green severum is not so green

[klaodna]

is it normal for my "green" severum to be black? His stripes tend to come out once in a while, mostly when he is feeling feisty, and then he looks a bit more like most of the green sevs i have seen. Usually, his coloration is almost solid black. He is completely healthy and this is not a new condiiton, he has had this coloration since i got him as a juvenile. is this still a "green" severum or is this a different color variation ?

[RedParrotBubbles85]

Can we see a picture of him. this could help a great deal. from my experience with severums they do get dark, but not usually black for long periods of time. how large is he?
-Mike

[punkypuffer]

mine are almost totally black all the time. i've had them for over 3 years. i wouldn't worry too much. when they stress they get the bars

[klaodna]

Originally posted by punkypuffer
mine are almost totally black all the time. i've had them for over 3 years. i wouldn't worry too much. when they stress they get the bars

wow! that is quite interesting indeed.... glad to know mine is not some kind of mutant lol

perhaps the reason green sev's i have seen in other tanks appear much more banded. Most of them were housed with other agressive cichlids, whereas my tank is pretty peaceful for the most part. The severum basically shares the "top dog" (or fish, rather) spot with my leporinus. They occasionally scuffle around but it is mostly just for show and they have learned to live together quite nicely. If what you say about the bars being an indication of stress is accurate than I guess I should count myself lucky that he is so dark ;)

[klaodna]

Originally posted by RedParrotBubbles85
Can we see a picture of him. this could help a great deal. from my experience with severums they do get dark, but not usually black for long periods of time. how large is he?
-Mike

i will have some pix coming soon. He is just over 6" in length (my rough estimate, anyhow - never actually measured the guy lol)

if it matters, I keep him with a 4" jurupari, an 8" leporinus, an 8" pleco, a pictus cat, and 3 silver dollars in a 60 gallon setup, plenty of filtration, and frequent maintenance and upkeep.

[punkypuffer]

my pair are actually housed with a pair of breidohri cichlids, a pair of honduran red points, a young jaguar, and a bronze puffer among other things. i thought they were dark because they were trying to stay "top dogs" in the tank. the breidohris took over at some point and now the jag is starting to... strange....