Pike Cichlids!! WOOT!!

[Peanut_Power]

I have just realized that since I became a member to this site there has been a lot more attention towards Crenicichla, which I am totally psyched about cuz its about time this amazing group of fish started gettin more attention and recognized for the kewl fish that they are. I just wanted to say thank you to all you pike enthusiasts out there for helpin me spread the word about pikes and bringin them more to other fish keepers attention. I know that through our passion for pikes we have caught the attention of many people and now as a consequence there are more people that keep Crenicichla on this site then there was before. SO now I am curious just how many people actually keep pikes cichlids now.....so go ahead and list the pikes you have and how many. There aren't very many of us out there when compared to other cichlid keepers, which should make yaz feel even more special. We are a rare breed! :D Anywho...I'll start:
Currently I own:
3 Crenicichla sp. ? (xingu II maybe?)

I have owned:
Crenicichla xingu III (pair)
Crenicichla sp. 'bellyhopper'
Crenicichla sveni
Crenicichla saxatilis
Thats all i've got for right now....but in time i shall build it up! ;)!

[WckedMidas]

well i have none right now but i had a chren alta pike<gold spangled>
and a belly crawler pike
loved them both belly got ate gold spangled died from lack of oxygen. havent seen one ilike since except the cobra sp

[Springtyme]

I started a post a while ago asking what the big deal with Pike was. Little did I know a friend of mine has a pike. They're not so bad afterall... fast little f***er!!

[Peanut_Power]

That they are!! If you've ever tried to catch and move a pike cichlid...you will quickly learn just how fast they are...ughh....better have a big net other wise its HELLA annoying. Crenicichla sp. 'cobras' are pimp! Crenicichla marmorata, lenticulata, and 'flame pike' definately rival it though. Now...Crenicichla sp. 'atabapo' and Crenicichla tigrina...they are in their own level of kewl! ;)

[bluedempsey]

i got 5 from miles.
do not know specifics on them though
:(

[Peanut_Power]

I responded to your thread about them Blue...they are Crenicichla lucius...check ur thread...TONS Of info!! ;)

[engine49]

I just got my first pike a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure of the exact species off hand though. I'll have to look it up again. It's about 6 inches long. I put it in with some convicts and when I came back later he had a female in his mouth. The convicts gonna pull thru and after some moving around it's now living happily with my large mouth bass.

[CentralMayhem]

i have had quite a few pikes over the years, unfortunately at the moment i have none. i have kept over the years.

C. johanna
C. spp. "venezuela"
C. sveni
C. spp. xingu I
and C. spp. BellyHopper" but had very outdated info on it.

all in all i think they are bad ass fish. none ive had were ever push-overs.. all could hold their own in the company of trouble....wait i kept a dwarf once but it got ate by the growing juvenile dovii in the same tank. it was C. compressiceps. didnt know it was a dwarf till i got it home and looked up info. ooops. hahah. anyways, i would love to own some of these new cobras or atabapo's, my venezuela put on size like a freakin brahma bull on roids and so did my johanna. i had my johanna in my 300 with a big dovii, big tri mac and a few p's, among other cichlids and he was the only fish in the tank that the p's didnt eat something off of. all other fish in the tank had half their tails missing or scales or chunks of lip. thats why i ended up getting rid of that situation. so i dont recommend p's with that many fish, but it was cool to see they didnt mess with my pikes. maybe because they inhabit the same waters?????? anyone care to explain their ideas.

[IoStrisciare]

I got a C. Cobra sp.... Love that bugger... an eating machine and its color change is remarkable...

[shekes]

I have both a male and a female Batrachops/Crencichla Semifasciata - frogheads. The male is by far my favorite fish. He is very beautiful and appears to be intelligent. They are not agressive but will kill who they dislike. The male is 10"+ and extremely picky about food.

There are a few pics in my "personal gallery" but they don't do my fish justice. In reality the male is actually blue and looks more like a frog than a fish and the female has a red dorsal fin a sides.


It was because of the Batrachops that I found and joined MFK. I was looking for info on him, couldn't find any and somebody told me to try my luck here. But even you Peanut
don't know this one I believe. It is rare otside of South America. I believe that all Batrachops are wild caught but there is very little info online and the best pics you will find are here on MFK.

I saw other pikes in a store that I don't know what they are and will get one later. For now I am busy with my new 1' black arowana.

