Pike Cichlid

1 Species Overview

The pike cichlid is native to the Amazon River basin in South America. It is greenish-cyan, and its pointed head is its trademark; its dorsal fin is short but long. Note that the pike cichlid is aggressive and must not be kept with small ornamental fish.

Family: Other (miscellaneous)

Origin: Amazon River basin, South America

Temperature: 26 to 27 C

Hardness: Soft water

pH: Weakly acidic

Temperament: Aggressive; cannot be kept with other species

2 Appearance and Physical Traits

The pike cichlid is a difficult ornamental fish to keep and is quite demanding about water quality. Also, it is aggressive, so avoid keeping it with small ornamental fish to prevent fighting.

The pike cichlid is from the Amazon in South America, belongs to the cichlid family, and is cylindrical. Its body is greenish-cyan with a black horizontal band running from the eye to the middle of the caudal fin, above which are dozens of round black spots. The head is pointed, the dorsal fin short but long. Males are deeper in color; females are slightly paler with a swollen belly.

3 Habitat and Living Environment

The pike cichlid is aggressive and a difficult fish to keep, very demanding about water quality. A pH around 7.0 is suggested, with weakly acidic soft water.

The recommended temperature is 22 to 25 C. Note its aggressive nature and do not keep it with small fish. Breeding temperature is 27 to 28 C; the fish matures at 8 months. Females are deeper in color; use a smooth rock or marble slab as a spawning site. Each female lays 500 to 600 eggs. In nature it lives mainly in fast, clear mountain streams. In the aquarium, simply keep the water fairly hard and at a high, alkaline pH. To build a high-alkalinity, high-hardness environment, use coral sand as the substrate; this gravel made of coral or shell fragments is mainly calcium carbonate, so it steadily releases ions that raise alkalinity and hardness and buffers against acidification.

4 Feeding Guidelines

The pike cichlid has many food options: live foods or prepared foods, or a mix. But because it is hard to keep, feeding also needs a scientific approach.

With the pike cichlid, good water quality already wins half the battle; the rest is mainly feed. Common live foods are tubifex worms and daphnia; costlier and ripening-inducing are bloodworms (midge larvae) and artemia nauplii and adults. Convenient prepared foods come as flakes and pellets.