Thinking about this Atabapo

[jalepeno]

So here the story. I went into a LFS even though I'm pretty much stocked. They have these beautiful, what they call "Red pikes" for sale. I asked for the scientific name and they gave me crenicichla atabapo. They said they are rare and they were asking $59. They are anywhere from 6" to about 10" long. All of the colours are amazing.

Needless to say, I'm thinking about it. I would like to know if $59 is a decent price. I don't have any pike's and wondered how large they would get and temperament.

My stocklist right now is as follows:

6x2x2 180
1 7" Male Green Terror
1 4" Female P. Dovii
7 1" P. Loisellei
1 1.5" Synspilum
1 1" Black belt
2 1" Red Devils
6 2" Clown loaches
2 4" Filament barbs
and misc convicts

60 gallon
1 3" Oscar
3" and 4" pair of convicts

Obviously some fish will be sold. A lot actually, I'm just trying to find out what I like and get some examples with good colour. The only aggression so far is the convict pair are jerks and the Green terror doesn't care for the dovii, but she holds her ground.

Do pike's mix with any of the stock above? What would I need to get rid of to have one?

 

[fishticuffs]

pike are much more aggressive than most of what you got. if i were you i would get the pike to be just a little smaller than the rest of your stock and it will be fine. the few pikes i have had would kill anything thier size or smaller.

 

[driftwood]

pike are much more aggressive than most of what you got. if i were you i would get the pike to be just a little smaller than the rest of your stock and it will be fine. the few pikes i have had would kill anything thier size or smaller.

I'm not an expert on Pikes by any means but his stock list is fairly aggressive and I think the Pike might actually have a bit of trouble with some of those fish but I see no reason not to try it. It seems like a good stock list to add a Pike to. The Red Devil and the Dovi would concern me and might hurt the pike.

 

[fishticuffs]

just from the pikes i have owned. a xingu I female 11 or so inches and a sveni 7 inches, they both tried to kill any thing thier size or smaller. my xingu would only tolerate 3 fish, a 15 inch female jaguar a 15 inch marbled sailfin pleco and a 10 inch bufonius catfish.

 

[jalepeno]

My concern was the little 1" babies I have growing up. Would a 6" atabapo easily catch and eat them?

Maybe I'll try the oscar in the 180, get rid of the convict pair, and put a pike in the 60 for awhile until the baby parachromis are big enough to not be eaten?

I forgot to say, the red devils will be gone shortly. I know how aggro they can get, I used to have two big meanies. These are just growing up a little so they are easier to catch out of the 180.

 

[clgkag]

the pikes will definately pick off your fry.

 

[jalepeno]

the pikes will definately pick off your fry.

That's what I was thinking.

So a atabapo in a 60 for the time being, until they get a bit bigger.

Approx how fast would it grow with ample water changes and a normal feeding schedule? If it is 6" now how long do you think it would be before it hit 10"?

Are they okay to keep with alone but with cichlids? As in, only one pike?

 

[clgkag]

Should be fine with other cichlids in my opinion, but some of it depends on each fish. They are prone to HITH so make sure and keep up on waterchanges. Especially in the 60 gal.

 

[jalepeno]

I've been doing a lot of research, and I've discovered that my LFS doesn't actually have atabapo pikes but instead they mislabeled them. They are really johanna pikes.

I don't think a johanna pike is worth $59 even if the colours were nice.

 

[Peanut_Power]

I've paid well over $100 for johanna, so depending on the variant I'd say they are definitely worth it.

I would trade in some of your fish to the LFS and try to use them as credit. Then you could get the pike for slightly cheaper as well as cutting back your stock. Just a thought.

I'd watch out for the loaches though, pikes are true predators and will definitely give anything small enough a chance to be digested.