How to breed severums, Cichlasoma severum, with pictures

LA Pix.
Even at two inches these little rascals sport some very attractive colors when fed well.

Description. As their French web site said, “colorful and very robust, a calm fish.” We also have to add that they grow into pets that rush to the front when you approach their tank. Recognition? Hunger? Positive reinforcement? Could be all three. Anyway, severums come right out and wag their tails when they see you coming. New severums hang back a bit at first. Observe in the last pics and the next pics how they keep a “heads up” attitude most of the time.

LA Pic
Male severums display more color than the females. Their eyes get redder with age.

LA Pic
Totally unconditioned male severum. More bars on this strain. Looking up and beat up.

LA Pic
Female severums usually look better than this gal. She's 4-inches and really beat up.

Richard Paone, Carlisle, PA, August 29, 2007
There are two pictures of fish in severums I that are actually convicts.

LA Pic
Female severums usually look better than this gal. She's 4-inches and really beat up.

Richard Paone, Carlisle, PA, August 29, 2007
No, that's definitely a male convict. Male sevs have dots and worm like markings around the jaw.

A: I wish I still had her/him so I could see her in real life again. You could be right, so I'll add your comments to my Severum page. LA

Richard Paone, Carlisle, PA, August 29, 2007I forgot we were talking about female severums. Here is a picture of a lovely young lady.

Colors. As a male matures (or he enters into a breeding phase), his bars will darken, his fins will color up, and the traces of blue “worms” on his face will grow and intensify. His colors will vary from time to time. Diet greatly affects his colors as well as the presence of a nubile female. Females become colorful but never as colorful as the males. Males also grow longer fins and larger bodies -- just like most South American cichlids.

LA Pic
Notice how they usually look up -- like festivums.

LA Pic
Same severums as above after a 90% water change so their water's clear.

Diet. “Omnivores” as the French say. They (the severums, not the French) greedily eat flakes and pellets. Severums will fight over green peas. They love frozen foods. And they’ll wiggle their butts off for live foods. One report said adding crickets to their menu triggered spawnings. We never tried it, but keep in mind that you can get crickets in a can these days. Green foods (with spirulina) help intensify their colors (blacks, blues, greens). Brine shrimp, plankton, and krill bring out their reds. Severums are not picky eaters.

LA Pic
At under three inches, this little severum has as much color as the earlier four inchers.

Young Severums. At one-inch long, little severums look like discus -- normal discus, not those hormonized glowing discus. But at one-fifth the price, you can easily tell which ones most people buy.

LA Pic
This severum ignores the baby kribensis (one of fifty) right above his forehead.

Plant Eaters. In additon to flakes and pellets, severums love live plants. At the very least, these scaly salad shooters will shred your shrubbery. Some they eat. All others they rip to pieces. So decorate with plastic plants and give them an occasional bunch of affordable anacharis.

LA Pic
Gold severums belong to the same species. Crossing the colors yields all greens.

Water. Unlike discus, severums do great in any type of water as long as you keep it moderately clean. pH and hardness affect them very little. However, these big eaters need frequent water changes. Keeping driftwood in their tank releases tannic and humic acids into the water (as well as brown coloration) and probably makes them feel more at home. (Note the color of the water in the juvie pix shown above this guy).

LA Pic
Not all severum males achieve bright colors as Casanova here illustrates.

LA Pic
This guy needs a female severum to turn on his colors.

LA Pix
These two severums were put together two hours ago in a 55. Love at first bite.

Breeding. Lip-locking and tail-slapping (typical cichlid pairing egg behaviors) precede their actual spawning. Severums like round or flat rocks to spawn on as opposed to digging pits in the gravel. Give them some hefty rocks or some chunks of wood to spawn on.

LA Pic
Once they get started, severums concentrate on what they like. First date for both.

LA Pix
These two 8" severums were brought in as a spawning pair. Can't decide sexes yet.

LA Pic
6" gold severum that came in with them. They beat up this guy pretty good.

LA Pic
Severums lay a neat patch of eggs. Bigger the parents, the bigger the clutch of eggs.

Severum Eggs. For maximum fry production, yank out your severum eggs. Or, if you have enough room, you can’t beat the entertainment value of watching the parents care for their hyperactive herd of fry -- especially as they grow larger.

