New to the Forum! And Severum Stuffs

[MonicaST]

Howdy all!
I'm new to the fish community (pun intended) and know very very little. But I'm willing to learn! Hoping this forum can help me with that.
I'm getting a 65 gallon tank and currently have a red Severum that's approx 3/3.5 inches. I'd like for him to have a friend (or more if possible). I'm even considering. Trying to breed him. Wondering how easily severums are bred and such. Any info on these lovely creatures is welcome.

(Disclaimer: my hubby is relatively knowledgeable about fish. So I wouldn't get into breeding without supervision.)

 

[tlindsey]

Welcome to MFK MonicaST I personally don't know too much about Severums, but there is plenty of members that have experience with them. You can also type in Severum in the search box, and there will be threads on Severums there. Btw beautiful looking Severum.

 

[neutrino]

With severums it's not always simply a matter of putting a male and female together. They can be hit or miss as far as being compatible and pairing up. They can be great parents and produce a ton of fry if you get a good compatible pair or on the other end of the spectrum not tolerate each other at all, especially in a tank on the small side, or they can be somewhere in between. A 65 gal tank is a bit on the small side for two adults, unless you happened to get a pretty cozy pair.

Sometimes it works out (putting a single male and female together), but the more classic approach is to grow out several together and let them pair up naturally.

 

[Rivers2k]

I love severum. I have two myself, a red spotted like yours and a green. The issue with breeding is the red spotted are hard to tell the gender of. I have heard many opinions on how to tell gender but none hold true 100% of the time. The other issue is in my experience same sized males tend to not get along. So the best bet would be get a bunch the same size and try to let them pair naturally. Also red spotted are line breed and two red spots don't always produce red spot often they produce gold severum that is the reason for the higher price tag on red spotted severum.

If you are just looking for other fish to put in there but not breed. I have had great luck with Honduran Red Points, Female convicts (not breeding or male convicts), Firemouths (again not a breeding pair), rainbow cichilds, and Nicaraguns.

My severum are currently in with platinum honduran red points and nicaraguans. They do very well together. They are all lower on the aggression scale, so nobody is very territorial and everyone gets along.

 

[MonicaST]

Thanks, y'all. I've heard about growing them out and having them pair off naturally. So I guess my next question is- is it wise to do that when I already have one and then throw a bunch of smallish ones into the mix? I don't mind having one pair off that doesn't include this fella (if I'm that lucky). Just trying to see if it's worth the shot. It seems rather difficult from what I'm gathering from the responses. I figure if none of them seem to like each other, I can rehome the newbies and get some different tank mates for this fella instead. Opinions? What do I do?!

 

[Rivers2k]

That is one option the smaller severum should be fine. I say should because all fish have there own temperament. In my opinion breeding brings on so many headaches. I do everything in my power to keep my fish from breeding. Be prepared to have multiple tanks ready to go. A breeding pair will claim the whole 65 gallons. All other fish will be cowering in the corner. Breeding cichlids brings out the most psychotic behavior is chichlids it is so frustrating when you have nice peaceful tank and then all of a sudden everything is out of balance.

In order to sell severum you should be able to house the for a 6-8 months so a breeding tank is necessary or they will become food when they adults are ready to breed again. When a breeding pair forms they don't stop. Pretty soon your local market will be flooded.

I'm not trying to say don't do it I just want to give you the heads up I wish people gave me. IMO it will be much more pleasurable to grow out a beautiful adult severum as a center piece and then have a nice school of tetras surrounding it.

 

[lekkiandgas]

Howdy all!
I'm new to the fish community (pun intended) and know very very little. But I'm willing to learn! Hoping this forum can help me with that.
I'm getting a 65 gallon tank and currently have a red Severum that's approx 3/3.5 inches. I'd like for him to have a friend (or more if possible). I'm even considering. Trying to breed him. Wondering how easily severums are bred and such. Any info on these lovely creatures is welcome.

(Disclaimer: my hubby is relatively knowledgeable about fish. So I wouldn't get into breeding without supervision.)

View attachment 1142477

love your red spot sev

 

[lekkiandgas]

I have a 6ft tank with a gt and a texas 8inch and a sev same size all male
the sev gets hassled but surprisingly, he gives as good at he gets
which surprised me as I had a gt pair originally, and a pair of rotkeil sev and texas and the gts bred and the sevs had their territory,albeit not as big as texas or gt pair,and the female sev did get chased loads but was ok and then changed the set up, removed the females and surprisingly the male sev gives more aggression than he used to!
they're supposed to be peaceful but in my personal experience can handle themselves well (well mine do)

 

[neutrino]

Thanks, y'all. I've heard about growing them out and having them pair off naturally. So I guess my next question is- is it wise to do that when I already have one and then throw a bunch of smallish ones into the mix?

I've done that before with an adult severum without any problem. Will depend somewhat on the temperament of the larger fish, size of tank, etc. (sevs tend to be less aggressive in larger tanks ime). So, not a 100% guarantee, but, yes, it's something that can work-- I've done it several times.

 

[MonicaST]

love your red spot sev

Thanks! It's name is feugo. (Not sure on gender)