As juvies they are very hard to tell apart and there are a lot of local variants and even hybrids.
Pike ID
- Thread starter Thomas_Hung
- Start date
Show me one pike cichlid hybrid then i will believe you. As far as i know there are NO pike cichlid hybrids...especially so with the Lugubris family....lol...they are hard enough to breed in the home aquarium...let alone hybridize. Saxatilis pikes are a little easier for me to believe for being hybridized...and maybe the Wallayeci (dwarf) pikes.....as they seem easier to breed. As for the Reticulata and Lugubris family...not likely. Their are regional color variants indeed....just look at the Tapajos pikes....local has a lot to do with color. And yes...they are relatively hard to tell apart as juv....adults are a snap...for the most part!! 
......as are subadults. Just those blasted juv. Just need more high quality pictures out there...which i am determined to do!
......as are subadults. Just those blasted juv. Just need more high quality pictures out there...which i am determined to do! Sorry, got a little side tracked about the hybrid things....as for food...frozen cocktail/salad shrimp that has been thawed and broken into smaller pieces works great for fattening them up. Earthworms, bloodworms, mysis shrimp, pellets(really good if you can get them onto pellets/sticks...VERY GOOD!! BRAVO TO YOU BRO!), glass shrimp, convict babies (much safer to breed them yourself and feed the babies to them...since you can regulate disease and monitor what they eat..much safer than store bought feeders), crickets, and other insects, baby/adult mice.....frogs( NO TOADS!!), crayfish(pinchers removed). I think that is a pretty good list to start with!
This is why I say I'm still learning.....Pnut....You make me question my own ID now. After looking at a ton of pics I thought I had a Johanni....maybe I wasn't paying attention enough.... I thought I had a Johanna. Taking a second look I'm guessing the top thin lateral stripes indicate Venezuela? All the pics I looked at the Ven. didn't have the top striping and the eye spot (tail) wasn't blended with the heavy lat. stripe. I thought I had a Johanna because the spot was embedded into the strip and the color seems to be changing more like that of a Johanna and not so bland as a Venezuela?? Lemme know if you need pics to help this out.
sp 'venezuela' gets HUGE I had a 16" one that would back down from nothing and never met a fish he wouldnt try to eat. This sucker ate so many fish that you would figure it couldnt even eat, its not even funny. Mine was mixed with a 13" Midas in a 125 gallon and they both got along quite well.
I know that much...Ven. are capable of reaching 18in. and they are ticked little guys. PNUT, WhereTF are you, I know you have answers for me on this one....and valid explanations also.
Geez....calm down...lol. I was tired so i went to sleep, and then i had work. So yeah. Pictures would be helpful, since there is still a chance that you DO have johanna. How is the snout? Is it rounded/blunt? Or is it 'pointy'? Johannas have a more rounded, blunt snout, another feature that makes them easy to distinguish.
heres a pic... I'm about to do a water change and the lights just came on a couple hours ago so he's not looking happy but.... You can see that his eyes are red and there's a good view of the stripe/eyespot on the tail(where it would be)
