Breeding

Spawning and Behavior

You want to breed your Severum or need to know what will happen if they do? You've come to the right place! Here we will go over how these beautiful fish spawn and what behaviors you may see before and after they have found a mate.

Finding a Mate

Before anything happens, your male and female need to pair off. This takes time and patience on our part. Severum don't have a specific time of year when they mate, so they can breed any time of the year all as long as the correct conditions are met. Finding a mate for your male or female Severum can be a task in it's self. Sometimes a male and female will never pair off leaving you with no babies. Raising Severum together from juvenile to adolescents raises your chances in getting a pair but still is no guarantee. True love cant be forced not even in the fish world. However, once you have a bonded pair you will notice the two together, following each other around. Never to far a part from each other.

Mating Process

Once you have a bonded pair, mating is just a matter of time and right conditions. Having a slightly higher tank temperature of 81-85 and lowering the pH a little bit may trigger the mating process. Make sure you have a flat slate or rock area for them to breed on. These fish are not mouth brooders, but instead lay eggs on smooth surfaces. If you don't have any items like this you may see your paired Severum digging or cleaning off an area of debris. Once, this is done the mating rituals will begin with lip locking and/or tail-slapping behaviors. Finally, once they are ready the female will lay her eggs over the cleaned off area and the male will follow behind spreading sperm over the eggs fertilizing them.

What About the Eggs?

Once the eggs have been fertilized, experienced parents will guard them until the fry are old enough to defend themselves. Some parents will even move the babies to a hollowed out cave or dug out substrate spot to protect them better. Younger parents however, may eat the eggs and even the fry until they mature more. For this reason, you may want to scoop out the eggs and put them in an egg tumbler/breeding tank until they are big enough to be with their parents again. If you begin to see eggs turning white these eggs are not fertilized and will start to grow fungus on them. This fungus can spread to all the eggs in the group killing off any fertile eggs you may have. It is recommended you remove these eggs if possible with out damaging the good ones. Dosing with Methylene Blue can also be a safe method to treat and protect eggs from over fungal growth.

Red Spotted Severum

Adult Red Spotted Severum

Quick Overview

Care Level: intermediate

Temperament: Calm to Semi-aggressive

Size: 8 - 10in 

Minimum Tank size: 55 Gallon for one, 75 gallon + preferred

Water Parameters: 75-82°F(Aquarium heater required), dH of 2-6, pH 6.0-7.0 (A stable pH, is a safe pH)

Food: Omnivore, protein pellets, veggie based cichlid pellets, blood worms, black worms, green peas

Origin: Bred in captivity, The original H. Severus are from the Amazon Basin of South America

Juvenile Red Spotted Severum

About

Red Spotted Severums are very similar to the Golden Severum in size and tank requirements. As juveniles you may notice more of the yellow or golden color on your Severum but as they grow they will turn more into the photo seen at the top of this page. The eye popping red coloration of this fish was selectively bred from Gold Severums. These attractive fish are not true mouth brooders, rather they find a flat rock or clear out an area on the substrate and lay their eggs guarding them until hatched. This captive bred line seems to grow larger then its cousins as well with some breeders getting sizes of 10-12in on occasion.

Tank Requirements

Since this fish is bred from Golden Severums their tank requirements and care are almost the same. If you plan on having just one of these beautiful cichlids a minimum tank size of 55 gallons is required. But this also depends on what other fish you plan to house with these elegant fish. So if you wish to buy a pair you will want a minimum tank size of 75 gallons since these fish can get up to 10inches long on though many average around 8 inches. This size tank not only gives you length and height, but it gives width as well giving the two Severum room to turn around. As you can see the more you want the bigger you will have to go. When upgrading tanks a deeper foot print is advised to give them plenty of room to turn around. 

