lol...thankz guppy...lol...sheesh.
With pike cichlids you gotta be careful. Jayden said it pretty straight forward. Pike cichlids are very intolerant of their own species...or any other pike cichlid for that matter. Saxatilis pikes are more so this way than Lugubris pikes, but thats okay cuz Lugubris pikes are more fun anyway...hehe. Lugubris pikes will actually 'school' together until they hit subadult, at which time they will become more aggressive and break up, formin long lasting pair bonds. Luckily for you, dwarf pike cichlids CAN be kept in a 29gal tank. If it was any smaller, i wouldn't recommend it...but since its at least 29gal i say go for it. There are several attractive species of dwarfs out there to choose from...but I would personally try and get Crenicichla regani. I think they are probably the best lookin dwarf pike there is, and come in a wide variety of color morphs as well dependin on where they came from. They are also one of the 'easier' dwarf pikes to get. Granted it never seems easy to get dwarf pikes, you have a better chance of finding these little gems than you would with most others.
Aight, first off, you are gonna wanna make ur tank 'pike friendly'. Get some PVC tubing, about 3/4" in diameter should be more than sufficient. Cut it into about 5" pieces and place it randomly all over the tank. Also, take one or two, straighten outa a couple paperclips and stick one in each end of the PVC....then bend the other end of the paperclip over the edge of the tank...that way its suspended close to the surface. Do that to at least two pieces of PVC...and put them on opposite ends of the tank. They will also appreciate plants, roots, rocks, and anything else you can imagine to put in there. The thing with pikes is that they are an 'out of sight out of mind' fish. So if the fish that is being persued can get away and out of sight...chances are it won't be bothered. Thing that sucks about pikes though is they are pretty much all the same size, so they can all go the same places. Which can make it difficult for the attacked to get away...thus many hiding places. The reason I suggested puttin two PVC up towards the top of the tank is because a lot of the time the attacked fish will go UP to try and get away...and that will give them a place of refuge.
Pikes generally like soft, acidic water, and dwarfs are no exception. The softer, more acidic the better. I know of one person that keeps his in 4.4 pH...super soft...and they are loving it! If you aren't plannin on breeding them, which you should cuz its totally awesome and quite the challenge, you can probably get away with a pH as high as 7.8...but after that they won't show as good of colors and the like. Most pikes are easily converted to prepared foods...all of mine are living on frozen cocktail shrimp that i cut into smaller pieces and feed them, as well as beef heart, bloodworms, brine shrimp, mysis, and some pellets. Gettin them onto pellets can be a pain, but it can be done. Basically what I am trying to get at is that you don't have to feed them live food, and its almost better if you don't. Less disease, more nutrition, better quality. Pikes are super hardy though, and i have never had one starve itself to death...lol....rather have a problem with them eating themselves to death if ur not carefull...lol.
What ur gonna wanna do is get a group of 6 or so. If you can't afford that many at least get 4. The more the better ur chances of gettin a pair. Keep them all together, make sure their are hiding places, and plenty of food to go around. There WILL be aggression...you can count on that...but it should be spread out evenly or so. Grow them out together and let them pick their own mates. They should have picked out a mate by the time they are at least 3.5" or so....so keep ur eye on them. Once u have a pair, remove the others, sell them, give them to me...lol...just get them outa there. U can tell u have a pair cuz they will follow each other around, be nice to each other, and just act lovey dovey. Make sure you get the right ones though cuz if you accidently catch the wrong fish it can be bad...very bad. They don't take to well to arranged marriages...although it sometimes does work. Also make sure you haev a male and a female...lol. Males will be less colorful..but still pretty. Ripe females will have a cherry red abdomen/stomach and have dark black splotches/circles in her dorsal. They form super strong pair bonds, and will practically do everything together. They may have their little scuffles now and then...but for the most part they should be good for life in the tank together. You can remove most of the PVC now...but i would still leave in just a few just in case and as a possible spawning site. They are extremely curious, and aren't hesitant to investigate new things, so keep this in mind when introducing new fish. Sometimes they will just bug the heck outa a fish till it spooks...and when it runs its like a game to them...making them wanna chase it more. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THEIR MOUTHS EITHER! Pikes are notorious for their large mouths and elastic stomachs! LOL! If you have any doubts about them being able to eat it...don't put it in there. Aight, i think that is enough said. Hope that helps...hehe. Any more questions...feel free to PM me or post here...cheers,
Jer
Anyhoo, I've got a 29 gallon tank and I was thinking dwarf pike cichlids. Is this a good idea? Has anyone tried this? I haven't had much expirience with monster fish so I thought I would start small. This is a really great looking site. would love to chat more but I gotta go explore more of it!
Wow someone who really knows about these things! Crenicichla regani thats the ones I've been considering. What would you say to putting them in a heavily planted tank? Also what type of spwaning site do they prefer? I've got lots of driftwood I could use. As far as feeding is concerned is live food (worms, fishes, bug larva) good for condishing them? For preadetors I raise my own feeders anyway so the getting sick is not really a problem. I've done it before for some snook cichlids. What type of lighting would be best for them (bright, moderate, dark)? Thats all I can think of for now. 
Soon soon....I hope to house a small northern (native, non cichla...) 
