Well, like I said I put the male in a basket. He hated it for a couple days then calmed down.
After about two weeks, the female started defending the male from the pair of red bay snooks. I removed the snooks (the female's mouth is crooked now) and added six 3.5-4" red devils.
The next day, I removed the basket.
There was a little displaying between the two pikes, but their attention turned to the devils. One devil almost immediately lost most of it tail. The next day, two the devils were defending a chunk of wood. Two days later their tubes were down. These two small devils were even able to keep the male pike in check, but the pikes still broke up the pair. He eventually ate the "tailless" devil. So, back to the pikes.
The male just seems uninterested. He spends most of the day in a pile of wood. When he does come out the female immediately goes into courtship mode, belly dances, color changes, head-to-tail slapping and quivering. With all of this, he'll just sit there.
With all of the snow we've had, water from the tap now tests about 75 ppm hardness and a pH of 6.9. My biggest problem now, the male doen't feel secure. He is frightened easily(has always been this way). I've been "challenging" him when he is out and he is very slowly becoming more assertive. Maybe I should explain what I mean by "challenging" him. When he is out, I move slowly towards him with my head, gently shaking it. If he gives even the slightest move forward, I back off. At this point, he'll move to the front of the glass if I approach, but if I reach up to put food in or do a water change, he'll hide until I move back.
After about two weeks, the female started defending the male from the pair of red bay snooks. I removed the snooks (the female's mouth is crooked now) and added six 3.5-4" red devils.
The next day, I removed the basket.
There was a little displaying between the two pikes, but their attention turned to the devils. One devil almost immediately lost most of it tail. The next day, two the devils were defending a chunk of wood. Two days later their tubes were down. These two small devils were even able to keep the male pike in check, but the pikes still broke up the pair. He eventually ate the "tailless" devil. So, back to the pikes.
The male just seems uninterested. He spends most of the day in a pile of wood. When he does come out the female immediately goes into courtship mode, belly dances, color changes, head-to-tail slapping and quivering. With all of this, he'll just sit there.
With all of the snow we've had, water from the tap now tests about 75 ppm hardness and a pH of 6.9. My biggest problem now, the male doen't feel secure. He is frightened easily(has always been this way). I've been "challenging" him when he is out and he is very slowly becoming more assertive. Maybe I should explain what I mean by "challenging" him. When he is out, I move slowly towards him with my head, gently shaking it. If he gives even the slightest move forward, I back off. At this point, he'll move to the front of the glass if I approach, but if I reach up to put food in or do a water change, he'll hide until I move back.
. I would do smaller water changes but I feed them too much (these two alone eat 4 oz. of silversides and 8 oz. of krill every week).
