Tankmates for some Crenicichla ?

[nyskiffie]

Hi all,

I'm going to be starting a 180G in a couple weeks with the goal of having another predatory tank. I did it wrong back in college and I want to do a tank like this justice now. I'm going to be getting a pair of Atabapo when I find a good strain for sale and I'm trying to figure out what else can go in there with them. It will have some VERY serious filtration (~800gph through a 60g sump with the math i'm currently doing) so I'm not particularly worried about bio load, more about not over crowding the fish.

I'm leaning towards some type of parachromis. I have always loved them and they should be aggressive enough to keep up with the pike for food.

What other South Americans would you guys reccomend, and what kind of bottom feeder do you think would be appropriate for that size tank? I know it's too small for shovelnose but are there any other catfish that only grow to ~1 foot?

Thanks for the help!

 

[duanes]

I think anything that even closely resembles a pike, will be thought of as competition.
To me, Parachromis fit that description, and are too close in shape to not be thought of as competitors, and subsequently to be vanquished.
I believe that the best tank mates for pike cichlids are high bodied fish with different type profiles, and that inhabit a middle area in the water column.
I keep and have kept Crenicichla with the Malagasy Paretropline cichlids with success, although geographically incorrect, they tend to ignore each other so aggression is minimal.


If you want to stick to new worlds, I believe you'd be better off with high bodied species like the S American Uaru, or Central Americans like the bocourti/pearsei complex, or some of the high bodied Vieja/Paraneetroplus.

 

[clgkag]

I have kept parachromis with lugubris pikes before and it worked out ok. Alot will depend on the attitudes of the individual fish and if you get any spawning behavior. Lots of cover and vision breaks should make a ton of difference too.