Keeping Crenicichla frenata?

[Thilo]

Hi All,
this is my first post, up to now i am keeping only standart aquarium cichlids, but now there a 10 male C. frenata given away by our university, but nobody knows something about them. I would have a 500 Liter (200x50x50) tank but: Can I hold 2 or 3 males together? Is a single male desolate if a can´t get a female? Do they need a strong current or more moderate filtration?
Thanks for any help,
Cheers Thilo

 

[its_an_obsession]

are u saying a 10" male or 10 males?

 

[Thilo]

10 different males, they are currently used to make behavioural predator avoidance experiments with guppies and are each kept in a 150 liter tank. They are 10-14 cm at the moment.

Cheers Thilo

 

[its_an_obsession]

hey thilo. pikes are awesome fish and id definitely jump on that and get one. you will likely not be able to get more than 1. especially if there in different tanks now i dont think it would work well mixing them. they are usually very aggresive towards other pikes so several males could get iffy. what ive seemed to observe is that if u have a pike all by himself, he will hide in caves alot and not really show very good colors. but if u mix in a few dithers and maybe some other cichlids they can be an amazing fish to watch. and then spend some time in their caves as their safe spot and some time out swimming around the tank. im used to inches and gallons but im pretty sure your tank is large enough for pikes.

i dont believe they need a strong current but good filtration should be a must i think for any fish. id say the importance of the more filtration would depend more on the amount of dithers and other fish u add. they are not overly sensitive to water conditions and can adapt but prefer softer more acidic water. probably a ph of around 6-7 would be good.

hope u decide to get one and continue to visit the forum... also welcome to mfk

 

[HerCrenVie]

hey thilo. pikes are awesome fish and id definitely jump on that and get one. you will likely not be able to get more than 1. especially if there in different tanks now i dont think it would work well mixing them. they are usually very aggresive towards other pikes so several males could get iffy. what ive seemed to observe is that if u have a pike all by himself, he will hide in caves alot and not really show very good colors. but if u mix in a few dithers and maybe some other cichlids they can be an amazing fish to watch. and then spend some time in their caves as their safe spot and some time out swimming around the tank. im used to inches and gallons but im pretty sure your tank is large enough for pikes.

i dont believe they need a strong current but good filtration should be a must i think for any fish. id say the importance of the more filtration would depend more on the amount of dithers and other fish u add. they are not overly sensitive to water conditions and can adapt but prefer softer more acidic water. probably a ph of around 6-7 would be good.

hope u decide to get one and continue to visit the forum... also welcome to mfk

A 200cm-long tank is more than enough for a pair of any Saxatilis-group species. However I suggest you add some target fish to channel the male's natural aggression away from the female. In a tank with only the female as the other fish, a male (even in a bonded pair) may suddenly attack and kill the female, because his paternal and territorial instincts "require" him to have intruders to drive away. In the absence of such fish, he will almost certainly attack the female. This has been well documented by Vinod Kutty, a leading authority on Crenicichla. Good luck.