# My new severum!



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

I got my first severum today, I am so excited!!!! I think it is a he due to the pointy fins. He is a little over 3 inches. My inspiration was "Vinny". Thank you!


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## Cichlidzzzzz (Dec 15, 2009)

Great looking little sev you got there. I wish i had room for a big enough tank to get one these guys. Best of luck with him!

Steve


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## cichlify (Sep 1, 2009)

very cool! My lfs is getting a couple in this Friday and is saving one for me! They should be the same size as yours, maybe a little smaller. Are there any other fish in the tank with him? "vinny" was also the reason I got interested in getting one as well! lol


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

Soooo cute! I LOVE red severums! Don't be too sure about it being a male. That's what I thought about mine, but it ended up being a girl!! She had similar fins as yours, and more wormy marks on her face. My male severum has way longer fins though. Let me know if you want to see a pic.

Enjoy your new baby! Severums are like puppies. They're really great


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## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Thanks, I would love to see pictures. For now, it is in a 29g with only a BN pleco. Within a month he should be in a 75g with an EBJD a firemouth and 2 syno cats. For now it is acting shy and trying to hide. Any suggestions? It would be okay male or female, I am not picky.


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## cichlify (Sep 1, 2009)

Isis24 said:


> Enjoy your new baby! Severums are like puppies. They're really great


thats unfortunate...my boston terrier just got house broken....not lookin to do that again!


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## 6footer (Dec 19, 2009)

is this a gold severum or one of those red spotted severums?


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

its a super red severum.

do the gold get as spectacular looking as the reds does anyone know???


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## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

I have been doing a little reading on these guys today. I am interested to know the gender of my cichlid but have conflicting info. Males have pointy fins and lots of squiggles on the face. Females have rounded fins and bare face. Mine has pointy fins and bare spots on the face especially between and around the eyes. What would your guess be? Curious; Is there a difference in size or attitude at maturity?


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## tranced (Jan 11, 2006)

i think that these 'red' severums have been bred specifically for alot of colour/markings, so perhaps the 'bare face' thing at least may not apply to them as much as it would to say a green sev.


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## ryansmith (Apr 10, 2003)

The super reds don't color up like greens and golds. Usually greens and golds don't have facial markings at a small size. They develop with age. I'm not sure how they get the bright red color to show up on such small fish... in the discus world you'd automatically assume they were hormoned or heavily color-fed, but I'm not sure if that's the case with the super reds or not.

Mine were a bright pinkish yellow when I got them and had spotting everywhere. As they grew, some of the spotting faded and they turned a more glowing gold color. I lost one at about 4" but the male that lived is now 6 - 7" and his color has gone back to more of a bright orange/red.

Trying to determine the sex by their pointed anal/dorsal fins is pretty hit-or-miss. A few of my females have pointy fins. They're not quite as dramatic as the males, which usually develop long, trailing fins, but they're still pointy.

Wait until the fish is larger and see if it develops striation around the nose/mouth.


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## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

ryansmith said:


> Wait until the fish is larger and see if it develops striation around the nose/mouth.


  What is striation? 

This fish is growing really fast! He has at least another half inch on him since I bought him just before Christmas. The fins have grown too and the anal fin extends in a point just beyond the tail. The dorsal is about as long as the tail and also pointy.


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## hey_wood1981 (Apr 7, 2004)

ryansmith said:


> Mine were a bright pinkish yellow when I got them and had spotting everywhere. As they grew, some of the spotting faded and they turned a more glowing gold color. I lost one at about 4" but the male that lived is now 6 - 7" and his color has gone back to more of a bright orange/red.


Interesting, I posted a question in a different thread wondering about their color and if things change with age. Thanks for sharing.

ladybugzcrunch, Great looking severum. I picked up a red spotted sev. last week. I can't wait for mine to get some size to it. Brilliant colors even at a small size.


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## JRB__ (Jan 8, 2010)

Stunning coloured severum! I've only ever seen them green or gold


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

example: stretch marks are striation, or, long strands of muscle grouped together such as a bicep are called striated muscle as opposed to smooth muscle.

simply the striation on a severum is the squigly marks that make up some of his coloration


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

ladybugzcrunch said:


> Thanks, I would love to see pictures. For now, it is in a 29g with only a BN pleco. Within a month he should be in a 75g with an EBJD a firemouth and 2 syno cats. For now it is acting shy and trying to hide. Any suggestions? It would be okay male or female, I am not picky.


I'm sorry I didn't see your post until now! Here's a link with pictures of my red Severum, Sunny Delight. She was my pride and joy  
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=201749&highlight=sunny+delight

In the beginning, Sunny D hid unless I walked up to the tank. I think it was because the tank was small and she didn't have enough room to swim much! Maybe she figured it wasn't really worth it for a couple of feet. She was in a 25 gallon at the time. Check out her fins and squiggles on her face--I always thought she was male!!


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## joel.uejio (Aug 28, 2009)

Great looking sev! I have one of these also (sold to me as a "red spot gold" ... *shrug*) -- mine is now about 3.5-4" and still a super-duper big baby!

For a while I had him with other cichlids and he was pushed around all over the place. I was forced to move him into a predator / community tank, which actually worked very well. He seemed to really benefit from the presence of dither fish (Congo tetras) and would spend much more time swimming around.

Recently I put him in a new tank with 3 small synos a gold female. He's gone back to being extremely shy, but is following the female around like a love-lorn teenager...


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## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Sunny Delight was beautiful! I would have guessed her male too. Mine has little in the way of squiggles on its face compared to her (none between the eyes and triangle shape squiggle area on each side of the head) but it is only about 3.75 inches long so I dunno if that will change or not.

It is still shy but getting better. Now it knows I am associated with food and is not as afraid of me as before. Instead of feeding it 1 or 2 big meals I give it a bunch of tiny meals instead which seems to be working as it has grown almost an inch in the 3 weeks I have had it; about .25 inch per week. I just bought some frozen krill today that I will try out tomorrow as a treat. I put 5 mbuna fry in with it (right out of the mouth) as a snack and it does not bother them at all even though they were only about 1cm when I pulled them from the female zebra! (s)he gets mad at plants sometimes and rips off a piece but seems much happier since I added the plants. I will add more tomorrow. I wish my EBJD would get growing so I could put them in my 75g


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