# Piranha's replacements: Crenicichla compressiceps



## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Hey guys,
a few weeks ago I sold my last remaining Redbellied Piranha's, and this is what I bought as a replacement: 6 _Crenicichla compressiceps_ or Dwarf Pike Cichlids. Absolutely magnificent little creatures, feisty as well and full of life. I don't know the gender of the fish yet (I got them in yesterday), but hopefully there aren't too many males (2 males and 4 females would be ideal), and hopefully there will be at least one couple that will form a pair.

Anyways, enough talk - here's the pictures:


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## eiji (Sep 16, 2006)

Your Dwarf Pike Cichlids looks amazing and so are your plecos...


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## kigrind (Sep 28, 2006)

Nice stuff!

Is that a fork I see in the tank?


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

KiGrind said:


> Nice stuff!
> 
> Is that a fork I see in the tank?


i see it too







awsome fish


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

KiGrind said:


> Is that a fork I see in the tank?


Yeah, I use forks to weigh down vegetables for my pleco's (most veggies float, pleco's don't







)

Thanks for the words, guys









I kinda screwed up the second batch of pics (they were incorporated in the initial post at first, but after editing that post, the board software suddenly started bitching that there were too many pictures for one post...)

So here are the extra pictures:








Corydoras sp. cf. aeneus 'Orange Stripe'









Corydoras sp. cf. aeneus 'Orange Stripe'









L014 Sunshine Pleco









Three Royals vs. sweet pepper









My Leopard Cactus Pleco's (one _P. leopardus_ and two L114) chilling together - you need to look close to see the third









My first _Apistogramma cacatuoides_ nest - unfortunately, the eggs weren't fertilized

















Female defending her nest

That's all - I hope y'all like them!


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Awesome fish. But that's a given with your tanks.









Love the pleco!


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## deezdrama (Jul 9, 2005)

great pics!!!! are u using a flash?


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Amazing little fish!

I think you shall be happy with them, Pike cichlids are some of the most diverse and interesting cichlids there are. While I do not have much experience with the dwarf species, I can tell you from my all around experience with pike cichilds that one those things are sexually mature you can expect some fighting, but in a tank as large as that it should be ok.

Seeing these pics has inspired me to look into some those little guys for my empty awaiting 45. Keep us posted!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Thanks, guys









Deez: yeah, those pictures were taken with flash. I prefer not to as it tends to mess the colors up a little (and even Photoshop won't be able to fix completely), but when shooting without you either need very bright light or a seperate photo tank (both not an option), or a longer shutter time (which can be an option when photographing pleco's, but not when doing fast-moving fish).

Tibs: like I said in my initial post, these little fellows really blew me away! So active, so lively, so feisty! A far cry from my Reds, that were also awesome (for very reasons), but not nearly as entertaining to watch than these guys.
I'll keep you guys updated on any developments in the tank, if they happen: so far, two Pikes have claimed a small hiding place under a piece of drift wood, keep cleaning/expanding it (removing small pieces of gravel and stuff), and defend it against other fish. I haven't seen any mating behaviour yet (in fact, I don't even know if they are a male and a female: I haven't really figured out who's what yet), but it for sure is exciting stuff that's going on!


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## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

Awesome looking pikes Jonas.

I like the Cory's, I got 4 in my tank, the cheapest one's I could find, green spotted I believe there called.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

nice dwarf! looks just like mine.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

I have more of a sedentary type predator (Belly crawler pike) but even though he vary rarely moves, he is very interesting to observe nevertheless. When he is upset (or rather, in 'prime' 'happy' condition, like after a water change) his eyes will be almost glowing red, and his gill covers will also turn very red. He absoulutly hates gravel, to the point that he likes it all huddled in the corner of the tank. He also likes his tank to himself (when he had the 45 he owned about half of the tank) but seems to tolerate my female convict as long as she doesn't get to close to his cave.

I'm going to take a trip to a quality fish shop here soon, if they have some Dwarves I may end up coming back with some for my 45. One question I do wanna ask, have you seen these guys use up the water column much? I have a tall 45 (24" tall) and I was kinda hoping for something that would use up the height. Maybe if they stay near the bottom, like most of the pikes I have had experience with, I can get away with keeping my small guppy population if the guppies stick to the top.


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## polomax24 (Jun 14, 2005)

Nice pikes! They are the most aggressive dwarf pike out there. I like them because they are very active.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Tibbs- to your question on their activity.
Yeah mine is all over the tank. He has a couple areas that he considers his home. (cave formation) when its feeding time he is all over the top of the tank. when I come in the room he is right out front. But it is awesome to watch him creep thru th plants looking for food.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

BlackSunshine said:


> Tibbs- to your question on their activity.
> Yeah mine is all over the tank. He has a couple areas that he considers his home. (cave formation) when its feeding time he is all over the top of the tank. when I come in the room he is right out front. But it is awesome to watch him creep thru th plants looking for food.


That's good to know!
Mine are already pretty darn active, but so far they usually stick to the bottom half of the tank. I think that's a matter of still acclimatising to their new tank though, as they do venture out in the open, away from the substrat, more and more. But only time will tell how this will develop further...
I keep them together with 6 Colombian Tetra's, which mainly inhabit the upper tank half, and so far that goes fine (they're about half the size of the Pikes, so I think they are more or less safe). In fact, the situation of keeping these Pikes with rather fearless and voracious "all-over-the-tank"-kind of fish like these high-bodied Tetra's even has some drawbacks: it's a bit tricky to feed the Pikes when everything that falls in the tank is picked up by the Tetra's (they feed whenever, wherever and whatever, the greedy bastards: I expect them to reach monster sizes soon if they keep pigging out like this







) Only two of the six Pikes so far dare to venture close to the surface, but hopefully things will improve eventually. But it's most definitely something to keep in mind: it would be sad beyond limits to loose 15-dollar Pikes because their 2-dollar Tetra tank mates cause them to starve!

