Exciting news! Potentially

[Jglenn213]

So I woke up today and noticed my big male in the upper corner of my tank. He wouldn't come out of it. Even for feeding. He staying in the corner and waited for pellets to come his way. So I started doing a little investigating. I discovered eggs! I'm pretty sure at least. I have 2 severum. The one in the photos is obviously male. I assumed my younger one is female based on the lack of facial markings. My only question is, why is my male guarding the eggs and chasing everyone away? Even the female. Shouldn't it be the female? How do I know if they are fertile? What to do now? I'd love fry.

 

[skjl47]

How do I know if they are fertile?

Hello; if they are not fertile the eggs should turn white fairly soon. A day or two.

As far as what to do, it depends.
1) In a big enough tank the parents may actually raise the fry. They may also eat them. Other fish in the tank will eat them if they can get at them.
2) When my angel fish started laying eggs they would eat the eggs or young fry. I raised two batches of fry so far by setting up other tanks and moving the eggs before the parents ate them.
3) Odds are the parents will have more batches of eggs even if you lose this first batch. This can give you time to make arrangements.

Good luck

 

[YankeeJack]

Great fish and pics!

 

[tlindsey]

Like stated unfertile eggs will turn white and fertile eggs will be amber in color until they develop and you will notice a mass of tiny fry wiggling what are called wrigglers they will have egg sacs and will become free swimming once their egg sac is absorbed. You don't need to worry about feeding them until they are free swimming. I suggest purchasing a sponge filter and seeding it in the main aquarium if you decide you would like to raise some or all of the fry yourself. The parents should gain more experience each time they spawn but there are rare cases where parents just eat the eggs or fry. Fry can be fed newly hatched Brine shrimp, crushed pellet, or flake food. Congrats☺

 

[tlindsey]

Btw if you have any intake for filter in the aquarium please cover with a sponge or use a new knee high stocking and secure it with a rubber band or tie it on the intake so the fry won't get sucked up in the filter.

 

[ryansmith83]

The breeding tube looks female. You cannot go by facial markings on super reds because both males and females will have them. Chances are it's a female who laid eggs on her own.

 

[Tony A.]

I think the one guarding the eggs is the female. Look under that fish she still has the egg tube sticking out of her. Male and female Sevs. can look alike. Congrats.

 

[Jglenn213]

I was not aware about the super reds facial markings. Thank you very much.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; if you try to raise some fry among the things needed is a place to take them. A local fish shop. A fish club. I went to two shops and made arrangement for them to take fry.
having a large number of fry at home will require a lot of tanks.