[bluedempsey]

I responded to your thread about them Blue...they are Crenicichla lucius...check ur thread...TONS Of info!! ;)
me so sorry :(

[Peanut_Power]

First off...Batrachops is hardly ever used any more...its all Crenicichla now that i know of. Haven't heard that in a loooong time...lol. It helps when ur doin a search on fish if you spell it right too... ;) ... I did a search on Crenicichla semifasciata and not only came up with a lotta info, but also several pictures. They are uncommon, but they aren't quite rare just yet. Rapps gets them in from time to time and i know a few other online sites that actually sell them as well. They are crazy lookin pikes though, lol, that head is something ya gotta learn to love. Unique among pikes, thats for sure... ;)

[driftwood]

i have a couple 5 inch Cobra pikes right now. Don't plan on gettin any others at the moment. i have tons of relatively mellow central americans and i don't think pikes would make good tank mates with my them. My cobra's are by themselves at the moment in a 100 gallon tank.

[shekes]

Some say "Crenicichla" it all, others argue that Frogheads aren't it and insist on "Batrachops" as more fitting. I do not have a personal preference. I just like the fish.

As for the info, where is it? There is only the basic: origins, temp, even the max size is often wrong.

With all the respect what is your point? I would never even dream of challenging your position as the Pike-King. I mainly joined the website in hope to get help from you Professor Peanut.

I am glad you liked my pics...

[prm]

i have a Venezuela right now they are awesome fish I like em because of there elastic stomachs too

[Miles]

I am working on getting Crenichla Cincta Peru, at an adult size. I hope to get as many as possible.. :)

An interesting fact about pikes: The 'common' name for pike cichlids in Peru is 'Anashua'..

[redtailfool]

i havent kept them but pikes really interest me now.. thanks for bringing them to the foreground.

[redtailfool]

BTW i have a pic of a pike from SA thats pinkish in color.. ill post pics later ... i want to id that sucker.

[Peanut_Power]

LoL!! I am by no means a the pike king. There are still many peeps out there that school me! Acenupe is a pimp when it comes to pikes! ;) Vin Kutty definately takes the cake in all cases as well....lol. Thats one of the disadvantages about the internet is that the information isn't always accurate. But that also means that there is the opportunity for us to change it...woot! Might take yaz a while to get all the info you need, but you could write a article on the froghead pike...that would be pimp! I've noticed several errors among other pike descriptions, so i hear your frustrations about them not gettin all the info you need...i found this little tidbit of info that is kinda interesting....hehe....about ur pikes... "Females lack suborbital marking and humeral spots. In addition, they sport wide red submarginal bands and a red band below the longitudinal line." They are also have the shortest snout of all the pikes. So you do have a very unique and special pike indeedY! More pictures! We really need to build up the pikes pictures data base cuz there just aren't enough out there. Mostly the juv. pictures since thats when its hardest to ID them, but adult pictures would be most helpful indeed! That Professor Peanut remark totally cracked me up! LoL!

Miles, those pikes are gonna be HUGE!! Cincta get larger than most pikes! LOL! You sure you wanna get in full grown adults? GEEZ! Since they are coming from Peru I'm gonna assume they are the Green banded color strain? If you can get in some of the blue banded ones...I'll have to get some! ;)

RTF....post the pics bro...we'll do our best to ID them...lol.

[dragonball1012]

marmorata
percna
cobra
lenticulata
xingu I
xingu II
xingu III
red face
Cr. aff. "jegui"
atabapos (sold it)
johanna (sold it)
semifasciata

[shekes]

WOW!

And "semifasciata"... ... male/female? What size? How old? what does it eat?

Tell more! Post pics!

[Miles]

I will be updating the XoticAquatix websites, perhaps I should make an information section about specific pike cichlid species.. You would be interested in writing articles and finding pics, P_P?

[Peanut_Power]

marmorata
percna
cobra
lenticulata
xingu I
xingu II
xingu III
red face
Cr. aff. "jegui"
atabapos (sold it)
johanna (sold it)
semifasciata


You SOLD your atabapos?! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! LoL....good to see yaz here bro!! I bow down in respect....lol......love your collection. Hows the breedin coming along? I thought of a few things that might trigger it...;).....yes, definately pics of the 700gal..:D..or whatever it is...

[Peanut_Power]

Sure Miles I would LOVE to....I'm sure DragonBallz would be most helpful as well, as well as Nadus_Nadus... ;)

[dragonball1012]

marms are digging again...female starting to get a little aggressive....
lents finally starting to show some signs...have u ever seen a 14-15 inches male before?

[Miles]

is Anthurus sp. rare? I see it here on a wholesale list.. its really expensive too.

