Severum spawning question

Vikingfish

Feeder Fish
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Nov 18, 2017
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i have a pair of severum that are spawning frequently...shes leaid a wack of eggs 3 times in 2 weeks. But then she always eats them all. The male doesnt eat them he tries to protect them but sje eats em. Hes a bit older then her she has about a 3 in body hes got a 4 inch body. Do they get better at this with age or what? Should i try and take the rock with the eggs on it out and place in a seperate tank? Ill attach a pic of them.

20190911_194101.jpg
 

ryansmith83

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Personally I wouldn’t raise them because they’re hybrids and the market is already full of mutt fish.

Sometimes Heros, like all cichlids, take a while to get it right. Sometimes male gold and super red Heros have fertility issues and if the eggs are not viable they’ll eat them. They could also be an incompatible pair, and there’s a chance the male will eventually maul the female if they disagree over parenting of the eggs/fry.
 

neutrino

Goliath Tigerfish
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Yes, it can take them a while to get it right and they're likely on the young side at that size. And, yes, she could be eating them because they're failed eggs-- what color are they when she eats them? also, what size tank?

Sev pair compatibility varies ime, it just does. There can be different pair histories and factors that come into play. Even previously successful pairs can have rocky spells where they bicker, can't get spawns right, then settle down again to be just fine. Or some will just have their ups and downs. But an ugly split can also happen, as mentioned. Bickering is one thing, a pair that really rejects each other can do some damage.

I agree with Ryan on mixing fish, but I can understand being on the side of the curve where you're happy to see spawning behavior and success means getting fry, I've been there before. The learning experience can be worthwhile, but there's hardly a combination that hasn't been tried already and I agree, the hobby doesn't need more mixed fish.
 
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Vikingfish

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Ok thanks for the info..i thought that because she is a red shoulder severum that would be the dominant gene and they would end up all being red shoulder severum ? I am mistaken then? Wouldnt you need to red spot severum to have red spot sev babies?
 

neutrino

Goliath Tigerfish
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I've seen (forums) where people crossed them but haven't seen the results, typically because there was no follow up showing offspring. So I haven't personally seen the results-- red spot pairs don't breed successfully for many, it's led to the belief that they're sterile, but others have disputed this, I haven't kept them myself-- so maybe low or non fertility is a reason for no follow up in some cases. My guess would be similar to a green severum, most of which probably have mixed genetics, anyway. Maybe someone else here has seen results from that particular cross.

Letting them breed, if successful, and keeping a few to raise up yourself is up to you imo. I don't generally tell others what to in their own tanks. What I have an issue with is distributing 'rotkeils' of mixed parentage. There's some discussion out there regarding rotkeil origins, but whatever one's stance on that, rotkeils are one of the prettier Heros strains in their own right, diluting them would be... fill in the blanks.

...I did have a gold/green pair once. I never kept the fry... :)
 

ryansmith83

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If the rotkeil doesn’t have gold genes, all the fry would look like greens but they will have recessive gold genes. Meaning that breeding them together, or back to another gold/red, would give you a mix of gold type and green type fry. Genetically they would be a mix of two things, so mutts. It’s not a good idea putting those out into the hobby. It’s already hard enough trying to help people ID their pet store Heros because most of them are a mess, genetically.
 
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