Crenicichla compatability

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M

mad ness

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 26, 2009
932
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Hong Kong
currently keeping a mamorata, my first crenichichla about 9 inches in a 500 with 20 or so ATF, barracudas and Payara 5-12 inches. she dug a hole under a piece of bog wood. other than that he swims around minding her own business. i know this species is supposed to be aggressive but the LFS i got her from had her in a small tank with lots of transient fish. He said at first this fish attacked everything but it's been "trained". haha anyways no issues so far for me. may be cos it's a female (indicated by pink belly right?) is this considered very uncommon and unatural that she's not killing left and right?

But here's the thing. Found a keeper selling what i think is a sp 'xingu I' cos the fish is super red, with a spot on the tail. Housed with a giant gourami of similar size and couple other smaller fish with out issues. (cant remember what they were but half the size, prob flow horn or some kind of ciclid). In a small 2 ft long tank. xingu is about 11inch and hot.

all these fish will go in a 3000 gal tank/pond later or in a 8fter currently housing a 16" giant channa micro, 20" golden high back red tail arow, 13" silver arrow. possibly a 16" hoplias mala and 16" yarelli. (not risking the channa, hoplias, yarelli together with the charicins) Want to get this guy and keep it in the 8fter until i decide what to do.

there will be cover and hiding areas provided for 8fter but the pond/tank will be relatively open.

with out getting into whether the arrow, h.mala, yarelli, and channa will tear the crencichla (and each other) a new one, can you guys advise on the following variables individually? Thanks!

will the 2 crenicichla get along in the pond?

will the xingu attack a significantly larger arrow, yarelli, h.mala or channa?

how to sex the xingu?

do variations of crenicichla cross breed (assuming the chemistry's there)?
 
Oy, I don't even know where to start. Hmmm....

Crenicichla aren't blood thirsty killers. They are mainly just like most other aggressive SA/CA cichlids. Its just a lot of people have told stories on them, and now everyone thinks they are the devil. Personally I'd rather keep Crenicichla than most other fish. They aren't any more difficult to keep, and are definitely awesome to watch! :)

You're Crenicichla marmorata isn't acting unusual at all. There are tons of setups where people keep Crenicichla in community tanks, and it works out quite well. Works best in larger tanks though. :)

Chances are that the sp. 'xingu I' might actually be sp. 'tapajos I or II'. They have intense red coloration, and fairly similar to what you have described. Pictures will help confirm what species it is though. :)

Personally, I'd just put both Crenicichla in the pond. Its large enough, they should be able to have breathing room, and work great in there. Goin in the 8ft with those other fish is askin for trouble. Most of those fish are plenty large enough to eat the Crenis at their current size. Why risk it?

Whether or not if the Creni. will attack the tankmates is unknown. They have their own tastes as who they like as tank mates. The Channa might be a target though, as well as the aro.

Look to the dorsal for sexing, in almost all species of Lugubris pikes the females will have a white stripe edging the dorsal. Almost impossible to miss. :)

Lugubris pikes are difficult enough to get to breed with their own species, let alone a different species. Its possible I suppose, but HIGHLY unlikely. Not to mention stupid. Crenicichla are one of the few species that are still 'pure'. For someone to intentionally try to hybridize them or cross breed them is irresponsible.
 
this a xingu? You were right, mean bastard, think it's a male.

DSCF4925.jpg

DSCF4924.jpg
 
see dude dont keep the pikes with a snakehead or any fish with teeth that are aggresive and or territorial because they will lip lock.
see pikes sure will finish a fight tho but most the times the other fish start it.
the reason ur pike in the 500 is cool is because the other fish in that tank are aggresive technically. they just aggresive eaters. but i wouldnt put it in the tank with the channa tho. just my opinion
 
take your word for it as I dont have much experience with pike.

but in this instance the channa and arrow didn't mess with the pike at all, didn't even fight back. they swim around together near the top of the tank and the pike took the fight to them no matter which side they were on. this was in a 8ft tank. abruptly put to a stop to that with the divider.

thing was this pike was in a very small 50gallon tank, together with a fly river turtle, giant gourami, and a couple cat fish prior. largest fish was half his size. may be he just felt threatened. as things happened, he didn't even touch the silver arrow (same size as pike), which was the smallest of the trio.
 
No, the I and II are for the species. There is tapajos I and tapajos II. Crenicichla sp. 'tapajos I' are also known as Crenicichla sp. 'tapajos red', and Crenicichla sp. 'tapajos II' are also known as Crenicichla sp. 'cobra'.

Yesh indeed it does appear to be a male. It looks more like a 'tapajos II' in that picture though. Awesomely done. They are great fish.

I told ya the channa and the aro would be targets. LoL
 
Peanut_Power;3316743; said:
I told ya the channa and the aro would be targets. LoL
Click to expand...

yea...spot on. this must be the meanest, unsociable fish that I am keeping. strikingly beautiful though.

any theories as to why he got along with the gourami and others in the other tank?
was it that the pike was put into a new environment?
was it that the fish he beat on were larger than he was?
was it a space issue?

deciding whether to keep him alone or mix him up with others in a large tank. have read repeatedly their sociability increases with space. The new tank should have 10x's the space as the 8ft tank, but twice as many fish.

Think he'll beat up my mamorata?

the other option is to live in a 5ft tank that i had reserved for a like size hoplias mala wolf fish. thoughts here?

thanks
 
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