LA Pic
An airstone makes a fairly efficient parent. The white eggs are dead eggs.

LA Pic
At 3/4 inches, baby severums are ready to leave home. Most are looking up.

LA Pic
More medium severums. You can now find different kinds of severums on the market.

LA Pic
Male green severum and female gold severum just introduced. She beat him up later.

Fry Food. Start your severum fry on newly hatched brine shrimp or microworms. They convert to commercial foods much more easily than angels. LA

Kathryn Mazza, February 15, 2012
Hello! I am a frequent visitor of your website and would like to share some pics of a beautiful severum I have. Not sure of the sex, maybe you can tell, but it is about 4-5 inches and I believe was called a blood red severum or something. Thought you might like it for your severum page.

	Severums I The Poor Man's Discus -- Cichlasoma severum

Amphibians Axolotls Caecilian Worm Chaco Toad Mud Puppies Newts General Newts Eastern Newts Golden Newts Mandarin Salamanders Suriname Toad Tadpoles Terrarium I Terrarium II USA Toads Water Dogs Misc. Toads Frogs Bull Clawed Dumpy Dwarf Fire-Belly Floating Green Tree Leopard Pac Man Pipa pipa Pyxie Red-Eyed Tree Tomato Misc Frogs Misc Frogs II Misc Frogs III Misc Frogs IV Misc Frogs V Animals Bunnies Bunnies II Chinchillas Degus Ferrets Ferrets by BOB Gerbils Ground Squirrels Guinea Pig Hamsters I Hamsters II Hamsters III Hamsters IV Hamsters V Hedgehogs Kittens Kids & Kittens Mice Mice Pets II Parasites Rats I Rats II Rats III Rats, Hairless S-T Opossums Siberian Chipmunks Sugar Gliders Sugar Gliders II Water Bottles Bugs Crabby 500 Crab 04 Results Centipedes Cray/Lobsters Crayfish II Crayfish III Cray, Yucatan Fiddler Crabs Shrimp, Algae Shrimp, Aqua Shrimp, Red Shrimp, Flower Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, Rudolph Hermit Crabs Hermit Crabs II Madagas Roach Mantids Mini-Clams Mini-Crabs Patriot Crabs Giant Millipedes Red Claw Crabs Reiman Butterfly Snail, Apple Snail, Colombian Snail, Land Snail, Malaysian Snail, Mystery Snail, Trapdoor Scorpions Tarantulas Tarantulas II Tarantula Night 2006 TarantulaWeen VII TarantulaWeen 9 Misc. Bugs Misc Bugs II Birds Breeding Tips Button Quail Canaries Cockatiels Dove, Diamond Dove, Ringneck Finches Love Birds Parakeets Pelleted Foods Quaker Parrots Parrot Pictures Parrot Pix II Parrot Pix III Dave's Parrots Lizards Alligators Anoles Bearded Dragon Beardies II Calotes Chamel, Jackson Chamel, Panther Chamel, Veiled Crested Geckos Gecko, Golden Gecko, House Gecko, Leopard Gecko, Tokay Horned "Toads" Iguana New Iguana Dragons Iguana Q&A I Iguana Q&A II Iguana Training Iguana Update Cool Iguana Pics Knight Anoles Monitors, Nile Monitors, Savana Monitors, Water Salmonella Skinks Skinks Blue-Tongue Tegus Uromastyx maliensis Water Dragon Misc Lizards Misc Lizards 2 Misc Lizards 3 Misc Lizards 4 Misc Lizards 5 Misc Lizards 6 Misc Lizards 7 Misc Lizards 8 Misc Lizards 9 Snakes Anacondas Boa, Rosy Boa, Red-Tail Corn Snake Garter Snake Green Snake Kids/Corn Snakes Kids/Red-Tail Boas Kids at Pet Expo 1 Kids at Pet Expo 2 Kids at Pet Expo 3 Kids at Pet Expo 4 Kids at Pet Expo 5 King & Milk Python, Ball Python, Burmese Snakes Alive Snakesgiving Snakesgiving II Misc Snake Pix Misc Snakes II Misc Snakes III Turtles/Tortoises Box, Asian Box, USA Races Snapping Sulcata Water Western Painted Live Foods Blackworms Blood Worms Br Shrimp I Br Shrimp II Crayfish 1 Crayfish 2 Crayfish 3 Crickets Daphnia Earthworms Feeder Goldfish Fruit Flies Ghost Shrimp Glass Worms Grindal Worms Infusoria Mealworms Microworms Rosy Reds Super Worms Wax Worms White Clouds Decorating Bubbles Driftwood Gravel Plastic Plants Rocks Slow Growing Plants Miscellaneous Bob's Acclimation How to Start How to Add New Fish How to Keep Healthy Which Fish Get Along? 