Breeding Severum (Heros Severus) In The Aquarium

Location

This freshwater fish lives in standing and slow-moving tributaries of Amazon River and Orinoco River in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil.

Body description

Body of the fish is laterally compressed. Colour of the body is beige-green. There are 8 transverse, dark stripes on the sides of the fish. The last stripe intersecting the dorsal fin. These stripes become less visible with age. The eyes, under-side and lower fins are orange-red. There are also several multi-colour variants of this fish, e.g. green, gold, brown. Male’s last rays of the dorsal and anal fins are elongated. He has also red dots on his head.

Temperament and behaviour

This is peaceful and a bit timid species. It is only aggressive and territorial during the spawning season. Then it may dig in the substrate and destroy plants more than usual. This species may nibble soft leaves of plants and undermine their roots. It can also eat small fish. You should keep these fish with angelfish, discus, acaras, catfish – with big and peaceful species.

Aquarium decoration

This species prefers spacious tank with a lot of plants, roots, branches, rocks, flat surfaces, space to swim, effective filtration system. A partial water exchange should be done regularly. You may also keep these fish in "black water" biotope aquarium.

Breeding

This is an oviparous species. The fish form pairs within group, but it may take some time before it happens. The fish are a bit fussy. You should breed these fish in a separate aquarium. Breeding tank should include hideouts with flat surfaces, very soft water with pH=5.0 and 26-28°C water temperature. Yoou transfer pair of the fish to the breeding tank and feed them with plenty of live food. The fish starts courtships – they rub each other, push up, connect with their mouth. Female lays eggs on the flat surface, previously cleaned by male. Usually it is vertical flat surface. The parents take care and protect the roe. The eggs hatch after 2 days. Then male or female takes the larvae into mouth for incubation. The fry starts to swim and feed 6 days later. Parents still protect the young for the next 2 weeks.