# Belonesox belizanus (Pike Livebearer)



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Anyone ever kept Belonesox belizanus (Pike Livebearer)?

Been doing some reading on them... This fish is quite cool. And for a livebearer is definitely something else. Apparently its fry, when born, are about 1cm to 2cm long. (For you wacky imperial folks, that's up to 3/4".) From different reports I've read, they say the females can get anywhere up to around 10" in length with the males normally about half that.

I think we're getting some in at my store. Can't wait.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

yes i know em

i breed them









i have 1 female and 2 males in my 20L with a pictus. when my female is gravid i move her into one of my 3 2g's to give birth and then move her out. the fry are cannabalistic mean little bastards that can grow either amazingly fast, or amazingly slow, for whatever reason the fry have been known to grow unevenly. they larger ones sort that out though :laugh: . im not sure how big females get (ive heard about 18cm, while males about 12cm. the males are semi-pussies. mine are F1 that have been shipped to me outta taiwan.

the fry almost certainly need to eat live foods (guppies). if you are not dedicated to them you will never notice them breeding, as the fry are eaten IMMEDIATLY after birth

i have found mine to be best at 22*C and 8.0 @ 1.010

they hang out at the top, and are semi-active. to lessen aggression keep tank packed with plants. i have a divider on hand i use periodically to separate that nasty bitch from her pimps

at about ~1" i sell the babies at $2 a piece. if you get them you have two choices to make; breed them, meaning many separate tanks( i have like 3 or 4 at any time ) or keep them with intent not to breed them, which, admediatly, is semi boring considering they are not the most active fish when there is not a fish to chase

livebearers are fast becoming my specialty, i have my brothers tanks filled with them; swordtail colony,endler colony, mosquito fish colony, and soon *crosses fingers* a Brachyrhapis roseni colony

very cool fish, possibly my favorite, here ive been preaching people to get these for a long time and they havent even noticed :laugh:


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## Polypterus (May 4, 2003)

> very cool fish, possibly my favorite, here ive been preaching people to get these for a long time and they havent even noticed


Join the Club of the ignored about Livebearers







, Me I just gave up years ago trying to get these toothy tetra people to listen.

What Mosquitofish species are you keeping?

As for Belonesox follow the above written, It will work very well. IME I have had a great deal of issues when the Females where kept with the males. Frequently I came up with half devored males or missing ones. Females do indeed get very large, 6 to 7 inches for a well cared for female is not unusual, and they are "hell of a mean fish" against the smaller males.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Polypterus said:


> > very cool fish, possibly my favorite, here ive been preaching people to get these for a long time and they havent even noticed
> 
> 
> Join the Club of the ignored about Livebearers
> ...


I am currently keeping what i believe to be _Gambusia affins_. I will be setting up a 25g circlular pond for them during the summer months. They are quite aggressive towards each other.

Livebearers, behind catfish, are the most amazing group of fishes to ever grace the waters of this world. People are so stuck on their "aggressive" piranhas that they over look these as ugly feeders. With genetics, mating, and caring for the fry, livebearers are very fun fishes to keep.

Any piranha fan would love Belonesox, if it wasnt for the rarity and the half-eaten males part :laugh: i personally have never found a dead male, im dreading it, especially because i know that mine were ver hard to get a hold of, and i dont feel like raising any of my fry to adult-hood


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## Polypterus (May 4, 2003)

Well that makes three of us Livebearer people though I have not heard from FishGuyEric in awile.

One of these days though, be assured, we will take over the world.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

You belonosox owners should post some pictures. I would like to see them. I've always had an interest in these guys, but I've never owned any despite them being frequently offered in LFS around here.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

There's a guy who is a part of the local aquarium society who is really into livebearers, killifish and natives (which include the two previous as well). I've been chatting with him a bit about some of these different fish and am getting interested in livebearers again. There's more out there than platies, guppies, mollies and swordtails. And some of them, like B. belizanus, are really quite remarkable!

