Severum Breeding....

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Hey All,

This is my first time in this forum so i'm a bit of a newbie

On sunday i'll be getting 6 Rotkeil Severums of which 2 are a breeding pair. They have spawned 7 times in 3 months for the owner so i have no doubts they want to make babies

Now i've got a few questions....

1. Has anybody on here ever bred severums before ?

2. When they do spawn can i remove the object they spawned on into another tank on thier own or will the parents have to be with them to fend for them till they grow ?

3. How long till they get a good enough size to sell ?

My plan is to breed them and sell them to the public and even my LFS.

Any help would be appreciated.

James

 

[minxfishy]

Welcome to the NW side of things.

Let me just say Im sooooo jealous right now, Rotkiel are lovely and I want some

Severums like most NW cichlids make good parents and will fend off, somewhat aggressively I would imagine any other fish trying to get to the eggs or free swimming fry, so you could have WWIII on your hands, if you have a tank large enough for the breeding pair, I would leave them in there alone to take care of their offspring.

Dont know about how big, I guess once they have big enough to fend for themselves and eating normally they are big enough, you will want to remove them once they grow a bit as the parents will spawn again and then the juvi's become a threat to the babies as well.

Having said all this, I havent ever spawned severums, owned some but never spawned them.

 

[sswm]

If they are going in that 150 Gal tank, it might be less stressful for the sevs with the other fish you have in there and easier to raise them if you remove the eggs. As minx said they will protect them though.

 

[jayjay]

Have they raised fry before or just laid eggs? Also do you have experience raising cichlids?

I've bred severums before, one of my pairs are about to spawn as I type this.

Are you going to be trying to breed them in the main tank you have? I would suggest you remove the object the eggs are on straight away after they've been laid if this is your plan, otherwise they probably won't last long.

Are you trying to raise all the spawns you get from these? I wouldn't reccomend it. Just keep one spawn at a time, that way there's last work on your behalf, less worry about waterchanges so often etc.

I'd remove the eggs into a 5ish gallon tank, allow them to hatch and the fry to become free swimming. As they grow I'd move them into something like a 15g, then once they've outgrown that either a large growout tank or maybe a couple of 30g tanks.

I would also say cull most of the fry (especially any that are small or deformed) and raise the best to keep good quality fish. You can use them to feed to the fish in your 150g. I'd say keep around 30 at most from each spawn. Do you have people who will take this fish off you when you are trying to sell? Will you be posting them as, to be honest, you may find it hard getting rid of them after everyone local has some. Have you spoken to LFS about them taking some off your hands?

Ideally you'd want to get them to about 1.5" before you try to sell them. Which should take any where up to 2 months. Growth depends on food, tank sizes, temperature, water changes and genetics.

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Have they raised fry before or just laid eggs? Also do you have experience raising cichlids?

I've bred severums before, one of my pairs are about to spawn as I type this.

Are you going to be trying to breed them in the main tank you have? I would suggest you remove the object the eggs are on straight away after they've been laid if this is your plan, otherwise they probably won't last long.

Are you trying to raise all the spawns you get from these? I wouldn't reccomend it. Just keep one spawn at a time, that way there's last work on your behalf, less worry about waterchanges so often etc.

I'd remove the eggs into a 5ish gallon tank, allow them to hatch and the fry to become free swimming. As they grow I'd move them into something like a 15g, then once they've outgrown that either a large growout tank or maybe a couple of 30g tanks.

I would also say cull most of the fry (especially any that are small or deformed) and raise the best to keep good quality fish. You can use them to feed to the fish in your 150g. I'd say keep around 30 at most from each spawn. Do you have people who will take this fish off you when you are trying to sell? Will you be posting them as, to be honest, you may find it hard getting rid of them after everyone local has some. Have you spoken to LFS about them taking some off your hands?

Ideally you'd want to get them to about 1.5" before you try to sell them. Which should take any where up to 2 months. Growth depends on food, tank sizes, temperature, water changes and genetics.

Thanks mate.

I do plan to remove the object they spawn on into another tank cos in the 150g they'll be obliterated....


any more advice you got for me ?

 

[mark7616]

Have they raised fry before or just laid eggs?

There my Rokteils yes they have raised the fry but as you know once in my tank they get to the wiggler/ free swimming stage its goodnight. This is why I said to James that he would be able to breed them better in his tank.

 

[jayjay]

What size tank will you use to raise the fry James? Ideally you'll want to use BBS or microworms as a fry food, but I only ever used frozen BBS and crushed flake. I wouldn't use any chemicals like methelane blue to prevent fungus, it shouldn't be that much of a problem. Like I said before I'd start with a small tank as it's easier for all the fry to get food, then move to a larger one.

Have you got any specific questions James?

I can understand why they weren't raising many fry in your tank Mark, are you selling all of the ones you have?

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

What size tank will you use to raise the fry James? Ideally you'll want to use BBS or microworms as a fry food, but I only ever used frozen BBS and crushed flake. I wouldn't use any chemicals like methelane blue to prevent fungus, it shouldn't be that much of a problem. Like I said before I'd start with a small tank as it's easier for all the fry to get food, then move to a larger one.

Have you got any specific questions James?

I can understand why they weren't raising many fry in your tank Mark, are you selling all of the ones you have?

Yeah he sold all of them to me

I've got a small tank setup waiting for when they do spawn can't remember the make or size tho ?

i'll take a picture later lol
its something like 40litres or around tht size.....

 

[jayjay]

This is just how I usually raise cichlids but I find, a really small tank, 12"x8x8, so about 12 litres, best for hatching the eggs and getting the fry through the first few weeks. Then the 40 litre tank you have would be perfect for the next stage. But ideally you'll want about a 25g 36x12x12, or something similar to get the fish up to about 1.5".

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Well there in the 150g now,

settling in, the bigger one had a bit of a tiff with my oscar but they are fine now.

Now i suppose its a waitin game lol

 

[jayjay]

Shouldn't take long, if they were breeding regularly before I wouldn't expect it to be more than two weeks.

What are you feeding them?

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Prawns, Flakes, Cichlid Pellets, Carnivore pellets

anything they can get thier mouths on tbh

 

[jayjay]

Should only be a matter of time!

 

[micvic]

Hi

Would you let me know when your fry are hatched and ready to rock and roll! I've been desperately looking for rotkeils for ages! there near on impossible to get your hands on.

Good luck with the breeding!

 

[peter22UK]

i would love a rotkeil tooooooo

by post?? lol