[Peanut_Power]

Never heard of anthurus...unless it was under another name....hmm....interestin....get one in...i might just have to get one...as long as its not a Saxatilis pike... ;)

Dragon.....no I haven't seen a lent. that large. I've seen a 13" male and female marmorata though. They weren't that great lookin....it was at the ACA in a display 20gal tank...so they weren't happy at all. Still loved them too. They had a 12" lent. there as well...and a 10" Cincta. Very kewl all of them. Anyway, I was thinkin about what might trigger spawning. When I had my xingu III...they seemed to get in the mood after I had left the light on for too long. Like, I left the light on for 32 hrs or so once cuz i left and wasn't able to come back and shut it off. When i did come back and shut it off, the next mornin the female was doing her c-dance infronta the male and they cleaned a spot in their clay pot. I got them to lay eggs once.....but they all got fungus or sumptin. It was sortly after that that i got the ich epidemic...but point is, i really think light has a big factor in their breedin cycle... ;). I'd love to see some pictures of your pairs though! Your tankz is what inspired me to try and keep them together...granted i'm about 400gal short...but 300gal should be enough for at least three pairs i should think. I am a pike junkie...what can I say.

BTW...Rapps is gonna hold some marmoratas for me! WOOT! They are the Rio Tapajos ones....the NICE marms!! I'm slowly gonna build up my pike collection again. BTW...if you EVER get a chance to get any Atabapos again..lemme know cuz i will want some as well! Dieing to get some of those pikes! And if you weren't in Cali, i woulda definately bought those lents offa you....*sigh*...but you wouldn't ship...oh well! Gorgeous fish! Almost like lents. more than marms...almost...hehe...chaio

[geeah]

I got my first pike about 3-4 months ago. he is a 2 spot pike and has grown from an inch to about 9-10'' in that time! He is with a green texas and some silver dollars and a pleco.He seems to get along very well with the pleco. Eats a lot but is pretty shy and hides out alot. I really wanted a johana or something like but the 2 spot was all I could find as a juvie.

I was woundering has anyone kept a pike with one of those freshwater baracuddas?

[dragonball1012]

i believe in ur theory, cos i have done so many things to get these guys to spawn...my garage door has windows in them and the tank gets a lot of sunlight, so i covered the whole tank thinking they need privacy, but once i take the cover out the marms goes crazy...even when i just leave the lights on at night the lents will start chasing the other pikes and the female goes crazy.....i had to do a lot of things to get the male to accept the female.....he never likes her and almost killed her twice...

the last time i measured my lent, which was about 6 months ago, he was pushing 14.5"...i think he grew at least an inch since then......i think the lents by far are the best pikes i have ever kept, but i love my marms too...

the marms the jeff has are exactly like mine...here's some older pics..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/IMG_23421.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/IMG_19201.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/IMG_05431.jpg

[jelly]

Some years ago I had an Orange Pike. Nice fish.

I am trying to breed a pair of C. compressiceps at the moment, aggresive little fish.

[SteveL91]

Peanut_Power, when did you have Xingu III? Any info on water parameters when they laid eggs?

[Peanut_Power]

NICE!! Yup, thats what i thought they looked like! Those are the best color strain of marms out there in my opinion. LOVE the Rio Tapajos marms. WOW! I'm gettin at least three of them!! :D I have to agree though, i am starting to like lents. more now that I have seen more pictures of them...lol....they have a lot more red and kewl stuff than marms. But marms definately hold their own. My water parameters when i got my xingu III to breed was about 6.8 pH...moderately soft, i had been feedin them live earthworms and live prawns....pinchers removed. This really beefed up the female. You could easily tell she was gravid cuz she was PLUMP. They did get aggressive as hell though when they laid eggs. It was in my 125. And yes, the male almost killed my female two or three times....luckily i had a few hidin spots small enough for her. I used this HUGE clay pot thingy inverted. It already had holes in it big enough for them to fit through. Definately try the light thing. Before you do it though do a water change, drop the temp about 4 degrees at least. Then do the lights. That should get a reaction... ;)

[dragonball1012]

the pair were caught in Rio Tapajos, Brazil
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture184.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture183.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture182.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture179.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture166.jpg


the other one
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture185.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture178.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture172.jpg

[Mourinho18]

awesome pics man, beautiful fish

[shekes]

Nice fish! Do they dig a lot?

My semifasciata female is a record excavator. She transports tablespoons of gravel and shells close to her own weight, rendering the UGF useless overnight.

[dragonball1012]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture193.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture195.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/dragonball1012/Picture193.jpg

[Peanut_Power]

You scared me with those first set of pictures cuz i thought you were posting pictures of the marms...lol.....whew!! I was like....NOOOOOO! I don't want them if they look like that. but then it dawned on me what they were...lol.....silly me.

[Peanut_Power]

BTW....I'm probably gonna pick up the last of Rapps 'redfaced lugubris' as well!! :D That'll give me three species of pikes! gettin up there yo! Now all i need is lent, atabapo, cobra, and flame....then I'll definately have a kickin collection! ;) although gettin some vitta and percna are on the list as well!

[Peanut_Power]

Gettin more pikes next week! AH HAHAHA!! Can't wait! Wooot! :headbang2