Severum tsikhlazoma: varieties, tips for care and breeding

Many lovers of aquarium fish are willing to start Severum. They are beautiful, bright, easily adaptable and do not suffer from a number of diseases to which their less resistant counterparts are exposed. In everyday life, a name such as false discussince severum really looks like this fish. Learn more about the features, varieties and rules of keeping these elegant and beautiful inhabitants of the aquariums from our article.

Severum cichlazoma belongs to the cichlid family. She pleases the eye with her elegance and a variety of colors. Typically, bird markets do not sell original Severums found in their natural habitats, but breeding forms, each of which has its own name. In addition, after innovations in the classification, they began to be assigned to another genus - Heros. Nevertheless, they are habitually considered representatives of the genus Cichlasoma and have retained their familiar name.

These fish attracted human attention in the 19th century, when they began to be caught in the basins of the Amazon, Rio Negro and Colombia. They differ in rather impressive heads and a flattened body. In aquariums, severums can reach a length of 20 cm, and in the wild, in the waters of hot countries, thirty-centimeter specimens are found.

Severums differ from their relatives Discus cichlids in color and size.Cyclamose severum at home does not grow more than 20 cm, Discus may be 10 cm longer. As for the color, the severum has a greenish-golden abdomen, and young individuals also usually have eight black vertical stripes on the body. Because of this she is also called convict fish, deacon, striped cichlid. Another variant of the name Severum - calm cichlid.

Difficulties in identifying by sex can occur even with an experienced aquarist. These differences are so unsteady that even the fish themselves can get confused in this matter. For example, sometimes there are cases when two females form a pair, spawn, but it remains unfertilized. And yet there are a number of signs that help to distinguish a male from a female:

• the anal and dorsal fins in boys are more pointed;
• the color of males is more saturated;
• the female forehead has a more convex shape;
• the boy’s gills are partially decorated with dark pigment;
• females are “marked” with a dark spot on the dorsal fin.

During the selection, a huge number of Severum species appeared, which differ from their ancestor in that they are more suitable for home maintenance. Consider the most popular and beautiful of them.

This red dot Severum has a very nice eye color. His body is painted in yellow, while it is decorated with red spots that resemble pearls.

One of the colored species, devoid of black stripes - the usual colors for most Severum. The body of the fish is painted yellow, and the tail and fin on the back have a lighter tone with yellow spots, which makes them look like gold.

The color of these individuals can vary from olive to silver with dark spots. Its main “trick” is orange fins and a bright stripe of the same color in the head area. A rather original color makes them vivid representatives of the genus.

His middle name is green severum. That is the color of his scales, which are decorated with dark spots. It is distinguished by its graceful body shape, young individuals are also covered with vertical stripes, but with age they become indistinguishable.

For his pretty scarlet tummy, he is also called red-bellied. Over time, a black streak appears more and more brightly in the caudal fin area.

The beautiful "blue emerald" of aquamira is in great demand among breeders. The beautiful emerald blue color captivates both amateurs and professionals in the aquarium business. The dark streaks typical of Severum, located on the sides, change shape with age and become like spots.

The fish Severum Inirida also has a rather interesting color, which makes it a welcome specimen for the aquarist. Her body of dark color is decorated with iridescent silver spots. From afar, they can resemble stripes running along the sides from the abdomen to the back.

This fish is not difficult to withstand temperature changes in the aquarium, if they are within acceptable limits. In addition, it is resistant to many fish diseases. The only thing that is important for these beautiful fish is a rather spacious "house", that is, an aquarium. It is noted that their complexion may depend on the vessel in which they live. So, in aquariums with high walls, these fish begin to swell in breadth, which makes them similar to discus, and in narrow ones, on the contrary, they increase in length.

Severums love to tug on algae and even tear them up, thereby devaluing all the efforts of the owner to improve the aquarium. Vegetation with strong roots is best for them. In such cases, it is recommended to plant more representatives of the aquarium flora such as cryptocorin, vallisneria, which quickly grow in length. So that they "sit" pretty tightly, they must be rooted with particular care, further enhancing the abutment strength of large pebbles.

Pure water contributes to the normal condition of its inhabitants., and an aesthetically transparent aquarium looks much better than a muddy one. Despite the fact that the fish themselves love stagnant water, it still needs to be cleaned and the flow of oxygen. Every week, you need to replace a fifth of the volume of water in the aquarium with clean. As for lighting, in this regard, fish are undemanding - the usual light mode for a home reservoir is quite suitable for them.

Severums love to eat a variety of foods. They are suitable for both live food in ice cream and dry. An inexpensive duckweed plant is quite suitable to make up for their need for plant foods. Even these fish will not refuse to top up in the form of scalded lettuce or spinach.

To share these pets, you need to choose fish of similar dimensions. Too small individuals will be perceived by Severum as food. This also applies to everyone's favorite guppies, neons and tetras. Keep in mind that American cichlids are milder in nature than African ones, but predatory habits may awaken from them - Not very small, but slow hydrobionts can be persecuted. Severums will show respect to their great neighbors and behave calmly with them.

They really can be called pets, as they recognize their owner and can "communicate" with him through the glass. When it appears, they move more lively, thereby showing their interest, and look towards the person. At the same time, they do not show such warmth in communication with strangers, and sometimes they behave with caution. When you see an aquarium with these beauties at a party, it is better to admire them from a distance - you should not test their patience.

Getting offspring from your favorite fish is always a pleasure, and if you seriously think about selling severums, then you should know all the subtleties of the process of their breeding.

To make a couple that will bring offspring, you need to purchase a flock of Severum. If the sex of the fish is known, then it is enough to buy one male and three or four females. When individuals enter the time of maturation, they themselves will choose partners. The choice is needed so that the boy does not select an individual from his masonry. It is difficult to say exactly how he makes a choice, but it is precisely this approach that makes it possible to obtain healthy offspring.

After the “family” has successfully formed, all other neighbors in the pack will have to be evicted from the aquarium so that the fish do not begin to show aggression towards each other. They can be transferred to another tank, donated to someone or try to sell. If you initially want to get a couple of producers that will multiply, then buy ready-made - this will avoid unnecessary problems.

To determine that a male and a female have found each other and are ready to start giving offspring, you can as follows: they began to swim together, to observe the borders of their territory, in addition, the cichlid shows possessive feelings for the second half (trying to close it with its relatives with its body).In order to encourage fish to breed, create a comfortable living environment for them. Suits them best water with an acidity of 7 pH and hardness not higher than 15.

Before the female lays eggs, she and the male participate in the so-called love games - the fish begin to swim, describing circles in the water. Sometimes they spin in a “kiss” - with their mouths clasped. When a female lays eggs, she is fertilized by the male. Further, the tasks of the family include caring for the offspring - they carefully monitor the safety of the masonry until the fry hatch.

Toddlers hatch from eggs about a week after throwing eggs. At first, they hardly move around the aquarium, eating what is in the gall sac. When the nutrient supply comes to an end, there is nothing left for them but to begin to extract feed on their own. More precisely, there is something that a caring owner will fill them with. Thus begins their maturation, and gradually small fish grow to the standard sizes of their species.

Summing up, we note that Severum - one of the most prominent representatives of the aquarium world. The variety of their colors makes them popular with both amateurs and professional breeders.

When populating them with other fish, remember the predatory nature of these cichlids and do not create dangerous situations - the proximity to smaller or slower fish can be perceived by the Severum as a reason to hunt for them. At the same time, they are not indifferent to their master and look at him with great interest, demonstrating affection.

You will learn more about this fish species from the video below.