Predatory Fish for a Smaller Tank

So I saw this old article on TFH on pocket-sized pikes. They mentioned Asian killifish, pike cichlids, needlefish, and a couple others. I was thinking of choosing one of these species for my new tank I'm planning. Could be anywhere from 30-55 gallons. (I might be getting a 60 gallon but I'm not sure.) Does anyone have experience with these species or have a better recommendation? I particularly like crenicichla compressiceps. Any ideas on how to stock such a tank would be much appreciated.

crenicichla compressiceps would be pretty easy to get a hold of. I think Ive seen them at A Place For Pets.

From this old TFH article if you have sufficient room in the tank you could still keep a 'community' set up. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

When I had my 29g going I had almost considered an African tank. You can do quite a few "Tangs" with the right hiding spots and decor. Just another idea.

And of course there is always the Convict cichlid. (No dont do that!)

I still haven't been there. Maybe I'll visit this weekend.

What would make a good target fish for the crenicichla?

I'm not sure if I want an African tank. I guess I don't know enough about them.

And no convicts!

Nice thread. This is a tough one that requires a bit of thinking! I must second the smaller pike idea. The pike I had wasn't a dwarf and I didnt have him long but he was a beast of a hunter/killer. Not sure on the availability of these guys: Crenicichla regani But they look super good from just what google images is showing.

I looked up pictures of the c. regani and they are cool looking. How big do they get?

I read that c. compressiceps can be adapted to hard and alkaline water. So that opens up a lot more possibilities for a community tank.

Place For Pets usually carries 1+ species of dwarf pike. I've purchased a couple from there. I'd give them a call to see what they got. I'll be searching for one as soon as I re home a Columbian Pike I'm raising.

Kevin up there does have a couple different types. I recently purchased a Dwarf Green Pike. Not a very cheap little guy either. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

SerenityNow wrote:I looked up pictures of the c. regani and they are cool looking. How big do they get?

I read that c. compressiceps can be adapted to hard and alkaline water. So that opens up a lot more possibilities for a community tank.

IME I have never had an issue with acclimating south americans to my water, which hovers around 7.8-8.0 ph with a GH of 8 and KH of 5. That being said I haven't kept any of the touchy species such as discus.

The average length I'm finding for those guys is 4".

@madness I saw them on The Wet Spot's website and they were $20 for a 1.5" fish. I definitely couldn't afford more than 2 or 3.

@Addicted2CAs I don't want anything too difficult. From what I've seen the dwarf pikes aren't hard to keep, but I'm still wondering if I'm getting ahead of myself. My only tank has a betta, dwarf cories, a snail and a ghost shrimp. Easy stuff.

I believe you could handle pikes. I kept a larger one for a little while and the only issue was, of course aggression, go figure lol Not sure on the dwarfs, however the ones I have seen in Madness's tanks have been chill from what I saw.

OK, so theoretically, if I have a pair of either c. compressiceps or c. regani what else would could i stock my tank with? I love catfish, so what species do you guys think would be best?

DMD123 thinks I should keep more cichlids, lol, so what might make good tank mates for the pikes?

Once you have an owner responsive fish like a cichlid you never will go back. So it comes down to the fish you already have.... do they get to go in the big tank? If so might not be able to put even dwarf pike in there.

My betta is a pretty responsive little fish. I'm training him to eat off my finger. I love him! But he and the corydoras habrosus get their own tank.

DMD123 wrote:Once you have an owner responsive fish like a cichlid you never will go back. So it comes down to the fish you already have.... do they get to go in the big tank? If so might not be able to put even dwarf pike in there.

This is the truth! I get alot of people that don't understand why I have only 2 fish in a 230gal, (the umbee's) they are quite entertaining and interactive, I wouldn't have it any other way.

SerenityNow wrote:My betta is a pretty responsive little fish. I'm training him to eat off my finger. I love him! But he and the corydoras habrosus get their own tank.

Same thing as the larger cichlids just on a much smaller level On another note, my lima shovel nose will come to the top and almost eat out of my hand. Pretty impressive since I have only had him a week lol.

If you want to look into catfish this site rocks: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
I used it before I bought my lima to pick out the humongous cats from the small ones and find something in between.

With the 55g you can opt for fish bigger than dwarf pikes. There are some nice fish out there that can get 6-8" or so that would work.

I had this pike for a while:
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Most likely was this: Crenicichla sveni
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Combine that with maybe a school of larger rainbows and a medium sized cat. Might even be able to keep a convict or firemouth with it. Hard to say... depends on the fish aggression level.

That pike is pretty cool looking. Why didn't you keep it?

Which species of rainbow would you recommend? I have read that they are slow to mature. Does that refer only to color or size also?

It was really mean toward a fish that was expensive so I put it in time out in the 29g. That tank at the time had a little convict int it named Spaz. He did not like her and even though she was twice his size he killed her in a day and a half of sharing the tank.

Beautiful color on that Pike D. I raised one too. Turned my tank into a species only tank. She got 16 inches.
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theChad wrote:Beautiful color on that Pike D.

Thanks, it was pretty impressive considering she was still in the bag from the fish store. Her belly really colored up and she was a stunner. But mean, mean, mean for her size.

DMD123 wrote:It was really mean toward a fish that was expensive so I put it in time out in the 29g. That tank at the time had a little convict int it named Spaz. He did not like her and even though she was twice his size he killed her in a day and a half of sharing the tank.

This is why cichlids make me nervous.

Cichlids are actually pretty predictable. The best thing to do is start your tank off with all the other fish first. Then when your schooling fish, cats, etc. are established then add your cichlids. Also very good idea to get your cichlids young and grow them out together. This helps them settle their differences quickly and they tend to get along better when older.

In my case I had put the pike in an established fishes territory who had never been accustomed to having tankmates. Also it was only a 29g, which the convict ruled the entire water space. It was a situation I should have foreseen but I just needed to put the fish somewhere while the 210g settled down.

I had a scarlet badis in my ten gallon for awhile. They were considered dwarf cichlids at one point and are classified as micro predators, so you could easily have five or six males and a harem of females in a larger tank. Very pretty and very fun to watch, IMO.

Here is a site entirely dedicated to dwarf cichlids: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This might give you some ideas.... or add to the confusion.

@DMD123, I'll definitely be getting everything else first and then adding the cichlids last. If I wanted to try breeding c. compressiceps, I'm guessing they'd need a lot more space to themselves. Has anyone here tried this in a community setup?

@Gizmo, the scarlet badis are cute little things. A bit smaller than what I'm looking for though.

My dwarf green Pike is a compressicep type also, and it only reaches 3-4". Thats so small you wouldnt even notice them in there. My Green Pike shares a tank with my smaller grow outs.

madness wrote:My dwarf green Pike is a compressicep type also, and it only reaches 3-4". Thats so small you wouldnt even notice them in there. My Green Pike shares a tank with my smaller grow outs.

At least it won't be bigger than anything else I'm planning on getting. I'm hoping to get the tank finished by February, so I'll post pics when it's done!

I picked up 2 Regani species from A Place for Pets. they had Green pikes and they were amazing. I went with the Regani because they were larger at 4 inches. Needless to say 1 that I thought maybe a female I now think isn't. It dont matter no how my lobster got a hold of it and had a $15 dinner The green pikes I think we're catching ich. I pointed them out to the clerk and he's all like "you dont want one of those"! lol. The greens were $30 a piece!! Doh

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Good looking fish though the Regani. The male I have left was dominate so its stripes disappeared, the body almost a snow white and the fins a transparent red color. I'll try to post a picture of him once he comes out of hiding.