10 Questions to Ask What is Ich? Under Gravel Filters Sponge Filters Cloudy Water Cool Water Tanks Gravel Vacuums Preventing Disease Feeding to the Max Frozen Foods Green Water Nasty Chemicals Overfeeding Power Filters Rift Lake Salts Quarantine Tank Mini-Tank 2nd Av Bait Pet World Visit Dandelions Aquatic Plants Amazon Swords More Swords Sword Plants III Anubias Aponogetons A. boivinianus A. fenestralis A. ulvaceous Aquarium/Bog Banana Plant Bolbitis Bunch Bunch Plants II Cryptocorynes Crystalwort Dwarf Lily Grassy Grassy II Hornwort Hygrophila Lace Java Lance Fern Java Moss Moss Balls Onion Vermiculite Watersprite	LA "collorée et trés robuste ... poisson calme." About eight inch severums. LA Pix Mature adult severums sport the most colors -- particularly on their faces LA Pix. Even at two inches these little rascals sport some very attractive colors when fed well. Description. As their French web site said, “colorful and very robust, a calm fish.” We also have to add that they grow into pets that rush to the front when you approach their tank. Recognition? Hunger? Positive reinforcement? Could be all three. Anyway, severums come right out and wag their tails when they see you coming. New severums hang back a bit at first. Observe in the last pics and the next pics how they keep a “heads up” attitude most of the time. LA Pic Male severums display more color than the females. Their eyes get redder with age. LA Pic Totally unconditioned male severum. More bars on this strain. Looking up and beat up. LA Pic Female severums usually look better than this gal. She's 4-inches and really beat up. LA Pic However, she looks pretty good to this over-amorous male convict. Richard Paone, Carlisle, PA, August 29, 2007 There are two pictures of fish in severums I that are actually convicts. A: Do you mean this one? LA Pic Female severums usually look better than this gal. She's 4-inches and really beat up. I still think she's a severum. Possibly not? LA Richard Paone, Carlisle, PA, August 29, 2007 No, that's definitely a male convict. Male sevs have dots and worm like markings around the jaw. A: I wish I still had her/him so I could see her in real life again. You could be right, so I'll add your comments to my Severum page. LA Richard Paone, Carlisle, PA, August 29, 2007I forgot we were talking about female severums. Here is a picture of a lovely young lady. RP A: Okay. I'll add your pic also. LA Colors. As a male matures (or he enters into a breeding phase), his bars will darken, his fins will color up, and the traces of blue “worms” on his face will grow and intensify. His colors will vary from time to time. Diet greatly affects his colors as well as the presence of a nubile female. Females become colorful but never as colorful as the males. Males also grow longer fins and larger bodies -- just like most South American cichlids. LA Pic Notice how they usually look up -- like festivums. LA Pic Same severums as above after a 90% water change so their water's clear. Diet. “Omnivores” as the French say. They (the severums, not the French) greedily eat flakes and pellets. Severums will fight over green peas. They love frozen foods. And they’ll wiggle their butts off for live foods. One report said adding crickets to their menu triggered spawnings. We never tried it, but keep in mind that you can get crickets in a can these days. Green foods (with spirulina) help intensify their colors (blacks, blues, greens). Brine shrimp, plankton, and krill bring out their reds. Severums are not picky eaters. LA Pic At under three inches, this little severum has as much color as the earlier four inchers. LA Pix Even the little 1.25" severums look up most of the time. LA Pic 1.5-inch golds starting to color LA Pic Ditto in the