New crenicichla marmorata pikes

Got these guys recently they're 4-5 inches showing pretty good color for their size. Not sure if they're Rio tapajos, trombetas, xingu or whatever haha they do look kinda like the tapajos they're pretty green and their eyes glow red and yellow. Not eating pellets yet they're still nibbling at them but not swallowing yet a couple of em ate some cod fillet last night and the first day they arrived they got a couple rosies each. View attachment 1062065 in this last pic when they get excited they get these gold flecks all over their body really cool haha


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jamntoast said:

all I can think looking at this is how you need to clean your glass! just kidding (not kidding), they look great though!

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Hahahaha thanks man I used to have Rays in there and my water is relatively hard and doing all those water changes I decided It wasn't worth wiping the calcium deposits down hahaha I'll try and wipe it down today don't wanna spook them yet maybe do it at night


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UnstoppableJayD said:

Gorgeous fish... evil animal.. good luck!

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Thanks jay! They're fairly well behaved now actually. Funny thing is they work as a group to keep large fish out of their territory. I have a smaller grammode in there the largest pike keeps him out but with my 7 inch heckelli all three of em will come up to him and flare at the same time... I'd hate to be any fish when 3 marmorata pikes try and fight me at the same time lol
Here's a YouTube video of 3 Venezuela I think working together to keep a Buttikoferi out of their territory: http://youtu.be/FCyprhtprK8
They do look evil though their eyes literally glow View attachment 1062150


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mrrobxc said:

Love them! We should know strain I about 2 inches or so.

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Thanks idk collection point but at the size they're at idk. Don't really know marmorata variants well. The largest one has decent amounts of black patterning on him so could really be anything although I'm leaning more towards them being tapajos marms. Either way I'd be pleased with any marmorata they all look great to me they should be called tie dye pikes because of their adult colors lol


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Hmmm they all look the same just different moods hahaha they sure do vary a lot whenever they're feeling it. I sure do hope they're a xingu or trombetas lol love the extra black patterning on em

Took a little risk today and tossed my female punctata blue 33 in with them since the male punctata was getting extra "frisky" and I ran out of space (he's killed fish 2x his size in a night). She can be a witch and will grab a fishes face and jerk em around till their face bleeds. After going 1 on 3 she finally accepted defeat and moved to the other side of the aquarium. Really happy since the marmorata pikes defend their territory and don't endlessly persecute fish like punctata pikes from the lacustris group. Added some salt and Pima fix and threw in 20 rosy reds to help keep aggression off each other and turned off the lights. The female punctata can take care of herself just worried about her damaging one of the smaller marmorata. Mixing pikes isn't too hard I think using lots of feeders definetly helps


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Shiiiidd only have 2 marms one of em mysteriously dissapeared. Probably jumped. Although I looked for over an hour and a half with no body found... Super mad... Should've put the lid on after feeding what an idiot how many times has this happened to me lol and it wasn't even a hour I had the lid off lol I've probably lost over $400 in fish from them freakin jumping out... Morale of the story: pikes jump


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