The Acará Severo (Heros Severus) or Acará Peba is among the fish that create a more intense relationship with their owners, a characteristic that some cichlids usually develop with the aquarist who feeds them.
This cichlid is not suitable for community aquariums with small fish.
To be kept with other fish, these must be your size or more and the aquarium must have more than 200 liters to prevent Severus from attacking the other inhabitants of the tank, especially during the breeding season, when the fish becomes quite aggressive.
Severo is undemanding about water quality, which does not dispense with care with siphoning the bottom, filter maintenance and partial changes.
It prefers a slightly acidic pH (close to 6.5) and temperature around 26°C.
Plants are very welcome, but the most resistant species such as Echinodorus and Anubias should be chosen.
A warning sign when the fish is not happy with the aquarium or is scared is its color, the fish is pale and with vertical stripes very accentuated.
Reproduction is not very difficult, the most complicated part is the formation of the couple.
The male usually has a bluer head, its dorsal fin is longer and ends well tapered, in addition to being larger than the female, which has a rounder end of the dorsal fin.
The couple chooses the egg laying site, usually a smooth surface, the female lays the eggs and the male fertilizes them shortly thereafter.
Some couples take care of the eggs and then the chicks, others end up devouring them.
If this behavior is repeated more than once, remove the female after spawning, and sometimes it is even necessary to remove both from close to the offspring.
If everything goes well, the eggs should hatch within 48 hours and the parents can go days without feeding, just taking care of the young.
After a week or two, leave the puppies alone and feed them brine shrimp infusoria and nauplii until they start accepting chow.
If the aquarium meets the requirements of the fish, the couple can spawn up to once a month.