Trials and tribulations of Severum breeding

[Spence]

Currently residing in my 5' 120 gallon aquarium are a Gold Severum (m) and a Green Severum (f). Both are roughly 7 months old. The female has seemingly done everything in her power to lure the male into fertilizing the eggs she lays.

Today was the 3rd time laying eggs for this female, and the male could care less. He hangs around while she lays the eggs, with a little sparring mixed in between. As soon as she finishes laying he moves in and eats the eggs. Does even bother trying to fertilize them. And then for good measure give the female a good beating.

So for the last three months I've been excited as I've actually caught her laying the eggs each time. Only to watch the male get a nice little snack and then watching my female get ripped fins and banged up sides. I'm hoping he catches on as I'm pretty interested to see what the Green/Gold cross will look like (a bit of both perhaps?) Maybe he is still a bit young and will figure out his job in good time.

 

[Spence]

Guess I should add a pic just to make the thread a bit more enjoyable. You can see the Green Severum has some ripped fins and white marks on the side as a result of the males temper.

 

[neutrino]

Ime severums can be tricky, relatively speaking, not always a simple matter of add a male and a female, add water, get fry, like some cichlids types. Pairs can vary in compatibility, some will settle down to be well mated after some initial bickering, some seem to always bicker, though they may still produce fry, some never seem to work it out and others don't get along at all. Also, some male golds or reds aren't always successful breeders and seem not to be fertile.

I've had it work out where you put two random sevs in a tank and they end up a cooperative pair, but no guarantees. I've seen also them do nothing but fight or a larger male bully the female. Since they can be picky about mates in this way, the odds are better putting a group in a tank and letting a pair or two sort itself out from the group, but not everyone can do this.

 

[neutrino]

...Also, sometimes it can help a pair to bond if there are other fish in the tank for them to worry about. But if the male isn't interested in the first place that may not make much difference. No guarantees, but sometimes you have to give them time. I've had pairs where one or the other wasn't interested at first, but eventually they started spawning together.

 

[ryansmith83]

If they are only seven months old, the male may not be old enough. They take longer to mature than females, sometimes 12 - 18 months before they will successfully fertilize and produce viable eggs.

Also, I personally wouldn’t choose to breed that female if you’re hoping to raise the fry due to the spinal deformity she has. If it’s genetic that will pass on to the fry.

 

[Spence]

I think I can see why you said she has spinal deformity, but I think that is just the position she happened to be in the moment I clicked the picture. You are referring to the bend just in front of the tail fin correct? She typically does not have that bend. Here's another pic...can you let me know if you still see something that you think is an issue.

Not my best effort at getting a good pic...just wanted to get something up quick to get a little feedback.

 

[neutrino]

If they are only seven months old, the male may not be old enough. They take longer to mature than females, sometimes 12 - 18 months before they will successfully fertilize and produce viable eggs..

Ah, yeah... agree. Was tired and forgot the 7 month age, just had the image of a nice looking male in my head when I was writing.