Question for the Severum Keepers

[BlackLagoon]

Hi to all the severum keepers of mfk.

I'm kinda interested in getting a severum some time next week and have a few questions for you. I have never kept then before so I don't know anything about them.

How would you describe a severum's character in general? I mean are they generally shy and doesn't care if you're around or are they like oscars that are like puppies and always happy to see you?

Will it live a happy life alone or do they require to be in groups?

Lastly, is a 35G enough for a single sev for life?

 

[Snowflake311]

Yes they are the best fish. Mine are like puppies always happy to see me never shy. They eat from my hand. I could almost pet him.

Sorry no you need a 55 even bigger for a full grown adult.

No they don't need to be in a group.

 

[ryansmith83]

35 gallons is way too small. You're talking about a fish that has the potential to reach 8 - 10" as an adult. A 55 gallon would be the absolute minimum.

Their personalities vary just like any other cichlid. Most of mine are pretty mellow. They get along well with other similarly sized South Americans. I have about 8 severums in a 210 gallon with a chocolate cichlid and a parrot cichlid. I see pretty minimal aggression unless there's breeding going on.

Mine are not shy at all but it depends on how much time you spend around the tank and what sorts of tankmates they have.

You can see some of my various severums here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC6K2ZuU_kk

Sorry about the crap floating around in the water... they just got fed shrimp pellets and they really make a mess of them.

 

[Sarah88]

yeah what everyone else has said, they may not be quite as outgoing as oscars but definitely not shy and respond to you when you come near the tank, but yeah they def need a 55g minimum for an adult.

and ryansmith, i love your severums!! that notatus is gorgeous and your green actually has a lot of color to him, you can definitely tell that they are well taken care of and happy, that parrot is showing some great colors too

 

[BlackLagoon]

...
You can see some of my various severums here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC6K2ZuU_kk
...

They are beautiful. You just made it hard for me to get over the fact that I shouldn't get one.

BTW, I saw this 2" sev in a fish store and it's color was white. Like really really white. Almost as white as paper. What kind of severum could that be? Is there such a thing as platinum sev or white sev?

 

[Sarah88]

are you sure it was 2in? some really small gold sevs like 1in are a white color before they start to get yellow, but it should be starting to show color at 2in, could just be a late bloomer though. i haven't heard of white ones...

 

[ryansmith83]

Sometimes poor quality gold severums will stay white for a long time. I've seen them up to 3 - 4" looking pale like that. Be careful that it's not something like a pink convict, though. At small sizes I have seen pet stores get cichlids confused.

Thanks for the comments, Sarah. The male notatus is wild-caught and I have a ton of fry from him. They are already looking awesome with spots at 2". You can see a video I shot of the female notatus guarding wrigglers earlier today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpoujHJr2OY

Unfortunately she spawned with the green/turquoise male and they're hybrids, so I won't be raising any of those.

 

[BlackLagoon]

are you sure it was 2in? some really small gold sevs like 1in are a white color before they start to get yellow, but it should be starting to show color at 2in, could just be a late bloomer though. i haven't heard of white ones...

I'm positie that they are at least 2".

Sometimes poor quality gold severums will stay white for a long time. I've seen them up to 3 - 4" looking pale like that. Be careful that it's not something like a pink convict, though. At small sizes I have seen pet stores get cichlids confused.
...

I'm sure that they are sevs. They have those worm pattern on their cheeks already so I'm certain that they are not convicts.

I confused about the species of severums. I initially thought that there is only one and just have different color variants.

Which one is the notatus? the spotted one?
How about the gold, the super red and the green? aren't those the different color morphs of one species? Sorry for asking so many questions.

Looking at your sevs makes me really want to get one
It's really sad cause I don't have any plans of upgrading in the near future.

 

[Sarah88]

yeah the spotted one in the beginning is the notatus, and the gold, super red and green are all the same species just different color variants, though the common green sev mostly available in pet stores and that the color variants are made from are actually thought to be hybrids themselves of different severum species that were once thought to be the same and so is kind of like a new captive only species but i dont think this has been proven. but yeah there are several different species of severums including ones that aren't technically classified as a separate species yet (like rotkeils i think are still considered technically efasciatus) rotkeils are my fav with notatus a close second and there are some wild variants of efasciatus that are just breathtaking, every collection locale of efasciatus seems to look different and some are very plain while others i would clear out my tank if i could get my hands on them but yeah thats the addicting part of this hobby, you get a tank and then research and the more you research the more you find out about all these awesome fish you never knew about and then realize you need a much larger tank and more of them to house all the fish you want. i have a 120g tank and still want a larger one (or a second one) in order to keep even a fraction of all the fish i would love to have

 

[BlackLagoon]

yeah the spotted one in the beginning is the notatus, and the gold, super red and green are all the same species just different color variants, though the common green sev mostly available in pet stores and that the color variants are made from are actually thought to be hybrids themselves of different severum species that were once thought to be the same and so is kind of like a new captive only species but i dont think this has been proven. but yeah there are several different species of severums including ones that aren't technically classified as a separate species yet (like rotkeils i think are still considered technically efasciatus) rotkeils are my fav with notatus a close second and there are some wild variants of efasciatus that are just breathtaking, every collection locale of efasciatus seems to look different and some are very plain while others i would clear out my tank if i could get my hands on them but yeah thats the addicting part of this hobby, you get a tank and then research and the more you research the more you find out about all these awesome fish you never knew about and then realize you need a much larger tank and more of them to house all the fish you want. i have a 120g tank and still want a larger one (or a second one) in order to keep even a fraction of all the fish i would love to have

Oh I didn't know about those. Now I know that they are just collectively known as severums. I just googled about those variants based on collection locale and I think they are awesome. some of them even have a slightly different shape but are still consideres efasciatus! Awesome...

edit:
And oh, I found out that there is really a white severum strain. But it just looks like a washed out gold sev. Nothing special, just a marketing strategy to sell the dull golds.