greens. Young Severums. At one-inch long, little severums look like discus -- normal discus, not those hormonized glowing discus. But at one-fifth the price, you can easily tell which ones most people buy. LA Pic This severum ignores the baby kribensis (one of fifty) right above his forehead. Plant Eaters. In additon to flakes and pellets, severums love live plants. At the very least, these scaly salad shooters will shred your shrubbery. Some they eat. All others they rip to pieces. So decorate with plastic plants and give them an occasional bunch of affordable anacharis. LA Pic Gold severums belong to the same species. Crossing the colors yields all greens. LA Pic Lots of color variation within the golds also. Water. Unlike discus, severums do great in any type of water as long as you keep it moderately clean. pH and hardness affect them very little. However, these big eaters need frequent water changes. Keeping driftwood in their tank releases tannic and humic acids into the water (as well as brown coloration) and probably makes them feel more at home. (Note the color of the water in the juvie pix shown above this guy). LA Pic Not all severum males achieve bright colors as Casanova here illustrates. LA Pic This guy needs a female severum to turn on his colors. LA Pix These two severums were put together two hours ago in a 55. Love at first bite. LA Pix Our two new (much younger) severum stars. While our severum stars lock lips, the blue gourami dither fish looks on. Breeding. Lip-locking and tail-slapping (typical cichlid pairing egg behaviors) precede their actual spawning. Severums like round or flat rocks to spawn on as opposed to digging pits in the gravel. Give them some hefty rocks or some chunks of wood to spawn on. LA Pic Once they get started, severums concentrate on what they like. First date for both. LA Pic Before they spawned, both severums went thru a great case of ich. LA Pix These two 8" severums were brought in as a spawning pair. Can't decide sexes yet. LA Pic 6" gold severum that came in with them. They beat up this guy pretty good. LA Pic Same gold severum -- different view. LA Pic If you look close, you can see their little teeth. LA Pic Severums lay a neat patch of eggs. Bigger the parents, the bigger the clutch of eggs. Severum Eggs. For maximum fry production, yank out your severum eggs. Or, if you have enough room, you can’t beat the entertainment value of watching the parents care for their hyperactive herd of fry -- especially as they grow larger. LA Pic An airstone makes a fairly efficient parent. The white eggs are dead eggs. LA Pic At 3/4 inches, baby severums are ready to leave home. Most are looking up. LA Pic Medium green severums -- about three inches. LA Pic More medium severums. You can now find different kinds of severums on the market. LA Pix Even in the golds, mature males sport the most colors. LA Pic Male green severum and female gold severum just introduced. She beat him up later. Fry Food. Start your severum fry on newly hatched brine shrimp or microworms. They convert to commercial foods much more easily than angels. LA Kathryn Mazza, February 15, 2012 Hello! I am a frequent visitor of your website and would like to share some pics of a beautiful severum I have. Not sure of the sex, maybe you can tell, but it is about 4-5 inches and I believe was called a blood red severum or something. Thought you might like it for your severum page. KM KM KM A: Very nice severum pics. I'm adding the three to my severum page. Thanks. LA Severums II Severums III © 2003, © 2004, © 2005, © 2012 LA Productions 3600 Sixth Avenue Corner of Sixth & Euclid Avenues Des Moines, IA 50313 515 283-0300 Home Fish Other Stuff	Anabantids Betta Leaf Betta Breed 1 Betta Breed II Betta Info Betta Housing Betta