Pike Cichlid questions

[Don Beezy]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum as well as the new owner of a 70 gallon freshwater tank, and I had a few questions I couldn't find the answers to on the web.

I recently purchased what I was told to be a Pike cichlid; it's about 12 inches long with a crimson/maroon coloration over its entire body with a black dot on its tail and a black strip on the top of its dorsal fin. I wanted to confirm what species this was; it is a beautiful fish with perfect dimensions and color.

Also, I have it sharing a 70 gallon with a foot long shovelnose catfish and a 7 inch flowerhorn. They were all deposited at the same time, and initially the flowerhorn was dominant over the pike and ended up biting its top lip with minimal damage. Day two things took a turn for the worse, and I woke up to find the flowerhorns entire face up to its eyes engulfed in the pikes mouth! It's a little scarred up, but doing ok, but my question is can these fish co-exist?

[Incredulous_Ed]

No, you really should seperate them. Pikes are too aggressive for flowerhorns.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichlid,%20Pike.htm

[jbeining75]

Does he have a blue coloration on his face.... Crenicichla semifasciata... Google this and see if that is your fish... If so these are huge fish getting about 2 feet long. They are predatory in nature and rather aggressive. The flowerhorm being almost half his size is not going to help. The pike will establish dominance in the tank and in the end the flowerhorn may end up dead. I would take the flowerhorn out and move him to a seperate tank because of the big difference in size... Good luck with the tank...

[Don Beezy]

The pike cichlid I have has a body and mouth like this guy:

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/johannapage.html

But the colorations and markings of this guy:

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/redtapajos.html

With the exception of the white strip on his fin and tail are black on mine, and at the top, not in the middle.
He also lacks the black spot behind the gills, but the tail is identical. I'll try to snap a few pictures soon if i can.


I'm going to buy a 29 gallon tomorrow to keep the flowerhorn in by himself, possibly with a green terror or frontosa, which is how a buddy of mine has one of his tanks set up. I'm open to any suggestions anyone has on which fish to combine, I understand I'm choosing aggressive fish and some altercations are inevitable, I'm jus looking to minimize the damage.

[jbeining75]

I would not put either of those in the 29 gallon with the flowerhorn.... Green Terrors get upto 12 inches and the frontosa the same... They need more than 29 gallons for themselves...... The flowerhorn and Green Terror are going to fight.. Both are very aggressive with tankmates..especially when crowded.... I would put a flowerhorn by himself in a 40 gallon or larger... Personally I wouldn't keep him any smaller than a 75 gallon full grown...

Both of those fish are going to have growth issues in those tanks.....

[Incredulous_Ed]

The pike cichlid I have has a body and mouth like this guy:

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/johannapage.html

But the colorations and markings of this guy:

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/redtapajos.html

With the exception of the white strip on his fin and tail are black on mine, and at the top, not in the middle.
He also lacks the black spot behind the gills, but the tail is identical. I'll try to snap a few pictures soon if i can.


I'm going to buy a 29 gallon tomorrow to keep the flowerhorn in by himself, possibly with a green terror or frontosa, which is how a buddy of mine has one of his tanks set up. I'm open to any suggestions anyone has on which fish to combine, I understand I'm choosing aggressive fish and some altercations are inevitable, I'm jus looking to minimize the damage.
He'd be cramped with the GT, and the frontosa requires different water requirements. I would just have him by himself in the 29g

[cocoa_pleco]

we have serious issues here.

- the Shovelnose needs a 150g
- the flowerhorn needs a 75g
- green terror needs a 75g
- pike needs a 200g

Unless you get a 300g for all of those fish theres gonna be alot of fighting

[Don Beezy]

Thanks, I think I will keep him by his lonesome and see just how big I can get him. Size isn't really a problem for me, if they outgrow one tank, I can always go buy another larger one. Any suggestions as to what to house in with the pike and the shovelnose? Having a 70 gal with 2 fish seems like a waste of space....

[Don Beezy]

we have serious issues here.

- the Shovelnose needs a 150g
- the flowerhorn needs a 75g
- green terror needs a 75g
- pike needs a 200g

Unless you get a 300g for all of those fish theres gonna be alot of fighting

I'm not an expert, but I have a buddy with a green terror, a red terror and a flowerhorn all in one 29 gallon with no fights. He also has a red devil in a 42 gallon with a pictus catfish and they have no qualms either. I wouldn't think I would need a 200 gallon tank for a foot long fish.

[cocoa_pleco]

in small tanks their growth gets stunted though, and that leads to health problems.

I say that large of a tank because foot long fish need width to turn around in, which is why oscars need a 75g, not a 55g.

Im moving my 90g's stock to a 650g, but 2 days ago my red devil ate my green terror and it got lodged in his mouth, almost went to the emergency vet.

[Don Beezy]

I always heard it was an inch of fish per gallon of water, so I figured if I kept it at half of that I would be fine. I really dont want a massive tank, 200 gal would be my ideal size, and I would rather have 3 seperate fish in 3 seperate 70 gallon tanks than all 3 in one massive one. I think I'll re-evaluate my situation, this is my first tank after all, and I knew there were going to be a few problems to work out. Thanks for the heads up on the space issue, you have any suggestions on where to get a larger tank setup for a decent price? I spent a grand between the tank and everything it needed, as well as the fish in it. I wouldnt want to spend more than 500 on another tank and its setup, not for a month or two anyway. I bought these fish planning on moving them into different abodes once they grew a few more inches.

[cocoa_pleco]

the " per gallon rule only works for 1-2" fish. you cant stick a 10" oscar in a 10g tank, or a 36" pacu in a 36g

as for getting a large tank for cheap, try local ads

[Incredulous_Ed]

Craigslist.org. I saw a 100gal with stand for free once.

[Don Beezy]

Thanks for the advice, I won't drag this thread out anymore than it has been. I guess I'll start pricing around for a larger tank, I wish I would have known all this before I purchased the one I have now. At least it gives me a spot to keep some more docile fish =)

One last thought, do the pike cichlids fight with their opposite sex? I wanted to keep a male and a female together originally, but the females at the store were a few inches smaller than the male and I didnt want them to get eaten.

[Leftyroc]

Could this be your guy from the description and links??

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/xingu1page.html

[Don Beezy]

Could this be your guy from the description and links??

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/xingu1page.html

maybe, i'll take a picture tomorrow and let you guys tell me.