Choose the Crenicichla

[Crazygar]

If Apisto addiction wasn't bad enough, I am now undertaking a Blackwater Biotope project with my Girlfriend whom is also into fish (boy, the amount of tanks we have)...

She purchased a Orient-140 from AA-Aquariums, the Dimensions are 29.5" L X 17.5" W X 17.75" T giving us about 40GALs to play with. Here is a picture of the tank...

What is looks like. It has really nice dimensions.

No, that piece of wood will be re-orientated to look like a root coming down from the top of the tank.

Since we have the tank, we decided that we'd both try something different -- first a good authentic Blackwater Biotope and secondly, a confirmed Predator -- Crenicichla (Wallaci Group) sp.

Since we don't have the mega amount of room we'd like, we decided that 3 of the Dwarf Species would be more suited for this tank;

C.regani
C.compressiceps
C.notophthalmus

Since all 3 (minus the C.compressiceps) get to at least 5", we are considering 1 Male, 3 Females. Once we have a confirmed Pair, the other two Females are going to be "relocated" to preserve their lives.

We plan to decorate the tank with Wood (loads of gnarly branches etc), Sand, few rocks and Leaf Litter. Possibly some floating Water Sprite. Obviously, it'll be a nicely tannin stained tank. We plan to also use some Hatchet Fish for the top layer.

Big question though... which of the three would do best in this type of setup? Secondly, is there anyone available that would ship these to Canuckistan (Canada)?

We are not n00bs to the Aquarium world, but to the world of Predators.

Gary

 

[dwarfpike]

The Crencichila regani would be your best bet in terms of both size and aggression ... BUT they are not a blackwater species. They are found primarily in clear waters (ie Tapajos) or the main amazon after the mixing of the waters. Also, many people have paired and bred them in a 20 gallon long (30"x12" footprint). It is true Cr. regani can get to 6", but this is very rare ... I've only known one person with a 6" regani. I'd expect 4" to be much more common. Rio Tapajos Regani seem to be everywhere at the moment.

Even though Cr. compressiceps stay smaller, trying to pair them in that small of a footprint would be more than tough. I know a gent that had them kill their way down to a pair in a 10' tank. They are also a clear water type and more ground orinented than the others. Mine ignored driftwood in favor of the river rocks along the substrate.

Noto's are true blackwater dwarves, but I certainly wouldn't try pairing them in that size footprint. While not as devestatingly aggressive towards each other as the compressiceps ... they are not as tolerant as regani either.

Another blackwater fish is the Colombian Wallacii that have been floating about lately, but they like each other even less than the noto's do. I've never found the Guyana or Bio Branco versions so I can't speak on their aggression, but these would be clear/white river types.

There is also the sp. orinoco dwarf that would be a blackwater species, but I haven't seen it offered any where lately ... say the last two years or so.

For the regani, noto's, or wallacii ... make sure the wood is vertical (much like in your pics) as in my experience that is where they tended to hang out ... about midlevel to lower midlevel near the wood (I must note though, I never did the leaves for the noto's or wallacii).

I know how you feel, I've been wanting to do an apisto/noto tank with the fallen leaves to watch the dwarf pike predator behavior towards the apisto fry ...

 

[Crazygar]

Thanks Dwarfpike, I don't plan to add Apistos to this tank, such a small footprint, the Apistos would suffer immediately.

The information on the C.regani I've been reading about, seems that they are blackwater species that love the extra addition of Leaf Litter in their tank.


While I was in Bolivia last year, all of the Pikes we were catching were all Blackwater, the waters of the Rio San Martin were DEVOID of plants due to the deeply stained waters. While other Pikes inhabit other areas, I was gauging by the amount of hits on the Internet that C.regani will enjoy a Blackwater style Biotope. Can we be wrong?

So definitely yeah on C.regani. Ok, at least we now have a species we can work with. Now comes the hard part -- finding them.

