Pike w/ ray

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thefishguy7

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 19, 2007
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I want to keep a large pike cichlid or a breeding pair with a reticulated ray, a SA lungfish, a black ghost knife, a fire eel, 3 florida gar, and 5 silver dollars. There might be other fish, but none come to mind right now. Will this work?
I'm not too experienced with pikes, but it would be one from the saxatilis
group. I just want to make sure they won't be too aggressive towards the ray. (I've read all sorts of different things about their aggression, and they all seem to contradict each other, so I figured, the mkf'ers will know.:))
Also want to know if these fish will mix with a small shoal of earth-eaters. (again not sure what species)

Thank you in advance. :D
 
Wow, where to start....Ummmm, the only answer I can come up with is It Depends....

Tank size is obviously going to be huge with that stock you mentioned.....I would suggest a larger pike then the Sax species because of the size of tank mates you mentioned although some Sax Pikes do get to 12 inches like Sveni and Saxatilis themselves.

The Lung Fish, I don't know about, that could go either way I suppose becasue Lungs have a bite from hell, usually aren't that aggressive though so the pike may see them as a threat based on the shape and attack first and fast...>This goes for the gars as well. Eventually they will be large enough to eat the pike, but while young, a Pike may take offense to them based on the body shape and it can quickly kill a young Gar.

Basically, Pikes aggression varies a great deal between species and individuals. Mostly they will fight back if picked on but they do not attack first. The thing with pikes is they do not seem like like fish that are shaped like them because they seem to see them as competition and filling the same niche in the tank. They don't like that. Gars I think would most likely be my concern in that situation.

Anyway, If I were you, (im not so take this with a grain of salt) I would look into getting a much larger pike, Maybe a Ven, Strigata, Lent (possibly but lents are mean) or basically something in the Lugubris complex because on average they are larger and thicker.

So the Fire Eel should be fine as long as it is larger then the pike and based on that
species final size of close to 30 inches, you will need a pike that is going to obtain a rather large size in order for it not to be considered food by the eel although the Pike may end that before the Eel reaches maturity and the size flip flops.

I have no experience with Rays but from what I've read and seen, they should be fine together, size pending. Pikes will not see the ray as food or the competition based on the shape of the Ray. The Ray however, may predate on the pike if the size difference is to great because being a cichlid, pikes 'sleep' at night and are easy targets for a ray to come and pounce on. But if it is to large for the ray, I wouldnt worry about them.

The Ghost knife should be fine but the Pike can easily kill a knife if it decides it no longer likes it, they aren't really aggressive and Pikes usually aren't that bad, but if something gets on their nerves, they will fight back aggressively and they take large bites.
 
tank size is not an issue. 55 g- growout 180g w/ super strong filtration- long time home indoor pond (hopefully)- final home.

Thank you for all the great information. I'm interested in the large pikes, but I'm worried about their aggression. Rays are expensive. :) Are these larger pikes really aggressive, or do you think they'll be happy with the other fish I want? What if I just bought a large Xingu from Rapps? (12") I doubt it could get eaten. I just like to have shoals of fish and I'm worried about earth-eater and silver dollars. What do you suggest? Favorite species?
 
The Geo's should be fine as long as they get to at least a very 10 inches, which some do depending on species.....Honestly, i can't say that they would be fine in the long run, but normally, Pikes don't chase others to often if they are not worried about them. Geo's shouldn't present a threat, but you never can tell. They should be large enough to not be considered prey though, so no worries there.

The Silver Dollars will be fine, I've always keep silvers and they work great as dithers....

Favorite Pikes of mine would all be in the lugubris group....>Cincta, Marms, Atabapo Fires, Xingu I's, Cobras, Lents, ummm, wow, there are a lot of them...Check this site for idea's http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/specieslist.html
but also go and read threads posted in this section and you will discover what suits you best. Just hang around and talk before making a decision on what to get.....there are a bunch out there
 
that was a great website, thanks!
Of all the species, the ones I liked the most were the cincta, lenticulata, rosemariae, sp. tapajos red, xingu, and the tigrina. The lugubris is nice. :)
I don't know how available these are though. Which one of the ones I listed is the most common. Do they usually cost under 50$?.
 
wow, you have expensive tastes....But good taste...> You can pretty much count out the Tigrina, thats only for the asian market right now, plus its about 600 dollars or more

Out of all you listed, Cincta and Lents are probably the most reasonably priced (relative to what you like). They can be had for less then 50 bucks when younger, but not much less depending on the size, and varient. There are a regional variets in both species i believe as with most Pikes of the Lugubris group....>I think common pikes that look great and would do well in your setting would be Xingu I, Ven's (maybe, these get to about 18 inches in captivity or larger) Johanna's depending on what type, Jeff Rapps has some Rainbows right now that are suppose to look nice when grown. Lugubris are cool because they go through color changes at they mature and with the exception of 1 or two, they look better the older they get.....The only ones that may differ in this respect are Cobra's (personally, I think that the bright red in maturity is very attractive) but they loose there snake like pattern, and Ven's, which are very attactive when young but dull when older.......
 
$600! I'd rather by a new tank. Hehe
I like the cincta, cobra, and xingu the best. I'll definatly buy one of these.
The one on aquabid is very nice, I'm tracking it because I still have to think about it.
Thanks for all the help.
I'll post pics when all my tanks are set up.
 
cool, keep us posted.......Try to buy pikes when they are very young if you can, they grow quickly so thats not a problem plus it will be easier to convert them to prepared foods that way......
 
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