breeding crenicichla compressiceps

[aspen]

ok here goes: object, to produce a breeding pair of c. compressiceps, living 'peacefully' in a 35 gal tank raising their babies. i purchased 2 of these in november, and a third a few weeks back. to date, they have all been separated in a divided 15 gal, and a 5 gal pressed up against this tank. they are often quite agressive at each other, through the glass. all fish are aproximately the same size, say 4".

i am home all weekend, so i will put the 35 gal tank together (tank will not be planted) on fri night with a bunch or rocks and pvc pipes, and am planning to add the fish with 4 4" geophagus as dithers and keep a good eye on them. i don't want to lose any of these fish. however i am thinking my geo's might also pair up and spawn if i give them the right conditions. that would be a huge bonus. all other fish will be pulled out when a breeding pair of crenicichla's bonds. geo's are quite active and hardy, but not very agressive.

of the 3 fish, one has gotten quite a rounded belly (gravid??), i am assuming this fish is a female, and hoping at least 1 of the others is a male and that all of the fish are ready to breed as their colours are all quite distinct. i will be adding 1/3 r/o water when i set up the tank, as they have been maintained in my tapwater so far (gh 8, kh 4, ph 7.8). i will keep a 10 gal for water storage, pure r/o, with peat added, and also add peat to the main tank, both by corner box filters. filtration will be by 1 sponge filter and 1 corner box filter. water storage tank will have 1 corner box filter with a bag of peat inside it.

for the first change, the 10 gal will be pure r/o. how low should i go with the hardness in the 35 gal, and what should the ph target be? do you see any problems with this idea? would you do anything differently? i have a pair of ruby rams which i consider to be more 'expendible'. would you use these fish instead? they are already paired up, but have not spawned yet. i would have no problem using their spawn as live food for the pikes, but would not want to lose any of the geophagus's potential spawn. i also have some glowlight tetras, silver hatchets and some beckford's pencilfsh, but would not want to use them simply to sacrifice them. should i simply go with the pikes? temperature will be 80 deg, correct? would cold- water, pure r/o changes work for them like they do with discus etc? i don't want to lose any fish, but am i just worrying too much?

other possible tankmates are: 4 medium keyholes, molly's, a small royal pleco, whiptail cats, rubber plecos, a single curviceps, but i would prefer not to take the chance with any discus, apistos, or my wild rams. my egyptian mouthbrooder pair or nicholsi pair are a possibility though. the multicolour is a little nasty and might work, but i'm not sure about the very soft water for either of these last 2 species.

looking for any advice, rick

 

[Xanathos]

I never spawned any dwarfs pike, but i've done it with bigger ones. I guess it could be work for dwarfs too.

First thing with pike: you gotta have a pair. I guess you noticed that they are quite agressive between each other, specially if they are adults. To avoid attacks and agression, I use pvc pipe. I put some in a vertical position and some in horizontal position, so they can avoid seeing each other, wich seems to calm them down a lot.

To spawn mine ( they were crenicicla lucius ) , I stopped feeding them for like 4 days. The 5 days, I began to feed them twice a day with blood worms, frozen artémias and some african fish fries I bought at my LFC auction. You can get feeder plattys or guppys in any pet stores, or even better, get a pair of kribs and feed the fry to your pike The females will have a big, red belly when they are ready to spawn, much like kribs do. Every 2 days, while feeding them, I made a 25% water change with cooler, softer R/O water. I dont think the PH has a great importance in spawning those fish, IMO hardness is what matters the most. This technic worked for me many times to breed difficult apistogramma species, so it should work too with your guys. The hardest part with pike is always getting a working and loving pair, these guys are quite agressive

Hope this help...
Phil

 

[Z Man]

Well Rick, this is the champion C. compressiceps killer talking! I have tried these guys so many times, it now has become an obsession! As you probably know, I have done other dwarf pikes but never this one. First off you mention 'no plants' which I really believe are most necessary, especially java moss. The PVC tubes are good but the fish can't stay in them all the time. Lots & lots of vegetation should be provided so they can swim around unnoticed. LOTS OF ROOM is a real must. I had mine in a 30-breeder and she still found him and did away with him. Other species seen to be OK but I don't know how they would react while spawning. I had feeder guppies along with them and for the most part they were left alone. SOFT WATER is the key as Phil says. I also don't believe the pH is as important as the 'experts' say but only time will tell. When you find out the secret, please post your findings and let us all in on your know-how. Good luck with them. Don

 

[aspen]

thanks for posting z-man, i was hoping you might. i'll keep a log, successful or not. i will plant the tank as per your suggestion.

rick

 

[PikeLee]

Hey Rick,

Good luck with these guys, they can be tough to work with. A 35g tank is a little risky with the tank size, but it’s definitely possible. No matter what size tank, I still think they’ll go after each other. Mine did in a 90g planted. Just put A LOT of hiding places. Floating plants, rocks, wood, and all. Make sure they get there own little areas where they can hide. They’ll still chase each other around, but the hide outs help a bit when they get tired and out of view.

I just kept feeding daphnia, bloodworms, mysis shrimp, and ocean plankton. I fed them a lot and just watched the chasing.

IME, I wouldn’t worry about the water too much. My tap is similar to yours at times, and those parameters worked. I don’t have an RO unit either.

I wouldn’t use the Rams as the Targets. My apistos caught it real good from them and I think rams are a bit more delicate than the apistos. Maybe a good big pair of Kribs can work. I had a pair a kribs and a pair of these guys in a 10g before. And the kribs helped them stay together for a bit.

I’d leave the tank with just the Pikes and targets if you can. You don’t want to risk the eggs being eaten by anything else like a pleco just in case they spawn. They defend the area very well. But some fish are nocturnal and the pikes can’t really do much about that.

Like the Compressiceps Killer says: LOTS of SPACE is a good idea. (how’s everything Don?)

I got a website, that might help you out. I just posted some pics up there also. The pike in the front is the female (notice the non barring in the fins) and the male is in the back (with barring).

PS. If you want to see something cool, you can feed them some fry from platies or guppies. They really go after them and don’t seem to stop until they’re all gone. :twisted: