New to the forum, some newbie questions...

[BH33]

Hey guys, new to the forums. I'm about to get done with college (finally) and am going to be purchasing a large tank as my graduation gift to myself . Since I've been in school I've only been able to keep some dwarf Africans (demasoni, brevis, and a few julie species) due to space and I'm really itching to get some bigger fish (have a 6" undulatus triggerfish at home that I obviously didn't bring to school.) I really just want to keep some pike cichlids in a nice planted tank. So, my questions are these. What size am I looking at? Is 100 big enough for a group, or would I need at least a 125? What would some of the best candidates be? - I've been searching the net for info, but have had some troubles finding info about different species and finding breeders/distributors online - can y'all point me in the right direction? Thanks for the help and sorry for all the questions/newbieness.

 

[sicxspeed]

wow, ummm, where to start....Okay, with a 125, 6ftx18 deep, you can definitely keep a school of pike. A group of mixed Lugubris pikes always looks very nice....Say a blue Cincta, Marm, Cobra and Atabapo or Red Trapajo would look great. Make sure you get dithers and provide plenty of separate hiding spots...Also, you can try a Saxatilis pike as well, they reach roughly 12 inches and look great, could work in that mix. Johanna are nice pikes with a laid back personality..>>Vens are probably to big and the same with Strigata, maybe even Cincta come to think about it. But you have tons of options.

For vendors, check our vendor forum.....Ken at Fish Farm has cobra's for like 35 bucks a pop.....Infinite Aquatics just had a nice rarer Atabapo Fire.....

 

[BH33]

Thanks for the reply. How many pike's could I happily accomodate in the 125? I was thinking maybe 6 pikes and a cat of some sort - would that be too much? For filtration, I'm probably going to run a wet/dry, but might just run a couple emperor 400's (would that be adequate?) Lastly, does bright lighting bother them - I'm thinking I'll probably run vho's since this is going to be a planted tank. Thanks again for the help.

 

[sicxspeed]

Should be fine with multiple pikes in this tank, size wise at least. But keep in mind, these guys in the lugubris group are going to get into the 14-16 inch range so max i would say is three.....Sax group, you can probably pull off six. Now this is based on them getting along. It is very likely that you will only be able to house 1 pike or a BONDED pair in a tank that size. Pikes typically hate each other, FYI. But the good thing about them is they can readily be housed with other, none cylinder shaped cichlids with little trouble.

 

[BH33]

Thanks again for the (quick) reply. I didn't know pikes disliked other torpedo shaped fishes, thanks for clearing that up. So, in the 125 could I do a pair/trio of pikes, a pair of firemouths, a green terror (or similar cichlid) and a lima cat? I don't want too many fish - the focus of this tank is definately going to be the pikes and the plants. Also is there a substrate y'all prefer - with the planted tank I was going to go with sand or flourite; is one preferred over the other?

 

[sicxspeed]

depending on the pike bro.....Fire mouths can and will be easily bullied by lugubris pikes, green terror should maybe be alright. Lima, no sure.....pikes may not like it much, or if it out grows the pike, it may just eat it...

You have a lot of options, take your time. In a 125 long right? I would probably just pick a very nice trio of the same pikes, let them bond, sell the other and place a few other cichlids in there as dithers, but nothing that would destroy a planted set up. You could go with a cat that is not shaped the same as a pike, more of a flat bottom cat, that doesn't get to large. Other fish, thats on you. Get dithers for sure, Fire mouths may work as dithers. Silver dollars could work, but they would eat your plants like no tomorrow. I personally only have 1 pike in my 125 after starting with 5......They just would not get along to well after a while, so they had to go bye bye. Keep my pride and joy, thats it. He's in there with a gold tiger motaguense female (mean bit@h) a male Jag, breeding flowerhorn pair, two silver dollars, a Eye biter and two pleco's......Thinning out the group now though so there will only be the male flowerhorn, pike, jag and 1 pleco, along with another fish i cant mention, lol and a F1 midas.

 

[BH33]

Cool. This is another newbie question - will pike's change sexes, or are they born one sex and stay that sex? What's the deal with lenticulata and Venezuela - could a 125 support a pair of them? I also like cobras and atabapos too. Would a pair of pikes, a jag, and a cat be too much for a 125? Sorry again for all these questions.

 

[sicxspeed]

no worries at all man......Pikes are born one sex and stay that way throughout there lives, none of that, Oh im so confused, crap going on with them....haha. Species Venezuala are the largest growing pike (known) getting up to a reported 24 inches long and are massive in body size. So I would say no to that. As far as a pair, that would work, a few cobras and jag, cat and pleco (not common) would work well.

 

[BH33]

Cool. I'm definately going to do a pair of pikes, jag, cat, and that'll probably be it. Thanks again, you've been extremely helpful.

 

[balton777]

Thanks again for the (quick) reply. I didn't know pikes disliked other torpedo shaped fishes, thanks for clearing that up. So, in the 125 could I do a pair/trio of pikes, a pair of firemouths, a green terror (or similar cichlid) and a lima cat? I don't want too many fish - the focus of this tank is definately going to be the pikes and the plants. Also is there a substrate y'all prefer - with the planted tank I was going to go with sand or flourite; is one preferred over the other?

Cool. I'm definately going to do a pair of pikes, jag, cat, and that'll probably be it. Thanks again, you've been extremely helpful.

If the focus of your tank is going to be plants, you don't want a Jag. They're diggers and will constantly move your substrate around.