Hello all, first time posting in this part of mfk. I'm a fan of pikes and dwarfs. Recently I came accross a handfull of dwarf wallecei. Has anyone bread these before? I'm curious because of the 5 I have all of them have eye spots on their dorsal fin and I like most pike lovers would assume that they are all female. There's not much info out there on them so It's hard to tell but it certainly looks like I have a pair in my tank. The three eye spots on the supposed gravid female are surrounded by bright red coloration- she keeps the other pikes away from her except one who has a single more simple eye spot on his dorsal fin black though he displays (I think he atleast) nice stripes. I'd like to know if anyone has succes with them.
Dwarf pike wallecei
- Thread starter Antithesis123
- Start date
I have not heard of anyone having success with breeding dwarf pike. Although its generally pretty easy to get them to show mating behavior. Give them plenty of caves to snuggle up in, drop the Ph, and lower the temp of the water with WC's. I have come close to getting my crenicichla regani to spawn, but the tank was just far to busy for the pair to get alone time.
In your case if they all have eye spots on their dorsal fin, then you've gotten a large group of female dwarf pike.
I would go back to your LFS and see if they have a male or two. They are super easy to sex. If you ordered them online, then I would check with Wet Spot, they have some on their product list.
Good luck
In your case if they all have eye spots on their dorsal fin, then you've gotten a large group of female dwarf pike.
I would go back to your LFS and see if they have a male or two. They are super easy to sex. If you ordered them online, then I would check with Wet Spot, they have some on their product list.
Good luck
Here's the right pic, I know it would be really messed up if I thought my nicaraguense was a dwarf pike.. lol
They both look female. Aside from the eyespot, I've never seen males get so fat. They fill out a lot if you feed them well but not to that extent (wallacei owners, correct me if I'm wrong -- I'm basing my info on C. regani).
You have the opposite problem that I do. Every time I ask my LFS to get in pikes, they're all male.
You have the opposite problem that I do. Every time I ask my LFS to get in pikes, they're all male.
To be completely fair, I did just feed them some chopped up earthworm pieces and you can see the difference in the eyespots.
Just to let you know, I had a regani pair breed in my 220 gallon tank last year several times....they found a tiny hole in my huge driftwood log that they could barely fit into together.....the fry would get to swimming stage, and the raphael catfish would eat them...it happened at least 3 times, and it was literally every 6 weeks......I wish I could have saved some of them. Unfortunately the male got eaten by my 20+ Inch Jardini Arowana after about 6 months.....the female is still alive and I just found a male regani last month.....I am fattening him up and plan on taking the female out and putting her in with the male......
I really don't want to face the truth about this one. I personally think they're all fems. The odd thing is that the one with the red spots keeps all others away except for the other on in the picture. I put some pvc in their tank and found them also both sharing it. I guess time will tell. I've bred plenty of dwarfs and stranger things surely happen. Right now I'm watching my Ivanacara adoketa pair care for 17 vieja zonatus fry I put in there to feed them which will get 30 times their size! Ahh haa! This is a really awesome dwarf pike though- I wish it was more common and that there was more information about them.
Antithesis, I would hold off until you can see if the one on the right gets a big cherry belly, or if they spawn. I have never seen a male dwarf pike get an eye spot on the dorsal. The 2 males I do have (1 regani tapajos and 1 regani irinidae) do not have any spots on their dorsal. If they are both the same age, then the one on the right is definitely a female. The male dwarf pike will get nearly twice the females size.
Good luck with your group, and if you do have a male in the lot of them or come by one later down the road...He's got a harem of ladies to pick from!