Aquarium pike: types (photo)

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Despite the exotic and decorative appearance, various predatory fish can exist in aquariums. Of course, with the right neighbors and proper nutrition.

These species also include aquarium pike, the types of which are diverse.

Common pike

This is the most common species of predatory fish that can live in aquariums. In freedom, it reaches 120 cm, and in captivity it is small - about 60 cm.

The fish has hard armor-like scales, so it is also called the armored pike. The predator's body is elongated, with sharp teeth on powerful jaws. A distinctive feature is the vertebrae, which have a recess on only one side. The opposite side is convex, like in amphibians. Breathing occurs due to the swim bladder.

When keeping the most important thing is the water temperature, which should not exceed 18-20 degrees, otherwise the fish may die.

It is impossible to keep armored fish in aquariums less than 150 liters. This leads to the fact that the individual begins to gain weight, and its size decreases.

Belonesox pike

Belongs to the carp fish family. Male viviparous aquariumpike in length reach 20 cm, and females - 12 cm.

This variety of fish is capable of live birth, which is their unusualness. The female gives birth to live fry, which appear 38-40 days after fertilization. This type of fish is characterized by extraordinary fertility.

Pikes have long snouts and crooked teeth, which is why they cannot fully close their jaws.

Killi fish

These carp-toothed fish are called Killi Fish. According to the elongated shape of the body, they resemble pike. The natural habitat for them are small lakes and streams, in particular, dried up. Therefore, they are unpretentious and accustomed to poor external conditions.

Average aquarium species reach 10 cm. They are conditionally classified into seasonal and non-seasonal.

The most dominant individuals are gold, red, yellow, bright green and orange. Often there are Killi Fish that combine several colors.

Killi favorably coexist with other fish and with their own kind. They coexist amicably with moderate and calm relatives with a similar character, behavior and approximately the same size.

Killi Fish become aggressive during the breeding season. The pike have a favorable attitude towards neighbors with whom they have been cohabiting for a long time and do not conflict, but new residents can bring discord and anxiety into the calm life of animals.

These fish eat live food, preferably floating on the very surface of the water. They feed on cut tubifex, cyclops, corretra will do,ground bloodworm.

You should try to feed the inhabitants of the aquarium twice a day. The fish are not adapted to dry food, but for a while you can switch to frozen. Don't overfeed the pike, it hurts them, and the leftover feed must be removed from the tank.

We should not forget that fish (including aquarium pike) need a varied diet, and individuals of the aquarium world will always be he althy.

Killi fish at home

Experienced owners of these individuals know that an increase in temperature for pikes has a bad effect - they move little and spawning stops.

Despite the fact that killi fish get used to harsh living conditions, 22-24 degrees is still a normal temperature for them, and you should not go beyond this level. This can lead to the death of the aquarium inhabitant.

Such representatives have a habit of jumping out, so for safety reasons, you need to cover the aquarium with glass.

No need for aeration and water filtration. But be sure to change ¼ of the water in the aquarium every 1, 5-2 weeks. The required acidity of water is from 6pH to 7.5pH, and the hardness is from 2gH to 10gH. For an optimal existence, the fish need a variety of hiding places.

During the spawning period, females feed heavily. In spawning grounds up to 10 liters, water aeration and filtration should be carried out. Killy fish lay their eggs in different ways - on the surface of small plants or well buried in them. It depends on the variety of pike.

Aquarium soil must pass the mandatoryprocessing. It can be peat crumb, boiled for about 30 minutes. The incubation period for eggs is 2 weeks, the water temperature should be 26 degrees, and its hardness should be minimal. During spawning, peat chips are dried and kept for almost 1.5 months. After that, it is filled with water for a couple of weeks.

Killiefish fry eat micro-feed and grow fast enough.

The most common types of killifish are:

• afiosemions;
• notobranchius;
• lineatuses.

Afiosemions

For the existence of these representatives of the Notobranchiaceae family, a lot of vegetation and shelters from snags and stones are needed. They are peaceful, can get along with relatives of similar sizes.

All Afiosemion breeds are multi-colored with a predominance of a certain color. They eat live food, but can also eat frozen food.

The acidity of the water in which these fish species are kept is 5.5pH - 7.2pH, and the hardness is 6gH - 15gH.

There are significantly more females in an aquarium than males, their approximate ratio is 3:1.

Notobranchius

This seasonal Killi Fish lives for about 12 months. To maintain the population, you need to constantly breed them. The fish coexist well with other aquarium cohabitants.

Notobranchius prefer to swim on the surface or in the middle layers of the aquarium world. For them, a deep and richly planted aqua world is most suitable. Can happensmall “fights” between males.

Notobranchius are distinguished by their brightly colored scales. Among them there are individuals with a predominance of turquoise, red, green or purple.

The diet of pike is exclusively live and frozen food. The most optimal water temperature in an aquarium for notobranchius is 22–25 degrees.

Lineatuses

Pike has an elongated body, eyes - emerald-shiny. Its natural environment is rivers, swamps and mini-ponds.

Despite its scary appearance, lineatus is a peaceful fish of the carp-tooth family. She is kept together by cichlids and barbs.

May eat fry if very hungry. The cohabitation of lineatuses with small fish is highly undesirable, since a predator can eat them. This freshwater has a huge mouth.

The female can be very active. For example, to catch an insect, she is able to jump out of the aquarium. She has well-developed fins, so these “manoeuvres” are inherent in her.

The body length of the fish is not more than 12 cm, in females it reaches 9-10 cm. These are very miniature representatives with an interesting color. The gray body casts a light green, and its upper part contains dark stripes. From here the fish got its name - lineatus.

Representatives of this family are beautiful, especially in the light of lamps. Adult males are very expressive due to their bright green scales.

Females look different from males. They have the same gray body but brighter scales. femaleshave short yellowish fins. They are able to change and transform colors like a chameleon. This helps the specimen to hide in the algae.

Lineatus is a hardy fish that can adapt to other conditions. It is also not very demanding on water aeration.

Today, aquarists breed red and gold lineatus hybrids that are more colorful and exotic. Yellow individuals are distinguished by unpaired fins.

The color of the pike depends much on the area where it was brought from. For example, the Malaysian lineatus is bright green. It is called golden aploheilus. Pike from the Czech Republic - bright yellow.

Pike is unpretentious to the temperature regime. The optimum temperature for her is 20-31 degrees.

Golden lineatus prefer to live in packs. You can immediately place in a small aquarium from 8 to 10 individuals. But there are some conditional restrictions when breeding these fish at home. For example:

1. PH level - no more than 8.
2. It is advisable to lay out the bottom of the aquarium with dark soil with many ornamental plants.
3. Predominant neighborhood with quiet and calm fish.
4. The fish of this species are very impulsive, so the aquarium should be closed.

With proper care and proper feeding of fish, aquarium lineatus pike can please owners for about 5 years.

Feeding

The fish have well-developed jaws, they are happy to eat insects and their larvae, frayed dry plants.

Pikes love dry food, including flakes. As a vitamincomplex, you can give her crushed bloodworms. You should not overdo it with food, fish should be fed in moderation.

Lineatus spawning occurs in plants. The female can lay eggs on any surface. It is advisable to transfer them to an incubator. Mating lasts for a month. With successful development, the female can produce about 90 eggs per week.

Fry should preferably be kept in a different container, otherwise the mother can eat them. The young can be fed nutritious bloodworms and other insects.

It is worth noting that carp-tooths can get sick with infectious oodiniasis, so even with strong immunity, proper and timely care for aquarium pike is needed.