with absolutely no loss.

The Rams should be innocent. They shouldn't be any problem for you. What is it that you are concerned about with them? ;-)

As for adding another severum. Well, that could make the tank cramped eventually in a few years but it would be OK now as long as you kept up with large frequent partial water changes. How large is Perry right now? If he is around 2 inches or less then you should be able to add another Sev just fine. Its usually when Severums are bigger around 5 inches or more that adding another severum would cause trouble with territory issues.

One very interesting thing I've noticed with Severums is that the Gold Variety is much more gentle and peaceful than the green/striped Severums.

Just stay on top of water quality and you will be fine. Make sure everyone gets their fare share of food also.

I hope this helps!
Karen~