Décor is very important to go over with any type of fish you buy. As mentioned above these fish are omnivores, meaning they eat veggie based foods as well. So don't plan on putting any Severum into a planted tank as they will munch away at them, unless you buy a hardy plant or fast growing plants such as Hornwort. But some shading and places to hide are recommend to reduce stress, using drift wood, stacked rocks and fake plants can help provide cave like structures for these big fish. Most stores do not carry premade caves for this size of fish, so buying something small may cause them to get stuck inside. Some Severum owners do not use any caves leaving the whole take open for swimming and have a few fake plants around the tank. This can work as well if they are raised up into this environment to reduce stress levels from not being able to effectively hide. A sand substrate should be used because these fish dig periodically and sometimes during mating if no flat surfaces are chosen by the pair breeding. Using sand will also avoid any damage to the fish during feeding time as they scoop up food off the ground. 

Filtration

 You will need a good filtration system since these big fish can be pretty dirty with the larger amount of waste they produce. With a weak system your tank parameters can change fast which can harm and sometimes kill your fish. Signs you need a better filtration system are cloudy water, algae growth, stinky water, sick fish and many other symptoms due to bad water quality (some of these symptoms can be due to other reason then filtration). It is recommended to have a canister filter or hang on back filter that is rated for one or two sizes bigger then your tank size. Many hobbyists run both systems using hang on back filters and a canister filters to keep up. Some people also use Sponge filters inside the tank with a canister filter to help polish the water or serve as another biological filter to help keep the tank balanced and clean.

Canister Filter intake and outtake

Feeding

As stated with the other types of Severums, Red Spotted Severums are omnivores, meaning they need protein and veggies in their diet. Feeding these fish a mixed diet is recommended to in sure they are receiving all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. Protein and Veggie pellets or sticks are a great staple with treats such as black worms, blood worms, Mysis shrimp and green peas are good sources of nutrients and the fish really enjoy it. Try not to over feed since this will cause your tank to become dirty faster and also is not health for the fish. Rather do small feeding once or twice a day. Try not to feed more then what they will eat in 3 minutes, if you have extra food floating or sitting in the tank try to scoop it out. Food that sits in water will start to decay after 30 minutes which can cause algae growth and illness.

Golden Severum

Quick Overview

Care Level: intermediate

Temperament: Calm to Semi-aggressive

Size: 8 - 10in

Minimum Tank size: 55 gallons for one, 75 gallons or more preferred

Water Parameters: 75-82°F(Aquarium heater required), dH of 2-6, pH 6.0-7.0 (A stable pH, is a safe pH even if it is not the recommended pH)

Food: Omnivore, protein pellets, veggie based cichlid pellets, blood worms, black worms, green peas

Origin: Bred in captivity, original H. Severus are from the Amazon Basin of South America

About

The Golden or Gold Severum is a very popular Cichlid fish in the aquarium trade. The yellow color morph of this beautiful fish is not its native color. In the wild these fish have a more greenish-brown color to blend in with their natural surroundings. Vibrant popping colors in the fish trade are very popular, so many hobbyists strive to breed in new color morphs of many fish. Such as the Red Severum or the Turquoise Severum by careful selective breeding processes.

Tank Requirements

Golden Severums are known for being one of the bigger cichlids and therefore require more to live a long happy life. Caring for one of these guys requires a minimum of 55 gallons for tank size, however if you have or wish to buy a pair you will want a minimum tank size of 75 gallons since these fish can get up to 10inches long on occasions. This size tank not only gives you length and height, but it gives width as well giving the two Severum room to turn around. If you are planning to upgrade tanks a deeper foot print is advised to avoid unneeded stress and aggression from not having plenty room to swim. 

Décor is another important topic for these fish. As mentioned above these fish are omnivores, meaning they eat veggie based foods as well. Don't plan to keep many live plants in the tank with these fish unless you buy a hardy plant. They are known to pick and eat away at live plants. But some shading and places to hide are recommend to reduce stress. Using drift wood or stacked rocks can help provide cave like structures for these big fish, since most store bought caves will become to small and may cause them to get stuck inside. 

