Crenicichla zebrina questions

[slippery slimecoat]

Looking for info on Crenicichla zebrina from those of you that have kept them. Are they difficult to pellet train? What's the max size? How aggressive are they? Are they fairly outgoing, or do they hide a lot? Are they more of a bottom dweller, or toward the middle of the tank? Any advice or knowledge you could share would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tlindsey]

Looking for info on Crenicichla zebrina from those of you that have kept them. Are they difficult to pellet train? What's the max size? How aggressive are they? Are they fairly outgoing, or do they hide a lot? Are they more of a bottom dweller, or toward the middle of the tank? Any advice or knowledge you could share would be greatly appreciated.

mrrobxc

 

[shookONES]

They're not picky eaters in the slightest. Mine took to pellets after the first few days. Max size I'm not 100% but I doubt they crest the 18" mark. Aggression seems to vary on individual fish. Mine plays nice with everything except for a red ingot in the tank with him. They're very active, but tend to stick to the bottom half of the tank. Having rocks and wood for them to navigate is very well received.

 

[slippery slimecoat]

I've read that they seem to generally much more docile than most other crenicichla. If I was to get one it would be in with large clown loaches, tiger scats, and 4-5" filament barbs. I fear that it could just be too aggressive for that set up. Or at the very least change the behaviors of the clowns to hiding all the time.

 

[shookONES]

I've read that they seem to generally much more docile than most other crenicichla. If I was to get one it would be in with large clown loaches, tiger scats, and 4-5" filament barbs. I fear that it could just be too aggressive for that set up. Or at the very least change the behaviors of the clowns to hiding all the time.

My tiger scat would pick on my zebrina, actually. I wouldn't worry about the loaches, but the filament barbs might be expendable. My zebrina would do strange things once in a while. I fell into some GIANT koi angels a few months ago that I couldn't pass up. The pike was 12" at the time and the angels were at the 5-6" mark. There was no way in hell he could eat them, but he would bite their faces and just hold them down until they died. Other than that, he's been a model citizen in my monster comm.

 

[slippery slimecoat]

I made this thread when I was at work yesterday morning. When I got home and looked at my tank I realized it would be ludicrous to think I could fit another fish in there that can grow 15"+ lol. I'd have to sell off some of my current stock to make it work in the long run. And I'm not ready to part with anything right now.

 

[DanyoWanyo]

the zebrina is a really docile fish compared to all the other crenicichla. at least mine's is. for some reason mines has stopped eating pellets, but i have recently transferred him/her into a new tank. other then eating roseys he leaves all my other fish alone. my zebrina is about 13 inches and definitely the king of the tank.

my sister has added 2 angelfish, 2 red jewels, a handful of cory's, while i have 2 datnoid's 3-4" and a silver arowana 6".

 

[slippery slimecoat]

It blows my mind that any foot long crenicichla can be kept with corys hahaha

 

[mrrobxc]

mrrobxc

Mine are mellow. I've kept them with discus before. I have them now with 8 angelfish, 5 geophagus tapajos, and some baby severums. They get just about a foot but are slimmer than the more robust species like the lenticulata or the marmorata. They are very gentle but can be mixed with larger fish too. I once had mine with large severums, chocolates, diadema, and peacock bass.

 

[koltsixx]

shookONES, DanyoWanyo, mrrobxc have summed Zebrina up pretty well. Just like shook said, their personalities differ from individual to individual but to echo everyone else; they're IME one of the most peaceful Creni's around.

Mine unlike shook's gets along fine with my African Scats all 7 of them, though like shook mine does take issue with my Ingots. They also hold their own fairly well. Mine used to scrap with an 8 inch Mammon female fairly often. The Zebrina never provoked but made her position in the pecking order understood. Biggest surprise was how well the Zebrina got along with my T1 Pike. The Zebrina asserted herself(I believe it's a female) over the T1 the first day. Since then they coexist with no aggression that I see(knock on wood) and spend much of their time cruising beside one another.

Outgoing, active, peaceful but can hold their own these beauties have a lot to offer. I had already been enamored by pikes but getting a Zebrina sealed the deal as far as making them one of my all time favorite species I've kept.