Couple Q's on Gold Severums

[Cookie*]

Are there different variants on Gold Severums? A LFS has a Gold Severum that I believe they are selling as either 'Red-veined Orange Severum' or 'Red-faced Orange Severum', I cannot remember exactly what it was called...could have been 'Red-veined Gold Severum', too. That name they had is not important, but I want to know if what they had is real. It was listed at $110, about 5" and incredibly colorful and gorgeous- bright red veining throughout the whole body, and bright orange undertone. I was under the impression that there were only Gold and Green Severums but don't know that much on Sevs to begin with. Looking online at Gold Sev pictures, I see some all bright yellow, and then others yellow with light red veining and others orange with bright red veining. Is this a male to female difference with colors, or different kinds of Severums all together? Some Gold Severum pictures show no veining whatsoever. I tried to find the answer online, but was unsuccessful.

Here are two pics, the first picture looking a lot like the one in the LFS, and the second one a Severum without any veining-

 

[HiImSean]

from what i've seen there are golds with more predominant red markings on their faces, some have hardly any, then there is "red" severums. the first one looks like a red the second looks like a nicer one with red facial markings. IMO not worth $110. you can get 4" reds for about $25 from vendors when in stock. i got my male gold with nice dark markings for $5 at 2.5" and he is a beast now

 

[NixMix]

Beautiful! I have 4 gold sevs right now. They're all somewhere between 4" and 5-1/2" right now. Some of my larger ones have increasingly more "veining" on their faces. Other two I have don't have any on the face but more on the dorsal portion of the body. I'll try to post them to show you.

I apologize for the somewhat blurry pics. The most recent pic is the first one taken last night.

 

[Cookie*]

I called and asked exactly what they had, and the response was "Red-faced Gold Severum". I did a google search and the same pics came up for just Gold Severum as Red-faced Gold Severum. But when I tried 'Super Red Gold Severum', this is what I found, which looks exactly like the fish in question at the LFS-



Still not worth $110? I see your guys fish pictures, and they don't show any veining this prominent and are not as bright (I'm not calling your Golds ugly, I just think they are less colorful than the fish in question). I guess 'Red-faced Gold Severum' is just the LFS name, but it is a Super Red Gold Severum?

 

[NixMix]

No offense taken! Mine are still young and I'm sure they're get more veining later on. That would be gorgeous though. I haven't personally heard of a "super red" but I have heard of red sevs.

What size are the ones in the LFS?

 

[_Jessica_]

From my understanding, they are all the same fish...green, gold, "red", it is just color variations. Red is still considered gold...the red/super red/red faced is just the LFS names for them. I've read nearly all of the "red" severums are males, so it's probably sexually dimorphic, but true golds can be male or female.

A fish is worth what you are willing to pay...it took me quite a while to find one that was in good shape, and I work at LFS. You may not find another for a while. I retailed them for $20. I agree the one above has very very good color, but personally I wouldn't pay $110 unless I was looking for a potential breeder.

 

[ryansmith83]

"Red", "Super Red", etc. are all just marketing names. They're basically a more colorful line of golds. I'm not sure if this was achieved by heavy selective breeding, hormones, or both, but they have gained popularity over the past few years. They range from bright orange to deep red. This isn't surprising as regular golds can vary greatly from butter yellow to peach-colored to orange, and most males have red lines through the face and body.

I personally don't think it's worth $110 but I guess it depends on how much you want it. I got mine at like $30 and raised him into a chunky beast.

 

[Cookie*]

I did notice the fish I was looking at, at the LFS appeared to male, as did all the others with the color/veining in pictures I was looking at and posted. I have seen Gold Severums at other LFS for $10-$20 (Petsmart), but they are always only about 2" and show no real colors yet. I just was not sure they could turn into something as spectacular as the one priced at $110 at the much better quality LFS.

And I realize a fish is worth what it worth to you, but did not know anything about the said fish/species. I see the small ones at Petco/Petsmart but never pay attention to them. I think the fish I saw is the most gorgeous Severum I have ever seen, but to me, I cannot see paying $110 for that Severum IMO. The fish I saw at the store, is only worth $50 tops to me, even being the most perfect specimen.

Thanks for straightening some stuff out everyone.

 

[Cookie*]

"Red", "Super Red", etc. are all just marketing names. They're basically a more colorful line of golds. I'm not sure if this was achieved by heavy selective breeding, hormones, or both, but they have gained popularity over the past few years. They range from bright orange to deep red. This isn't surprising as regular golds can vary greatly from butter yellow to peach-colored to orange, and most males have red lines through the face and body.

I personally don't think it's worth $110 but I guess it depends on how much you want it. I got mine at like $30 and raised him into a chunky beast.

Oh man, dude. That is EXACTLY what I wanted to see.

I am considering a Gold Severum to go with my Chocolate in a 90g. To see the two fish together, reinforces how good I thought they would look together. So cool to actually see. I have been picturing it for about two weeks.

Did you put them into the tank together, or did one have territory over the tank before the other was introduced? Any problems with the two getting along? Both of yours are males, the Chocolate and Gold Sev? I would be happy to have your Gold Sev. I will look for a better priced, but well bred Gold, indeed.

They just look so wicked together, thanks a million for that pic!

 

[ryansmith83]

The fish went into the tank at the exact same time. I introduced them when the severum was about 7" and the chocolate was about 5". I'm pretty sure my chocolate cichlid is a female, which is probably why all my severums don't mind her much. All of my severums in this tank are males except one, a female Atabapo severus, and she is the only fish who goes after my chocolate.

Like with any cichlid, you'd just have to try it and see. I've been pretty lucky as far as aggression goes. Most of my fish will posture and fight when I first introduce them, but things tend to calm down once they establish who's boss. My chocolate takes a backseat most of the time and tends to avoid confrontation with other fish. The big red severum is like a puppy and I've never seen it chase or attack anything. He's also hand tame and doesn't mind being touched or handled. So maybe I just got lucky with two really chill fish.