Pike Cichlid ID/Info  - 3/16/2006
My husband and I recently purchased a Crenicichla xingu 2 and we are having a hard time finding information on this particular species.  I have found 2 pictures online, both of which are completely different from one another.  I wanted to see if you know any information on this species and if you know what exactly they will look like when full grown.  Thank you. David Fillmore
< Crenicichla sp. Xingu II comes from the Rio Xingu river in Brazil. These are one of the big ones and can get close to 18 inches when full grown. They prefer water in the mid 70's F. A pH of around 7 is fine. It is a meat eater that will take small fish as well as worms and frozen food too. It likes a tank that is not too bright that is decorated with stones roots and caves. The male is overall a faint steel blue color with the top of his head being an olive color and the bottom of the head being an off white. The female is the pretty one. She has an olive brown body with a rosy pink belly. Her fins are red and edged in white and then black. The top of the head is an olive brown but the bottom is a bright yellow gold color. This is a pretty rare species in the hobby. Most of the time the Crenicichla species Xingu I or better known as the orange pike is offered for sale. The big problem with pike is that they need clean water or they start to get sick.-Chuck>

Blue Acara Revisited
Hello, Ryan (or anyone if Ryan is not available) -
<I'm here! Morning>
Perhaps you will recall me. You answered a query of mine regarding a
blue Acara that I had recently purchased and put in a 90 gallon tank
with three juvenile Oscars, the largest about six inches at the
time (about 9 now, and so beautiful),  which the Acara quickly began to
terrorize, despite their superior sized. I removed the Acara and put
him in a 10 gallon tank for temporary purposes, and,
believing that I was not ready for so fine a fish as a blue Acara, you
recommended that I return it to the fish store but I did not, for I had
already fallen in love with it. <Yes, I remember.  I wasn't crazy about the space you had for this fish- How goes it?>
A while back, I moved the blue Acara into a 55 gallon tank, by himself.
Tomorrow, I am headed to town and I thought I would bring back a
tankmate for him - probably another Acara, female if I can find one,
for I believe this one to be male. My plan was also to bring back a
tank divider so that I could keep the fish separate until they get used
to each other and the new one had a chance to grow. I wanted to at
least consider the possibility of a tank mate other than an Acara, so I
popped on the web to do some research. <Great>
Now, after surfing through all kinds of sights and finding a bunch of
green terrors that look just like my blue Acara, but no blue Acara that
does (although some do bear a distinct resemblance) I am wondering if
my blue Acara is a blue Acara at all. As you are a person who has
raised blue Acaras of your own, perhaps you know.
<Yes, I'd be happy to ID him>
Here is a picture of him. What do you think? Is he a blue Acara, or a
green terror? At the time of this picture (October 7) he was about five
inches in length.
<This is certainly Aequidens rivulatus, The Green Terror.  Beautiful fish,
but a 55 gallon tank will be more suited for just one.  The Aequidens Pulcher,
or Blue Acara, is rarely as colorful as your GT! Best of luck! Ryan>
Thanks,
Bill

Blue Acara or Green Terror pt. 3
Thanks, Ryan <Surely> - Yesterday, I went back to the store where I purchased
him and they had some small ones that looked just like he did when I
got him and when I questioned whether or not they were really blue
Acaras, they insisted they were! <These fish look similar when young, distinctly different when older.>
I will tell them about this. I guess
that might explain why he was so hard on the Oscars. <Yes, my Blues have been much more permissive of tankmates than what you experienced.> Anyway, I am very
happy with him, green terror though he be. In the event that I move him
into a bigger tank, is there a fish I might put in with him? <Possible, but always potential for war.>
A female
green terror, if nothing else? <Most people who breed Green Terrors simply bring the pair together to breed, then separate them.  The larger your system is, the better a chance for another fish to happily co-exist with a GT> Or would he be too hard on her except
during mating times? <Certainly>
Actually, though, I do kind of enjoy watching him with a whole tank to
himself. From what I have read, I gather that green terrors do fine by
themselves. Is that your experience? <Yes, and many feel that keeping a single specimen can drastically change the way that he interacts with YOU as well.  Best of luck! Ryan>
Bill

Texas cichlids
my query for u guys is i have a Texas cichlid and his colors half black and half
white my friends keys telling me that its not a Texas cichlid  do they change
colors like that  is it a Texas cichlid or is it some thing else    hope to
hear from u guys soon  u can e mail me back at   elmo01830 @aol .com
<There are really two different species of cichlids commonly referred to as Texas Cichlids.. "Cichlasoma" carpinte is a fish with large greenish spots on a dark grey body. The other Texas Cichlid is "Cichlasoma" cyanoguttatum. This one has smaller white spots on a lite grey body. When either one becomes dominant or decides it wants to breed the lower half becomes black while the upper half can become a very light grey almost white.-Chuck>

Blood Parrot (cichlid)
Hello,
  I have two parrot fish yellow and red. they are about 2.5 in. they are with
electric blue cichlid and a lemon yellow cichlid, and 3 clown loaches. my
question is my yellow parrot fish was a pretty yellow but is getting black on his
fins and under his head. is this something I should be concerned about? thank
you,  Darci
< Parrot fish are a hybrid between a few different species of cichlids. Color changes are not unheard of. If the fish look and act OK then I think the color change is most likely from the fishes genetics rather than environmental conditions or diseases.-Chuck>