Impulse buy, need some help.

[xEchOx]

Title says it all. I went to the petstore for some small catfish, and came home with a Pike cichlid. I will admit I know next to nothing about Pikes. I've never had one, but I've always been interested.

Any basic pointers would be great. Diet? Temperment? Growth rate? Max size? And of course the big one, ID...?

 

[Cichlidgeek]

Hehehehe......just start feeding and doing water changes.......feeding and doing water changes

Read this:
http://pikecichlid.com/sur2005/index.html

 

[xEchOx]

The link doesn't seem to be working.

After a bit of research through here on my own, I've come to the conclusion that I have a Venezuelan? Confirm? Deny?

 

[Nemesis]

Yes definitely a ven

 

[xEchOx]

Cool. How big do these guys get? Are they as aggressive as some of the other pikes?

 

[baldtaxguy]

http://pikecichlid.com/lugubrispage.html

http://pikecichlid.com/art-lugubris.html

 

[xEchOx]

http://pikecichlid.com/lugubrispage.html

http://pikecichlid.com/art-lugubris.html

Aaah crud. They really get that big? I might have to rehome this guy after all...

 

[Cichlidgeek]

Aaah crud. They really get that big? I might have to rehome this guy after all...

Sorry to post a bogus link....worked for me. I wanted you to try and use the info on that site to ID it yourself. Anyway...VZ pikes are nice, but they do grow pretty damn big. Maybe keep it for a while and trade it against something not so huge in a few months.
Cheers,
--Brian

 

[BC in SK]

No doubt a lugubris-Type pike. All juvies of this group tend to look very similar.But in all these pictures of your pike it apears to have red on the dorsal fin. Sort of doubt it's a C. sp. "venuzuela" as many years ago I owned one, and it never pocessed any red on the dorsal fin , as a juvie or an adult. As well, any pics I have looked at in books or the net, I haven't been able to find one with red on the dorsal.

My guess would be C. strigatta, as all pictures of juvies I have seen show red on the dorsal. Once your fish is older, and looses it's juvie pattern, it might become more obvious what species you have. Here's a link to a picture of a juvie C. strigatta:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1428

 

[MalawiTango]

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