As far as keeping Compressus Dwarf Pikes with other fish: I don't think these guys are capable of truely serious carnage. Their mouth seems to be a lot smaller than most other Pike Cichlids (I've seen them yawn, and quite honestly, it's not that much, lol). I think anything over 1,5" in length (except the most slender of fish), and anything taller than an inch would be relatively safe. But I haven't tried any such small tank mates yet, so it's more speculation than based on observations (they do however leave their Otocinclus tank mates, most of them about an inch in size and swimming all over the tank, alone).

That Belly Crawler sounds awesome, btw! I'd love to see some pics of him!

Gordeez: those Cory's were sold as standard Bronze Cory's (for a standard price, yay!), but obviously they are not! I mean, your average Joe Bronze Cory doesn't have that orangy, somewhat neon-like stripe on the upper half of the body. No idea where they suddenly came from (all of a sudden, LFS's all over town sold these guys as regular Bronzies), but I for sure don't mind!

Thanks for all your kind words, guys!


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

I wouldnt worry about them starving. What are you feeding them right now? Mine love mini Krill. and small peices of raw shrimp. 
At any rate once they realize that the tank is theirs they will become very aggressive feeders. Its fun to watch mine rip food from the mouths of his tank mates. 
And yeah I wouldn't worry about them eating any tank mates unless were talking fry. I used to have ghost shrimp. I think either my pike or my cae is responsible for their dissapearance.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

BlackSunshine said:


> I wouldnt worry about them starving. What are you feeding them right now? Mine love mini Krill. and small peices of raw shrimp.
> At any rate once they realize that the tank is theirs they will become very aggressive feeders. Its fun to watch mine rip food from the mouths of his tank mates.
> And yeah I wouldn't worry about them eating any tank mates unless were talking fry. I used to have ghost shrimp. I think either my pike or my cae is responsible for their dissapearance.


So far I have fed them black mosquito larvae, artemia and granules (and I still have 4 or 5 other types of frozen food in the freezer) - despite several stories I read about Dwarf Pikes being rather tricky to train to accept prepared foods, my guys showed interest immedeately, which is encouraging. I don't think they will starve (although some are already a lot thicker and fuller than others), as they seem very willing to eat. Their willingness is not the problem: it's rather a matter of getting enough food in their bellies before the Tetra's eat it all. So it's good to gather some info on their behaviour and on feeding these guys properly based on actual personal experiences.
I will have to be careful with feeding larger chunks of meaty food, as they share their tank with 6 wood- and planteating Loricarids - and they shouldn't eat too much meaty foods (can lead to obesity, digestive problems, decreased immunity, etc.) But an occasional piece of shrimp sounds like a good idea!


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

yeah with the shrimp I only toss a little peice in at a time. Let him snatch it up and then he goes into a frenzy. and attacks anything else that hits the water. altho sometimes he gets so worked up he ignores what I tossed into the tank and sits there begging for food not realizing that a peice of shrimp is sinking behind him. then the tetras swoop in and get it.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

BlackSunshine said:


> altho sometimes he gets so worked up he ignores what I tossed into the tank and sits there begging for food not realizing that a peice of shrimp is sinking behind him. then the tetras swoop in and get it.


Yeah, that sounds familiar: this afternoon I fed my guys a nice red mosquito larvae dinner, and one of them went after a piece that was sucked up by a filter: he was really trying to get that small piece out (poking his nose in the filter intake), while the rest of the food was falling around him like snow. In the end, he hardly got anything


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Judazzz said:


> altho sometimes he gets so worked up he ignores what I tossed into the tank and sits there begging for food not realizing that a peice of shrimp is sinking behind him. then the tetras swoop in and get it.


Yeah, that sounds familiar: this afternoon I fed my guys a nice red mosquito larvae dinner, and one of them went after a piece that was sucked up by a filter: he was really trying to get that small piece out (poking his nose in the filter intake), while the rest of the food was falling around him like snow. In the end, he hardly got anything :laugh:
[/quote]

lol yeah they outsmart themselves. heheh. but very cool fish. I think he may be my fav fish that I have. I jsut wish he woudl get bigger. but then I did buy him as a dwarf.


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## Devon Amazon (Apr 3, 2005)

They look great, Really nice pick up.

I miss my group of compressiceps, Very entertaining to watch, angry little bastards :laugh:


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Devon Amazon said:


> They look great, Really nice pick up.
> 
> I miss my group of compressiceps, Very entertaining to watch, angry little bastards :laugh:


Thanks mate!








I must say that mine are quite mellow. Yes, they do flare and scrap occasionally, and also ripped the eye balls out of a few Oto's that also live in their tank (no idea what they try to prove with that, though), but other than that it's not nearly as bad as I expected (based on stories from others). They all seem to have a nice patch for themselves, so apparantly the tank is big enough for all of them (well, at least for the time being).
I never realised that they would be so entertaining and interactive, despite their rather mellow disposition - after just 1,5 weeks they already beg for food, follow me around and watch my every move with keen interest. In fact, I'm really pleased that they seem to get along fine: although I bought a few more than I really needed so it wouldn't be the end of the world if a few croaked, I obviously don't mind them all surviving in the long run!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

THEY ARE SOME VERY NICE FISH YOU HAVE THERE


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## NeXuS (Aug 16, 2006)

awsome


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