I think this goes to show how snobby this hobby can be sometimes. When people get into certain 'areas' of fish they tend to discount many others... Often keeping and raising colonies of livebeaers (beyond tossing random guppies together and watching them mix and match their colours) can be harder than breeding most cichlids, for example.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Mettle said:


> I think this goes to show how snobby this hobby can be sometimes. When people get into certain 'areas' of fish they tend to discount many others... Often keeping and raising colonies of livebeaers (beyond tossing random guppies together and watching them mix and match their colours) can be harder than breeding most cichlids, for example.


Very true. I find almost all livebearers remarkable, and many are hard to breed. Take my Belonesox, right now im in the process of setting up 45 gallons worth of many tanks to breed them, and they really are not too difficult.

My favorite livebearer that i have owned so far (besides, of course, the belonesox) has been _Ameca splendens_, I love owning these Goodeids. I did end up trading off all my stock for my Belonesox because of space, and i really didnt enjoy the fact of such infrequent breeding, but every hobbiest must witness a pair of Goodeid's display mating, and equally impressive is the giving of birth. I hope to get more soon, i see a 10g in my future for them.

Brachy's, although i have no personal experience, can be very difficult at times for breeding. I hope to get _Brachyrhapis roseni_, but it appears that due to the shops around me, that wont be happening soon enough.

Livebearers amazing fish, more people should take the time to consider them, between 
Poecilids (common livebearers), Goodeids (Splitfins), Hemirhamphids (Halfbeaks), and to a lesser extent, Anablepids, there is really much to explore!

Then take into extent the creation of new strains, rearing babies, maintaining colonies, watching mating, watching birth, and just plain enjoying these fish really make them fun.

Damn, after that i feel like a spokesman to livebearers :laugh: , but i guess we all as livebearer fans are to an extent, because we always have to defend our love affair with the beauty of these fishes.


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

Pike top minnows are great... females can get up to 9 inches in captivity, mine are right at 9 inches now. males rarely exceed 4 inches. One unknown bit of info is that they are a brackish water fish. They do inhabit hard alkeline FW as often as they do lightly brackish water, so either setting would be good in your aqaurium. They appreciate planted aquariums, and their appetites are huge. The bulk of the diet should be fish, they are carnivorus but lean towards piscivorious. I love them, mini tubular piranhas is best to describe them.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

kingsnar said:


> Pike top minnows are great... females can get up to 9 inches in captivity, mine are right at 9 inches now. males rarely exceed 4 inches. One unknown bit of info is that they are a brackish water fish. They do inhabit hard alkeline FW as often as they do lightly brackish water, so either setting would be good in your aqaurium. They appreciate planted aquariums, and their appetites are huge. The bulk of the diet should be fish, they are carnivorus but lean towards piscivorious.* I love them, mini tubular piranhas is best to describe them.*


No, they are nothing like piranhas *AT ALL*, because, these things are aggressive :laugh:

I keep mine in brackish water, i find them to seem overall healthier that way.

In the wild they are truly piscivorious, and it tanks, its not that much better, as they can be hard to ween off from live foods.

I have to disaggree with your size, in my experience with them, in my own tanks, and in others aquariums, i have never seen one over 7", and my males are like about 5" too

When your going to keep these, your have a decision to make, whether your going to keep them in hard alkinline water (+7.8) and stay away from the "difficulty" of brackish, or keep them in brackish, can result in better growth, and better health. i have see beautiful setups with both, and they can fair pretty much equally well in either, for the most part though, i choose to keep mine in brackish because of the lack of parasites and diseases that can survive in brackish, although i think im going to switch over to fresh as its fairly difficult to maintain a nice solid brackish tank in these little 1.5g's that im raising fry in.


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

> In the wild they are truly piscivorious, and it tanks, its not that much better, as they can be hard to ween off from live foods.


Hmmm, Luckily Ive had success with frozen and prepared foods. I make the bulk (maybe a little over 50%)of their diet frozen silversides, and live quarantined feeders. Ive even got mine to take hikari carnivore sticks. I dont know why, but my females have grown to 9 inches on the dot, while others keepers find it difficult for them to get over 8 inches. Perhaps the brackish water makes the difference?

I dont believe they are truly piscivorious, in many experienced fish keepers that Ive spoken with (particulary specializing in brackish fish) have said that fish do make up quite a large portion of their diet, but they do predate on other prey items quite often. Though I could be wrong.


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