Pla Kat Choc Gourami Climbing Perch Gourami Pix Kiss. Gourami Osphronemus Pearl Gourami More Pearls Paradise Fish Snakehead Spawn Gourami T. trichopterus Catfish Banjo Bullheads Bull Sharks Channel Corydoras Cory Pics Electric Glass Hoplos Otocinclus Pangassius Pictus Plecostomus Pleco Bristle Pleco Costly I Pleco Costly II Pleco Costly III Pleco Costly IV Pleco Costly V Pleco Costly VI Pleco Costly VII Raphael Red-Tail Shovelnose Sun Synodontis Synodontis petricola Turushuki Catfish Upside-down USD Gold Flake Misc Catfish Misc Catfish II Misc Catfish III Misc Catfish IV Misc Catfish V Cichlids African I African II African III African IV Af. Furniture Amer. Small Amer. Med Amer. Large Angelfish I Angelfish II Angelfish III Angelfish IV More Angels Buttikoferi Chocolate Chocolate Spawning Cichlid Decor Cichlid Food Convicts Convicts 2 Convicts 3 Convicts 4 Dempseys More Dempseys Jack Dempsey Spawn Discus Dither Fish Flower Horn Green Terror Jaguar More Jaguars Jaguar Spawning Jaguar Spawning II Jewel Fish Keo's Flowerhorns Keo's Flowerhorns II Kribensis Odd Couple Spawn Oscars 1 Oscars 2 Oscars 3 Oscars 4 Oscars 5 More Oscar More Oscar II More Oscars III More Oscars 2007 More Oscars 2007.5 Oscar Spawn Peacock Bass Red Devils More Red Devil Red Parrots Red Parrots Spawn Red Parrot Spawn II Pikes Pink Tilapia Rams Red Bay Snooks Red Bay Snook Spawn Roger Stephen's Cichlids Severums More Severums Severums III Tanganyikans Texas Cichlid Texas Spawning Texas Spawn II Uarus Misc Cichlids I Misc Cichlids II Misc Cichlids III Misc Cichlids IV Misc Cichlids V Misc Cichlids VI Misc Cichlids VII Misc Cichlids VIII Misc Cichlids IX Livebearer Guppies Half-Beak Mollies Moons/Platys Swordtails Minnows/Tetra Barbs Barbs, Black Barbs, Gold Barbs, Rosy Barbs, Tiger Barbs, Tinfoil Danios Danio Egg Saver Distochodus Fathead Minnows Headstanders Killies, Econ. Killies, Golden Killies, Peat Killies, Plant Misc Mini-Fish Pacús Piranha, Black Piranha, Red Rainbowfish Rainbowfish, Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish, Irian Silver Dollar Tetras, Larger Tetras, Smaller Tetras, Spawn Tetra, Vampire White Clouds Pond Fish Carp Channel Cat Gold. Comets Gold. Fantails More Fantails Gold. Oriental Gold Oriental II Gold. Spawn Kloubec Koi Farm Koi Koi II Koi III Oranda Spawn Plecostomus Shubunkins Oddballs Af. Butterfly Af. Lungfish Af. Mudskippr American Eel Archer Fish Arowana Bichirs Borneo Suckers Brackish I Brackish II Brackish III Brackish IV Brackish V Michael Troung's Pix Butterfly/Wasp Chameleon Fish Chromides Chin Alg Eater Crazy Fish Crocodile Fish Datnioides Dojo Dwarf Puffers Electric Cat Electric Eels Elephant Nose Exodon paradoxus Flounder Gars Glassfish Goby Bumble Goby Butterfly Goby Dragon Goby Misc. Half-Beak Knife African Knife Clown Knife Ghost Loach Botias Loach Clown Loach Kuhli Loach Weather Longear Sunfish Moray Eel Peacock Gudgeons Polypterids Puffers Ropefish Scats Siam Algae Eater Spiny Eels Snakehead Stingray Stonefish Wasp Fish Wolffish Wrest Half-Beak Misc Mini-Fishes Misc Odd Misc Odd II Misc Odd III Misc Odd IV Misc Odd V Misc Odd VI Sharks Bala Black Bull Chinese Hi-Fin Banded Iridescent Red-Tail Siam Algae Eater Pond Info Blank Park Zoo Bob Humphrey's Ponds Cattails Maffett Reservoir DMACC's Pond D.M. Botanical Center D.M. Water Works Dr. Ervanian's Garden Duckweed Dwarf Lily Ewing Park "Pond" Jan & Chris's Water Garden John McDonald's Pond Hall's Four Acres Klines' Water Garden Landscaper Effects Mini-Pond Pics Pioneer Corn's Pond Pond Fish Predators Pond on 38th Street Pond Pics Pond Plants More Pond Plants Pond Plants III Reiman Ponds River Scenes Riverview Island Selin's Water Gardens Selin's Japanese Garden Tom's Used Cars Pond Urbandale Duck Pond Water Hyacinth Water Lettuce Wild Ponds