Pike Mix in a Large Tank

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K

katycichlid

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 3, 2006
95
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houston, texas
I have a 350 gallon tank which is primarily made up of King Kong Parrots. What kind of mixing (if any) could I get away with among Maramota, Tapajos Red, Cobra (Topajos II), and Atabapo Red? Quantities as well? I live in a suburb of Houston and hit the LFS's all over town. The only pikes I have seen have been juvenile Xingu I's and Venzuela's.

By the way, the knowledge level in this forum is tremendously impressive.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.
 
Do you already have those pikes? Or are those the ones you are interested in. Since its a large tank, that will help out a lot. Only problem is that if you already have those pikes in there, introducing new pikes is gonna be a SERIOUS pain. If you do introduce any new pikes, they will have to be close to the same size if not larger than the pikes you already have in there. PLUS you will want to introduce more than one....cuz if you just introduce one all the aggression from all the other pikes will be concentrated on that one fish, and the chance that it will be killed is high high high. I'm just a little confused what you are asking....can you reword the question? haha
 
IDK the temperament on most of those pikes but I do know that the xingu 1 are a BIG no no. The parrots will get :owned: . Good luck and I (and I'm sure most of the other members) would love to see pictures of your set up. I love king kong parrots I have never seen them for sale though. Good Luck

Chad
 
Peanut,

I don't have any of the pikes I mentioned. These KK Parrots are very large. Any chance I can get a pair of those pikes in or a combination of some pikes?
 
Gonna be tough man. I know you like your parrots a lot...but they are slow and not really a good idea for pikes. The pikes you listed, especially marmorata and lenticulata are pretty aggressive. A pike that would work AWESOME in that tank would be Crenicichla acustirostris. They are cheaper than all those pikes and in my opinion have some of the best color of any of the pikes. They are more slender, and have a longer snout, but still get up in the 14" range. They are a more docile pike, some people actually keep them with Geos. with little aggression. Best part is that Jeff Rapps.... www.tangledupincichlids.com has some right now for sale...perfect size and everything. You should get a group of three AT LEAST....that way they can pair up on their own. They are too small for Rapps to sex just yet, so that would be your best bet to get a group of them.
 
I appreciate the advance info rather than heading down a big financial catastrophe. I am assuming that most of the guys on here are housing their pikes pretty separately. I gotta admit that some of these KK Parrots which are as big as a dinner plate are not something I would like to see bite the dust.
 
Naw, I wouldn't risk it with most of those pikes. The acutirostris are small though, and are pretty docile pikes, so they should be aight. Put them in there and observe them. The pikes will probably check out the parrots and see what they do, but should leave them alone after they get their kicks. Have a back up plan if you do see aggression though...there are a lot of Texas members..haha.

About keepin the pikes solo, pikes are pretty much the only cichlids I keep...haha..so yeah, i guess you could say that. BUT i have kept them with just about every cichlid imaginable....;). Some work, some don't. Pikes won't take crap, and can stick up for them selves if they need too. I like them to be the center piece though...;)...so generally i form the tank around them...;). You can keep them with other fish, just gotta choose tank mates wisely.
 
Looks like you hit the nail on the head with the recommendation. I have been reading some other posts on the net which specifically said they had housed them with parrots. They are much prettier than I thought....saw some pics from a guy with a 12" male and a 7" female.....really, really nice. I see where Rapps is down to one currently. Saw Shark Aquarium had some 8" ones for $80/each. What do you think? I know you saw my earlier post about being in Houston.....have you heard anyone around here locating anything rather than ordering from other parts of the country?

Thanks again, man, on the info.
 
I would go with Rapps, his fish are top notch. It'll be a smaller size too, so it will be easier to get it to get along with the parrots. Rapps gets them in regularly. If your patient, wait a few weeks or so, check back every Monday on his site, he updates every monday...haha...as he gets them in quite often. Or you could just get the one he has now and then just get some more later....you would have to buy two or three later though to help cut back on the aggression. I would wait, cuz shippin can be costly with Rapps, so if you get them all at once it would be cheaper than gettin them at seperate times. They are gorgeous pikes, hands down awesome...;). They are one of my wish list pikes, just never done it. There are few members down there, not many of them have pikes. I guess there are a couple of LFS down in Dallas or somewhere that actually orders from Rapps..not sure where it is. Hold up. Yeah...here it is:

TEXAS

Aqua Tek in Austin 512-450-0182...you could call them and have them order you certain fish from Rapps, they might bump the prices up a little bit...but you wouldn't have to worry about shippin and all that stuff...;) HTH
 
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