Anyone keeping Missioniera?

[BigPic]

I have an adult pair in a 180 with 8 festae, they all seem to get along quite well, the pair seem to be bonded as they just fininshed killing 3 smaller females together . I have made a couple of observations with them and would like to hear other peoples comments.

First, their vision seems to be VERY bad, they swim around like they can't see at all, always bumping into things and feeding seems to be hit and miss, more by smell than sight.

Second, the female is very hard on her mate, she must be nearly ready to spawn, her belly is light orange and her dorsal fin is starting to light up in bright orange. Has anyone ever had a spawn from these guys?

Thanks for reading, any comments are appreciated.

Ray

 

[BigPic]

There isn't anyone with these pikes?

 

[dogofwar]

Missioniera can be some tough customers.

I kept the ones I brought back from Uruguay in a 40 breeder with several of their kind as well as some minuano and a bunch of Archocentrus centrarchus grow outs.

The largest missioneira was the dominant fish in the tank but generally hung out in a PVC tube, under a flowerpot...or otherwise lurking.

I think the key to controlling aggression with these guys is crowding. Lots of other robust fish with them.

Just keep up with water changes and feed them well.

 

[darth pike]

I've never kept them, but they do have a bit of a nasty rep. Kind of like a larger version of compressiceps. And if that is the case, I'd favor the overcrowding method dogofwar suggested as it works well for compressiceps.

 

[BigPic]

Thanks guys.

Dogofwar, did you find that their vision went down hill as they grew? I also have 3 smaller ones of about 4" fom my trip to Uruguay in March, they are obnoxious little things, I have them in with 12 similar sized creni's that I also brought back - Gaucho, Scotti and Saxatilis types. Do you still have your Uruguayan pikes?

 

[dogofwar]

I didn't find deteriorating eyesight but that they were "lurkers" while the minuanos were "cruisers"...

I distributed my Uruguayan pikes to folks in my area who specialize in Crenicichla...which opened up some room for my Gymnos and chanchitos

I'm planning to get more when I return in December!

 

[MTN PIKE]

Hi Ray! We've had missioneria a few years now, currently one female 8" + (from a British friend collected @ AqvaTerra/Uruguay). We previously had a pair, male died, the female had more color than the one we have now. Did you see Vin Kutty's recent ACA BB article on celidochilus? There is a stunning female missioneria photo in it.
Good luck with the breeding!

 

[BigPic]

You must be refering to Allan He was with us in March! Nice guy - I think that we can safely say that fun was had by all! He took Some Missionera home with him this time as well! I missed that article, I should look it up!

This female was AMAZING when we netted her, she maintained the color for about a week after being in my tank, it seems to be comming back - I will have to try to get some new pics of the pair. . .

 

[MTN PIKE]

Yeah - good ole RollAlan !! The female he brought us last December had killed her male... She's actually about 9" now, showing some deepening orange color on her sides after being sorta drab grey all winter. She has a pointier snout than our punctata or scotti, similar to vittata - the 'gator' pike. That's another 'sleeper' color-wise, we've had a couple vittata - they can develop intense yellow/fire-orange color also! After celidochilus the missioneria & vittata have the best/brightest colors. Show us more pics of your female....... ! Thx. ~ Jon