Green Dwarf Pike Cichlid's real name?

[KarlskidMarx]

Today at my LFS I saw a dwarf pike cichlid labeled as "Green Dwarf Pike Cichlid".

What is the proper name of this fish? Also, How would it do in a tank with 2 festivums, an angel, 3 panda cories, 5 hatches, and 7 roberti tetras? Is he gonna get big enough to eat the tetras?

[Z Man]

"Crenicichla compressiceps" & they stay fairly small. Each one has it's own temperment but they females are the nasties of this species.

[lee914]

have you ever kept Pike Cichlids before? they are really cool fish. I keep them with my Oscar. Nice companions, since the Pike likes the lower portion of the tank.

[H8Parrotfish 13]

Those Pikes are the least aggressive of the Pike family. They hang their eggs from strands downward. Had a pair with 2 Uaru, bunch of Silver Dollars, and Rummynoses. Pretty simple.

[Marcus]

Those Pikes are the least aggressive of the Pike family.

This statement needs to be explained a bit. They are relatively mild mannered around other fish, but with each other are sheer hell. For such a small fish, they need at least a 55 gallon tank for 2 specimens to coexist and sometimes, even this is not enough space. Once they pair off they get along fairly well but finding a compatible pair is tough. Placing two specimens in with each other almost always results in having just one specimen a few short weeks later.

By the way, you can sex them by looking at their anal fins. Males will have stripes, females will not.

A very neat fish but buyer beware!!

They max out at about 3" with females a bit smaller. They should do fine with the fish you listed as tankmates.

[KarlskidMarx]

Thanx for the replies folks.

Well I went to the LFS and all they had were a few females left. I looked at them for a while until one female came to the front of the tank and met me eye to eye. Very pretty interesting little fish, so I bought her.

She seems very happy and she has taken up residence in an area of the tank that leaves her quite visible so I can enjoy her instead of her hiding all the time.

Once again, thanx for the info, it's nice to come to a place and get good advice before you make such a purchase.