The substrate should be a sand like grain since these fish dig periodically during mating if no flat surfaces are chosen buy the couple to lay their eggs on. A sand substrate will avoid any damage being done to the fish and will also help keep the tank clean since all debris sit on the surface. Making it easier to clean as well with a quick vacuum sweep.

Filtration

The bigger the fish the more dirt comes with them. If you don't have a good filtration system your tank parameters can change fast which can harm and sometimes kill your fish. You can notice cloudy water, algae growth, stinky water, sick fish and many other symptoms due to bad water quality. Even if you do water changes every day, if the filtration isn't big enough or strong enough the beneficial bacteria in your filters wont cut it. It is recommended to have a canister filter or hang on back filter that is rated for one or two sizes bigger then your tank size. Some hobbyists run both systems using the hob(hang on back) as a back up catching anything the canister filter misses. Sponge filters can also be used inside the tank with a canister filter to help polish the water or serve as another biological filter to keep the tank balanced and clean.

Feeding

Gold Severums are omnivores, meaning they need protein and veggies in their diet. Feeding these fish a mixed diet is recommended to in sure they are receiving all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. Protein and Veggie pellets or sticks are a great staple with treats such as black worms, blood worms, mysis shrimp and green peas are good sources of protein and the fish really enjoy it. Try not to over feed since this will cause your tank to become dirty faster and also is not health for the fish. Rather do small feeding once or twice a day. Try not to feed more then what they will eat in 3 minutes, if you have extra food floating or sitting in the tank and no other fish to eat them try to scoop it out. Food that sits in water will start to decay after 30 minutes which can cause algae growth and illness.

Welcome

Welcome to the world of Severum Cichlids! Here you will learn all about Severums, their colors, care and tank needs. I want to share all the information I can to help grow and teach our community of fish lovers. These beautiful fish are one of the big boys, so I want to make sure anyone interested is well prepared to own this elegant creature. Please join me as we learn about new fish and old fish together.

Severum Cichlids Overview 

Golden Severum {H. Severus} Captive bred coloration

●The Severum Cichlid also known as poor mans discus, Hero Severum and a few other names is a species that are all under the Genus "Heros". Many Heros however are not 'True' Hero Severums, such as the Heros Liberifer, which until 2014 was mistaken to be part of the same species.

H. Liberifer (Not a Hero Severus)

● The Severum Cichlid species are all native to South America. Where their natural habitat includes lakes, rivers and flooded area with fallen trees and vegetation.

● In the wild their coloration is not as vibrate as our captive bred variants such as the Red, Golden and Green Severums. Red being a color variant from selective breed of the Yellow Severum line. These colors have become available due to selective breeding over time.

● This beautiful fish grows on average to about 8 inches in length. On some occasions 10 inches has even been recorded. So it's important to pick your tank mates wisely to avoid any late night snacks later on. A strong filtration system is also recommend since these are larger fish which produce a good amount of waste.

Severum Cichlids Overview

Golden Severum {H. Severus} Captive bred coloration

●The Severum Cichlid also known as poor mans discus, Hero Severum and a few other names is a species that are all under the Genus "Heros". Many Heros however are not 'True' Hero Severums, such as the Heros Liberifer, which until 2014 was mistaken to be part of the same species.

H. Liberifer (Not a Hero Severus)

● The Severum Cichlid species are all native to South America. Where their natural habitat includes lakes, rivers and flooded area with fallen trees and vegetation.

● In the wild their coloration is not as vibrate as our captive bred variants such as the Turquoise, Red, Golden and Green Severums. The Green Severum was bred to make the Goldens, while the Golden(Yellow) Severums were selectively bred to make the Red Spotted Severums. All these colors have become available due to selective breeding over time.

● This beautiful fish grows on average to about 8 inches in length. On some occasions 10 inches has even been recorded. So it's important to pick your tank mates wisely to avoid any late night snacks later on. A strong filtration system is also recommend since these are larger fish which produce a good amount of waste.