Amazonian13
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hi there,
I currently have two Pike Cichlids in my 150 gallon tank. One is a male at 8" and was sold to me as a "Purple Pike Cichlid" which I know does not exist as labeled, but being a huge Pike Cichlid species fan recognized the fish at 100$ as a probable steal. I am waiting right now for him to come out in the light for a good photo opportunity to ask your opinions as well, but I think he is a crenicichla Tapjos Red sp. due to the beautiful deep red dorsal fin and shining body. Anyway, due to my habit of purchasing fish I believe will work out together without doing the research I need to I purchased a female Tapajos red sp. who is about 6'". Although, she is a female I now think from seeing how exquisite her golden coloring is that he is probably a different species of crenicichla but have no idea what. Point is they both look amazing together, problem is although I knew many crenicichla have a reputation for being tremendously aggresive fish, I had my male for over 6 months with a tigrinus and other bass and he never bothered them at all. However, I didn't realize the fact that they are known to bully females to death because they are so into them all the time. This is obviously a problem. I have a shelter set up for the female she stays in that he cant get into at all, but I hate that my beautiful lady only comes out maybe three times a day for a minute or so and is constantly living in hiding. Question is though, are they a species where I could add another or two more females and have a harem situation where aggression is spread out type of deal? Or would he probably just kill all of them all etc.? any advice appreciated thanks
I currently have two Pike Cichlids in my 150 gallon tank. One is a male at 8" and was sold to me as a "Purple Pike Cichlid" which I know does not exist as labeled, but being a huge Pike Cichlid species fan recognized the fish at 100$ as a probable steal. I am waiting right now for him to come out in the light for a good photo opportunity to ask your opinions as well, but I think he is a crenicichla Tapjos Red sp. due to the beautiful deep red dorsal fin and shining body. Anyway, due to my habit of purchasing fish I believe will work out together without doing the research I need to I purchased a female Tapajos red sp. who is about 6'". Although, she is a female I now think from seeing how exquisite her golden coloring is that he is probably a different species of crenicichla but have no idea what. Point is they both look amazing together, problem is although I knew many crenicichla have a reputation for being tremendously aggresive fish, I had my male for over 6 months with a tigrinus and other bass and he never bothered them at all. However, I didn't realize the fact that they are known to bully females to death because they are so into them all the time. This is obviously a problem. I have a shelter set up for the female she stays in that he cant get into at all, but I hate that my beautiful lady only comes out maybe three times a day for a minute or so and is constantly living in hiding. Question is though, are they a species where I could add another or two more females and have a harem situation where aggression is spread out type of deal? Or would he probably just kill all of them all etc.? any advice appreciated thanks
