my Heros severus.

[James Gil]

Hi guys this is my second post on this website so hello to all of you fellow fishkeepers. I was recently in my local fish store, when i came upon a 'pair' of heros severus or 'golden severums' as i beleive their called. After a discussion with one of the employees i found that these fish had spawned in one of the tanks and laid eggs, but as they were in with quite a few other severums the eggs were eaten or lost. Upon purchase all the other tankmates had been removed and the pair were alone. Watching these fish i knew i had to have them they are beautiful looking fish and in perfect health. The male is around 6- 6 1/2" and the female is slightly smaller than the male, as i said some fine looking fish. I have the pair in a 20-25 gal tank and am planning to introduce them into my spare 55 gal, which is cycling atm so they wont be put into it for a few days more. I have been feeding the pair on High quality flake, some cichlid pellets and bloodworm. So now my questions, In your oppinion is a 55 gal big enough for this pair to maybee spawn in and have enough space? am i feeding these guys the right food? and is there anything i should be aware of e.g special care needed? I have decorated their future home with small amounts of bogwood some slates and some big stones to try to give some sort of hiding places, and a few live plants with also a small amount of floating plants. I have also made sure there is 2/3 of the tank for free swimming. So guys, any advice good or bad is most welcome as i have had limited experience with cichlids of this size, and i want to provide the best enviroment possible and hopefully i will get some fry

 

[HiImSean]

i have a breeding pair in my 55g. i've had them since they were 2". if they've been breeding a while, their growth rate will slow down. a 55g is good for a long time. i do plan on upgrading to a 75g this summer. all the food sounds good for them. some people say try vegetable matter but my severums don't touch any veggies i put in the tank. keep the temps around 82degrees to get them to breed. my pair tore apart every plant i put in the tank. its good that you have alot of swimming room. i had some big swords and a big piece of wood in my tank. i have removed it since they have gotten bigger and have two smalle pieces of wood now. post up some pics and good luck with them spawing!!

 

[James Gil]

Hi, and thanks for the reply. I will try to get some pics up asap, i might have to use my blackberry to take pics as i dont own a camera yet. Also i checked on the fish before (they are still in the 25g holding tank) and the male seems to be pestering the female quite a bit sort of softly pecking her on the body and face, and she has resorted to hiding in a makeshift cave type thing i made from some stones and bogwood. Infortunatley the 'cave' is a little small and she is sat at an angle in there . I also raised the temp a few degrees up to 82f as i seem to have had the temp a little low at 78. Man i cant stop looking at these beautiful fish and cant wait to get them into the 55gal so i can watch them properly.

 

[ComplicateMe86]

Have you tried feeding them brine shrimp? My severums absolutely love it. I usually try that two or three times a week. You can usually find a bag at a non-chain pet store for pretty cheap (mine is $1.00 for a good-sized bag). Also, when feeding them pellets, I always lean towards the color-enhancing kind, just to bring out the beautiful colors of the severums. Good luck with the pair, and post some pics if you can!

 

[thatcichlidguy]

I feed mine omega one pellets as a staple and various frozen foods as a supplement to that. I would add some tall plants to the tank as their body shape doen't really allow them to make use of caves as hiding spots very well, but an area with tall plants is just about perfect . If you choose to add dithers to the tank watch out. Normally I dont have many problems with mine but when they spawn they have no problem taking out a school of serpae tetras or pretty much anything else they can catch. For safety I'd go with rainbows or something large enough (and fast enough) to escape the spawning pair. I think that'll be tricky in a 55g , since mine are in a 6' 125g and still manage to wipe out schools of dithers.