Severum

[sbrady5pts]

I have been loving Severums lately, and doing a lot of research on the types. There are a lot. I was thinking it would be good to get a thread going sharing all severum pics with the type of severum. This will help me and future Severum Owners.

so lets see those severum's and the type of Severum

 

[jeaninel]

Here's mine. Sold as a Rotkiel but I'm not so sure.

 

[Ash02]

My green severum and red spotted severum.

 

[Chief Tom]

I wanted to buy one but lfs dude said it was very aggressive. He sent me home with Elvis with assurances that the flowerhorn was "only aggressive when breeding". Lost 3fish that night to his expensive midnight snack.

 

[Chief Tom]

Would they work with a blood parrot?

 

[duanes]

The name severum, is kind of a catchall term used for the genus Heros, which has at least 8 species.
And what kind to get, and be successful with, might be determined by your particular tap water.
Here are two sets of catch location data for two different species of Heros, both sometimes sold as "severum".
Above Heros appendiculatus....note pH and hardness...this species would do much better than say...H libidfer if your tap water is slightly hard, with average neutral pH.
Below data for Heros severus

Note the different pH and lack of hardness between the two species.
In many cases when severus is kept in hard water, it is prone to bacterial diseases, and scarring as it becomes mature.
And although many LFS varieties are captive bred, and may adapt to different parameters, if you get the more exotic lessor bred species, choosing the right ones for your tap water type can be a very important factor in the life of your "severum"..

 

[neutrino]

I wanted to buy one but lfs dude said it was very aggressive. He sent me home with Elvis with assurances that the flowerhorn was "only aggressive when breeding". Lost 3fish that night to his expensive midnight snack.

What size tank was it in? Most are not especially aggressive, with a certain couple of wild types as exceptions. But-- keep them in too small a tank and they can become aggressive. I rescued an adult "killer" rotkeil once, at a lfs in a 29 gal tank. Brought it home, put it in a 75 and immediately it was a happy fish that got along just fine with most anything else I kept with it.

There are some blackwater Heros types/species. Most, however, are adaptable to ph anywhere in the 7s ime. That same rotkeil I mentioned lived 15 years with ph in the upper 7s most of its life (in 75 gal or larger tanks, depending on what I was doing with which tank at the time).

 

[Chief Tom]

What size tank was it in? Most are not especially aggressive, with a certain couple of wild types as exceptions. But-- keep them in too small a tank and they can become aggressive. I rescued an adult "killer" rotkeil once, at a lfs in a 29 gal tank. Brought it home, put it in a 75 and immediately it was a happy fish that got along just fine with most anything else I kept with it.

There are some blackwater Heros types/species. Most, however, are adaptable to ph anywhere in the 7s ime. That same rotkeil I mentioned lived 15 years with ph in the upper 7s most of its life (in 75 gal or larger tanks, depending on what I was doing with which tank at the time).

Tiny lfs tank. It was mature and I'm thinking re-homed to the store.

 

[Amihov]

Red spotted Severum. Pictures made without smart phone.

 

[fishguy1978]

Heros Notatus “Rio Negro” gifted to me