Crenicichla Thread #1

decided to create thread for pike resources/chats/et.c hope you all don't mind.

like to share some latest developments in my "pike comm"

what i had experienced and heard before was that pikes are very conspecific, territorial, tough as nails, voracious predators, and not so popular in aquaculture. they may be a little less maniacal than some CA Cichlids (like Dovii) however. i had successfully introduced an 10" xingu I into a tank with cichlids and an 11" sp. venezuela but it was NOT easy.
since then i have created a pike comm with about 8 pikes ranging from 8-12" and about 9 cichlids ranging from 4-8". i created a very natural (pipes and rocks) environment for them to create territorries and have a place to retreat. i noticed quickly though that, although the aggression was manageable, there were high levels of stress in the tank. i believe that CA Cichlids can cope with stress (as well as almost any water condition) quite well. the pikes do not fare so well and their immune system rapidly gives way to the onset of disease.
in order to combat this i first removed about half of the cichlids from the tank. this only led to more focalised aggression. what i did next was remove all decor from the tank. i noticed that this swiftly helped remedy the problem. all the fish were calm and schooling and there was minimal tension. i have also noticed that this new environment (along with pima/melafix) has led to immeidate progress in the healing of the disease (HITH and HLLE) which pikes are very susceptible to under both stress and poor water quality.

just thought i would share this because i haven't seen many people shcool
ADULT-SUBADULT pikes at all. since not everyone can afford a megatank to give them a truly natural environment and not everyone is content with 2 or even 1 pike in a tank, this would be useful info. also, IMHO, comming pikes is even more difficult that comming aros (just not as costly )

Thanks for sharing with us your observations and very unique experience. A pike community tank is a challenge, and glad to hear of the positive outcome in your attempt to set up such a tank.
do keep us updated, and take some pics!

[frontosa]

Very useful info indeed bro! Upz you! (Heh, just learnt how to upz not long ago)

Hope we get more contributions to this thread.

Myself haven't had much experience with pike but fully agree on the "conspecific, territorial, tough as nails, voracious predators" part. Tried to pair up my male saxatilis twice and failed. First time killed the female and almost killed the 2nd one. Would love to see them spawn. Incidentally, aggressive as they may be, did not bother the tankmates too much (polleni and brasilensis eartheaters). Love watching them pounce on the feeder shrimps out of nowhere...a true predator!

Originally Posted by frontosa

Very useful info indeed bro! Upz you! (Heh, just learnt how to upz not long ago)

Hope we get more contributions to this thread.

Myself haven't had much experience with pike but fully agree on the "conspecific, territorial, tough as nails, voracious predators" part. Tried to pair up my male saxatilis twice and failed. First time killed the female and almost killed the 2nd one. Would love to see them spawn. Incidentally, aggressive as they may be, did not bother the tankmates too much (polleni and brasilensis eartheaters). Love watching them pounce on the feeder shrimps out of nowhere...a true predator!

interesting. i didn't comment on pairing at first since i also have no firsthand experience, but i have read many times that getting pikes to really "pair up" is an accomplishment in itself and would probably require a 240g tank. not to mention having them spawn successfully, which is especially difficult with some groups like the lugubris group. at this point you can also say bye bye to any tankmates. you will even need aduquate hiding places for the female who should be much smaller than the male and at risk to aggression.

Very interesting!!
And great observation!
I'm gonna plus your rep for your efforts!

It will be better if you can post some pics!





SuD

Haha, I've already upped you, so can't do it again too soon. Next round!

[Elindra]

Right now I comm 5 in my 5 ft tank. Max I comm is 8. Hv successfully comm Dwarf Pikes with my full grown Lugubris pikes too.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[mshak]

Originally Posted by Elindra

Right now I comm 5 in my 5 ft tank. Max I comm is 8. Hv successfully comm Dwarf Pikes with my full grown Lugubris pikes too.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Sis EL can share with us all what did you do to manage your comm of pikes successfully n what other tank mates inside?

Thanks alot =p

[Elindra]

Originally Posted by mshak

Sis EL can share with us all what did you do to manage your comm of pikes successfully n what other tank mates inside?

Thanks alot =p

A few different Synodontis
Red Hooks
Cuban Gar
Tropical Gar
Eel Tail Catfish
Bolt Cat
Fire Eel
Vieja Argentea
Lima Catfish
Dorado
African Arowana
Endis
Lap
Buetti
Palmas Palmas
Senegals
PNT
Spotted Raphael Cats

Other tankmates I kept before are Florida Gar, Pacman Catfish, Gulper Cats, Vulture Cats, Asian Black Devil Cat, PBB etc

[sixthbrand]

Wa swee la sis got time upload some poison leh...