Well, you said you don't want babies much, neither do your sevs, yet anyway, lol. They may need some practice if this is a fairly early attempt. Did you see the male try to fertilize the eggs or just go for snacks? Female cichlids tend to be ready to spawn at a younger age (& often smaller size) than males. Having other fish may cause the pair to eat the eggs to "protect" them. Was there any fighting off the other (smaller?) sevs?
I'm generalizing about New World cichlids not severums in particular but they're all pretty similar. I know we had severums 40? years ago but I don't remember them breeding...
I think the female's fry would need at least a second generation cross breeding to get to even a 25% chance her offspring having her color...It's a recessive trait. (see Mendel's law of genetic inheritance) Yeah, & that's a lot of fry to raise in a couple tanks over time to get there, unless the male also carries that gene...It's a good thing you don't have your heart set on that, it would take at least a couple years...I don't have the patience to wait or willingness to raise or cull the "normal" looking fish. It can be hard to find "takers" let alone buyers for the number of possible fry...& they'll lay more eggs as they gain experience...Yikes!
Still, it's fun to watch fish breed without trying to save eggs or fry...& with enough cover a couple may just survive...
