Few Questions About Pike Top Minnows

[penguinpimp1990]

1. im hearing a lot of flucuation on tempatures..... ive heard 79-90 degrees, 70-81, and 74-79. What is their actual tempature range?
2. only livefoods? ive heard it and i HIGHLY doubt that they will only accept a live food diet, maybe when acclimating but certainly not for the remainder of its life.
3. truly brackish? or does it primarily live in hard, alkeline, FW and often/occasionally enter brackish?
4. how active and swimming strata? shy?
5. how fast do they grow? (particullary females)
6. how many to a 75 gallon tank? give a female to male ratio too if possible. i was thinking 6:3 but im guessing that will work ok.


thank you

 

[nmonks]

Hello --

There have been a few threads on this fish. Check them out.

But briefly, like mollies, the warmer the better. Like most animals, they adapt to a range of temperatures, what they don't like is shock. I'd recommend around 25C upwards.

Livefoods are the easiest diet but not the only. They will take large invertebrates, too. Dead food is more of a hassle, but do-able. Tank-bred stock acclimates to dead food more easily than wild fish. There are good reasons to wean them on to dead or invertebrate foods, the main one being the avoidance of parasites and bacterial infections.

They like brackish, at least in captivity. Not necessarily a lot of salt, but probably some. SG 1.002 should be fine, and this will allow you to keep plants, which is crucial for this species. It is shy and retiring, and appreciates cover. They do inhabit fresh water in the wild though. Avoid low pH and low hardness.

They grow quite fast, comparable to large molly or halfbeak species. Ratio of males to females irrelevant; the problem is the females eat males when hungry.

Some useful links:

http/www.fishbreeding.dk/frame.html?arti...zanus.html~Main
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=186
http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi..._belizanus.html

Cheers,

Neale