My pikes have spawned

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J

jegt

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2007
42
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Stockholm, Sweden
My female saxatilis started some major digging under a large piece of driftwood a few days ago. Today when I fed them she was reluctant to leave the cave and when I looked with a flashlight I saw some eggs.

The pair have been chasing all the other pikes and the blue acara to the other third of the tank but seems to be ok with them being there for now.

Any advice on how I should proceed?
 
No idea what to do from here, but congratulations, I never hear of pikes breeding! I assume rearing them would be similar to most other cichlids though.
 
Yes, I have had them for about two weeks. The largest female has a pink belly when I got her and she quickly paired with the only male.
 
Congratulations my friend. That didnt take long at all! I cant wait to see them in the big planted tank.....
 
Here is a picture of the whole tank. The eggs are in the cave under the driftwood to the right. The female is in there almost all the time and the male is guarding the entrance. I have tried to get a good picture of the eggs but I cant get the right angle.

IMG_1184.JPG
 
Nice!!! Bet that was quite the pleasant surprise!! Saxatilis pikes are relatively easy to breed, which isn't something that can be said about Lugubris. Its still a great accomplishment though, as its still not something that everyone is able to do.

You should probably set up a couple of 20gal fish tankz. You should be able to leave the fry with the parents for at least one, possibly two weeks. As long as you don't have any catfish or whatnot in there, the parents will do a SUPERB job of guarding them. You might have to remove the other pikes eventually though, as they may get the SNOT beat outa them.

When you DO remove the fry, you will HAVE to sort them according to size. They won't hesitate to eat each other. They are QUICK growers as well, so you will have to keep tabs on which ones out grow the others and remove them to the next tank. They should take newly hatched brine shrimp to brine shrimp pretty much right away. Their bigger mouths makes it easier to feed them. Again, congrats! Jealous am I! Props to you man!
 
It was very much a surprise that they would spawn this quickly. The pair started forming as soon as I put them in the big tank though.

Based on the pictures, does anyone want to guess if these are really saxatilis or some other pike from the saxatilis group?

Accordning to Mostly Cichlids' Saxatilis article:

"Do both sexes have silver spangles/dots? If yes, they are most likely C. saxatilis or a closely related species from the Guyanas. C. saxatilis have a notch in the shoulder spot in the upper part of the spot, closer to the eye."

This is certainly true for my pikes. I don't know if it is enough to be sure though.

I have a 20 and a 15 gal that I can use for the fry. I also have a very long 40 gal but I have other fish in it that I do not want to end up being food. How old would the fry have to be before they will eat rummy nose tetras?

I have some plans for another big tank (thinking about 100"x20"x20"), but I do not think that will be possible until later next year.

I have some ancistrus catfish in the big tank but they have not been able to get anywhere near the eggs soo far. I don't think they will eat the fry?
 
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