Gary

 

[dwarfpike]

All of the listed rivers that Cr. regani have been recorded from are clear water or white water that I know of (main Amazon, Tapajos, Guapore, Araguaia, Tocantins, Madeira, Trombetas, Xingu [though this is now considered a seperate species]) ... though in double checking my references there is a Regani type from the Tefe, would would be blackwater. Cr. regani is generally considered to be a super species complex though, much like A. agassizii ... so I expect more than just the .sp Xingu to be broken off once someone takes a closer look at them. A lot of references to regani are noto's and other similiar species, most assume all dwarf pikes (other than compressiceps) are regani. Philistines!!!

The dwarf pike from the Rio San Martin is the new, undescribed sp. Bolivian citrus pike if I remember right ... a kind of bridge species between notos and regani.

I am sure they will enjoy the leaf litter regardless of where they come from though, they just won't need the super soft water to breed like noto's would.

 

[Crazygar]

Citrus pikes. Check out this link to my Photobucket Account (with some pics) of the Crenicichla and Apistogramma (and tons of other fish) we were catching on our stay there.

Ok, I am sure they will enjoy the little biotope we are setting up for them. Now comes the hard part -- finding them in Canada.

Gary

 

[dwarfpike]

I know what you mean, I have yet to see dwarf pikes in the Victoria area in all my years of visiting.

I know Spencer had them last year, the Rio Tapajos Regani I believe, so you best bet might be contacting him and asking him to keep an eye out. Rapps also will deliver to Canada, but there is a high extra charge for clearing customs that might make it not worth it ....

Hopefully the mods won't mind if I list the link to the forum that has a pic of the regani Spencer had ...

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285087&highlight=regani

 

[Crazygar]

I will ask Spencer, for sure. I've asked a few my US contacts, and they are saying that they haven't seen them in quite a while. I know right now, its the rainy season so it might not be till later on in the year I can find wild ones or find someone with captive bred (preferably) ones.

Those pics were nice. That C.regani are nicer than some of the pics I've encountered on the net! Nice and thanks again.

Gary

 

[Hudson Ensz]

Hey crazygar! I hope you can get some crenicichla regani.

For keeping requirements there was an article published in tfh about crenicihla reganis hmmm lol

 

[Crazygar]

I think I found some Hudson, only 6hrs west of my location as well. Woot! What a bonus! Either way, more Biotope updates this evening.

Gary

 

[Apistomaster]

I have kept both C. regani and C. compressiceps with Apistogramma and both ignored the Apistogramma. The intraspecific aggression among the dwarf pikes is a difficult problem to overcome, especially among C. compressiceps. I never could get any of my pairs to spawn because they preferred to fight each other. Although they ignored the Apistogramma borelli the A. borelli never produced any fry in the presence of dwarf pikes.
I think the tank is too small. 75 gal tanks is about as small as I would try to keep a group of any dwarf pikes. You do need to begin with a group to get a compatible pair. If you manage to get a compatible pair, then perhaps a smaller tank would work. Like I said, I could never get a pair which eventually did not become a single male.

I had similar experiences with C. wallacei.
I would like to try dwarf pikes again but this time I want to try C. notothalmus.

 

[peterK]

I think the tank is too small. 75 gal tanks is about as small as I would try to keep a group of any dwarf pikes. You do need to begin with a group to get a compatible pair. If you manage to get a compatible pair, then perhaps a smaller tank would work. Like I said, I could never get a pair which eventually did not become a single male.

I agree. When I was looking for C. regani, I found a group in a LFS. However, only two fish out of about 25 was looking really good. Those were male and female. Rest of reganis were skinny, and frightened. The I was sure I can pick up only two fish.
Later, they spawned for me twice, (once successfully) but after each spawning male had an argument with female - I had to move male into another tank. My friend had the same pair, and they also spawned, but each time there was a problem with aggression.
To sum up: even if you have quite compatibile pair, the minimum is 100x50x30cm tank.

 

[Crazygar]

This is what is slaying me, so many different viewpoints on this. Same say, ok, others say, no way.

I understand their aggression is a bit more than the other dwarves I've kept, watching them in their natural environment in Bolivia, I noticed they kept large distances and territories from one another yet still remain concentrated in small areas.

The C.regani as far as we've been told, are the most "peaceful" (which is obviously open to definition) of the Dwarf Pikes. So if we have a confirmed pair, it should be fine, if not we'll need to add a group and let them pair off. Hmmm, that does change a few things...

Gary