Pike breeding
When sexing pikes Females usually have more red/pink bellies than the males. It is crucial to be sure you know the sex before you do this, because if you have two males then you can say good bye to one of them if you know what I mean. Be sure to research how to sex them before hand.
When introducing two new pikes to a tank, you best bet is to add lots of hiding spots. P.v.c. works great. Use egg crate to keep them separated until aggression dies down.
Once egg crate is removed move the p.v.c. around to confuse the pikes. This is so there is no more existing territory marked out. Be sure to have a dither so the pikes dont tear each other up the idea is not to let them kill the other fish, but to let them take their aggression out on them as opposed to each other. I find that anything torpedo shaped works the best. (Leporinus work great.) Make sure the dither can get away if need be, make sure there are adequate hiding spots for not only the pikes but the dither too. Once the pikes learn to live with each other and are used to each others presence be sure to fatten them up on loads of good foods. Frozen krill, beef heart, and frozen prawns will work, if your pikes will eat pellets then massivore delite by hikari is the best to use i.m.o. you can also break it up if it is too big for the pike to eat. Vita chem. is always something good to consider when trying to bulk fish up for breeding. Once the fish are ready to court the female will become ripe this means the red/pink color talked about earlier will become more intense. Like most fish they will do a little dance to court. Different pikes have different dances. Once courtship has started it generally lasts a few days and then the pikes begin breeding. A good water 30% water change will entice the pikes to breed. Large terracotta pots can be used for the initial egg laying spot. Make sure it is big enough to fit the pair. Depending on the pike they can lay any where from 30 to over 300 eggs. Once the eggs are laid it doesnt hurt to use methalene blue to prevent fungus, though I personally do not like adding chemicals unless the fish NEEDS them. Within 3-7 days of the eggs being laid they will hatch. One of the coolest things about pikes from what I read is that they are surprisingly caring and you can keep the young with the parents for up to 6 months depending on the parents tolerance. Another awesome thing is the parents feed the same way discuss do, by contact feeding which means the parents secrete food in the sides of their mouths, the babies simply swim in the parents mouth, then eat, then they swim out. I hope this intrigues people to start trying to breed some Crenicichla. They are a breed that is robust caring and very personable. I hope you enjoyed reading this!
i wrote this for another forum a while ago and never posted it.
When sexing pikes Females usually have more red/pink bellies than the males. It is crucial to be sure you know the sex before you do this, because if you have two males then you can say good bye to one of them if you know what I mean. Be sure to research how to sex them before hand.
When introducing two new pikes to a tank, you best bet is to add lots of hiding spots. P.v.c. works great. Use egg crate to keep them separated until aggression dies down.
Once egg crate is removed move the p.v.c. around to confuse the pikes. This is so there is no more existing territory marked out. Be sure to have a dither so the pikes dont tear each other up the idea is not to let them kill the other fish, but to let them take their aggression out on them as opposed to each other. I find that anything torpedo shaped works the best. (Leporinus work great.) Make sure the dither can get away if need be, make sure there are adequate hiding spots for not only the pikes but the dither too. Once the pikes learn to live with each other and are used to each others presence be sure to fatten them up on loads of good foods. Frozen krill, beef heart, and frozen prawns will work, if your pikes will eat pellets then massivore delite by hikari is the best to use i.m.o. you can also break it up if it is too big for the pike to eat. Vita chem. is always something good to consider when trying to bulk fish up for breeding. Once the fish are ready to court the female will become ripe this means the red/pink color talked about earlier will become more intense. Like most fish they will do a little dance to court. Different pikes have different dances. Once courtship has started it generally lasts a few days and then the pikes begin breeding. A good water 30% water change will entice the pikes to breed. Large terracotta pots can be used for the initial egg laying spot. Make sure it is big enough to fit the pair. Depending on the pike they can lay any where from 30 to over 300 eggs. Once the eggs are laid it doesnt hurt to use methalene blue to prevent fungus, though I personally do not like adding chemicals unless the fish NEEDS them. Within 3-7 days of the eggs being laid they will hatch. One of the coolest things about pikes from what I read is that they are surprisingly caring and you can keep the young with the parents for up to 6 months depending on the parents tolerance. Another awesome thing is the parents feed the same way discuss do, by contact feeding which means the parents secrete food in the sides of their mouths, the babies simply swim in the parents mouth, then eat, then they swim out. I hope this intrigues people to start trying to breed some Crenicichla. They are a breed that is robust caring and very personable. I hope you enjoyed reading this!
i wrote this for another forum a while ago and never posted it.
Its great info, but its missing some parts. 
