Pike cichlid ID help

[Mazan]

Yes, I have seen that video of dicrossus foraging with Wallaciia - nice! Sadly I have never been able to get Dicrossus here.

This is my female when about the same size as yours, at first the ring around the ocellus looked more whitish, later the red became more obvious and the ocellus became double.

And after a few years the ocellus pretty much disappeared. Nothopthalmus only has the red ring and no white on the ocellus, this might be clearer as she matures? The males of nothopthalmus are easy to tell from the Orinoco species, nothopthalmus having the first dorsal fin ray extended, while this is not the case in the Orinoco species.

 

[Jwitho]

Yes, I have seen that video of dicrossus foraging with Wallaciia - nice! Sadly I have never been able to get Dicrossus here.

This is my female when about the same size as yours, at first the ring around the ocellus looked more whitish, later the red became more obvious and the ocellus became double.
View attachment 18201

View attachment 18202

And after a few years the ocellus pretty much disappeared. Nothopthalmus only has the red ring and no white on the ocellus, this might be clearer as she matures? The males of nothopthalmus are easy to tell from the Orinoco species, nothopthalmus having the first dorsal fin ray extended, while this is not the case in the Orinoco species.

First of all, what a stunning specimen!
And yes, currently no white visible on the ocellus but at the size it’s hard to actually distinguish, I’m glad i took this chance, and I may have to pick up another one this weekend

 

[Mazan]

First of all, what a stunning specimen!
And yes, currently no white visible on the ocellus but at the size it’s hard to actually distinguish, I’m glad i took this chance, and I may have to pick up another one this weekend

Get a group if you have room for them. I started with 5 but by the time I made up my mind to get them (I wasn't sure if I had anywhere suitable for them) they had been in the shop a few months and were extremely skinny. Two didn't make it.

Yours looks to be healthier. Mine would only eat live food at first but soon learned ti eat anything when together with other fish.

 

[Mazan]

I revisited the Oliver Lucanus video with the dwarf pikes and Dicrossus. One thing I noted was that he says the female pikes are about 2” and the males 3” . Mine got to twice that size respectively. I also reread an article by Vin Kutty about dwarf pikes. Referring actually to regani, he says “It seemed unlikely that these fish survive past one season in the wild a conjecture I make due to the collection of exclusively juveniles/young adults of 6-8 months of age. Since I collected them in September, it can be inferred that these fish spawn in February through April. In aquaria, they are sexually mature in just 3 months age and spawn soon thereafter! ”

Probably the other dwarves are similar. So if trying to breed these fish it’s probably worth attempting it soon after acquiring them. I tried everything i could think of or that was recommended to breed mine ( https://apistogramma.com/forum/threads/how-to-go-about-trying-to-breed-my-dwarf-pike-cichlids.25872/) with no success beyond some nice displays initially. I had the pair alone in a 240l tank, but after several months of getting on Ok but no spawning, the male began to attack the female and barely let her come out of hiding. I gave up and put them back in the big tank. I have a feeling they may have already been too old by the time I set them up in a tank on their own, I had already had them for well over a year.

While regani has been bred frequently in aquaria, nothopthalmus is apparently much more difficult and I haven’t found any reports of anyone breeding the Orinoco species.

 

[anewbie]

I revisited the Oliver Lucanus video with the dwarf pikes and Dicrossus. One thing I noted was that he says the female pikes are about 2” and the males 3” . Mine got to twice that size respectively. I also reread an article by Vin Kutty about dwarf pikes. Referring actually to regani, he says “It seemed unlikely that these fish survive past one season in the wild a conjecture I make due to the collection of exclusively juveniles/young adults of 6-8 months of age. Since I collected them in September, it can be inferred that these fish spawn in February through April. In aquaria, they are sexually mature in just 3 months age and spawn soon thereafter! ”

Probably the other dwarves are similar. So if trying to breed these fish it’s probably worth attempting it soon after acquiring them. I tried everything i could think of or that was recommended to breed mine ( https://apistogramma.com/forum/threads/how-to-go-about-trying-to-breed-my-dwarf-pike-cichlids.25872/) with no success beyond some nice displays initially. I had the pair alone in a 240l tank, but after several months of getting on Ok but no spawning, the male began to attack the female and barely let her come out of hiding. I gave up and put them back in the big tank. I have a feeling they may have already been too old by the time I set them up in a tank on their own, I had already had them for well over a year.

While regani has been bred frequently in aquaria, nothopthalmus is apparently much more difficult and I haven’t found any reports of anyone breeding the Orinoco species.

That is interesting about them only living one season in the wild. It of course means if they live longer in the aquarium they will grow much larger and might change in behavior as well as perhaps be limited in breeding in later life.