# A few questions. Green Terror or Crenicichla experts?



## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

Hmm to start off, I should start by saying I have a 125 gallon tank, with the following Juvenile fish:
-2 Oscars
-2 Severums
-1 Green Terror
-1 Convict
- Unidentified Crenichla. Most likely a Venezuelan sp. :-? 
-2 Pecos (1 of them is an adult)

You all might be saying "WHOA! Overstocked much?" But these are all juvies. I planned the stocking for this tank back in January, and I obviously plan to sell some. So don't tell me that  I just don't know what I am keeping. I love them all! :-?

So here are my questions!

1. When do Green Terrors turn green? At what length/age? I love his huge personality, but he looks so gray now. At the moment, he is probably 3.5" TL. What food could I give him to increase the green in longrun?

2. What species is my Pike? I will post a video very soon. He is still pretty young, so it may be hard. Pikes have been my favorite wet pet!


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

A pic of the GT might help too...


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## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

The GT is in this video too!


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

scarhbar said:


> What species is my Pike?


Yes, you are correct; most likely Crenicichla sp. 'venuzuela'. Though many of the lugabris -type pikes can look very similar at a juvie stage, so there is always some possibility of it being another closely related species.
They definately get big.
My own experience with the fish is that they make a good boss. More 'laid back' then aggressive CA, but definately a fish that will want to dominate. My brother had to seperate his with a devider when he housed it with a male trimac---they absolutely pounded on each other.


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## ivanmike (Jun 15, 2003)

hard to get a bead on that "GT" - it's not screaming "rivulus" to me - have any good still shots of that fish?


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## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

bernie comeau said:


> scarhbar said:
> 
> 
> > What species is my Pike?
> ...


Oh ya! He definitely bosses the Oscars around, but whenever he gets mean, there is usually a logical reason  I will love this pike either way! Hmm I will keep lugibris in mind too! Thanks


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## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

ivanmike said:


> hard to get a bead on that "GT" - it's not screaming "rivulus" to me - have any good still shots of that fish?


No I don't have any :/ I have other videos on my channel, that show him, but no pictures :/ maybe one day when I have some time, it is a possibility! Do you know what I could feed him now for some good color? I have a feeling that his Frozen Blood worm, Frozen Brine shrimp with spirulina, and New Life Spectrum diet will not give great color :/ not a lot of veggies


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

scarhbar said:


> I have a feeling that his Frozen Blood worm, Frozen Brine shrimp with spirulina, and New Life Spectrum diet will not give great color :/ not a lot of veggies


Nothing at all wrong with it's diet. NLS is a very good brand of pellets and IMO the addition of frozen to the diet is of benefit to most cichlids. IMO, veggies won't add color----not that practical in captivity as a fish has to eat a lot of it to get much nutrition, and a lot of it is not that useable or even digestible and produces a lot of waste. But I doubt the coloration of your GT has much to do with diet.

From stopping your video at certain points, it apears to me that your GT is probably female. Thin fin trim as well as pronounced white bars on either side of the mid-body blotch tend to indicate female. Females seldom attain the bright coloration of a male. Secondly, it obviously has low status in the pecking order. Your pike chases it when ever it comes near ( the reason why it's hard to get a good look at it). In time, as your pike gets larger and older, it may have less interest in it. But you can't expect your GT to have bright colors while it's tankmates keep it 'low down'.


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## ivanmike (Jun 15, 2003)

krill. Shrimp also are good if you can get them to accept them. anything with spirulina in it also helps.

However, if it's not really a "green terror" then you may be stuck with the color. the "acara complex" is huge, and a lot of fish are mis-labeled.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

That's a GT, but to be honest not a super quality one. And more than likely female to boot... Here's a young male:










Yours has the body spot and lighter virticle stripes on either side of it which is why I say it's a GT... A pet store version if that makes sense...


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## ivanmike (Jun 15, 2003)

hmmm maybe. Even the Rivulus complex is...complex. some believe that there are several species.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

I believe there's several species too, but I also believe it's unnecessarily complex... Just variants of the smae species...


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

I use the Cichlid Room Companion (CRC) as a standard. They recognize only 2 Green Terror species: Andinoacara rivulatus and Andinoacara stalsbergi (easily distinguishable by it's reverse scale pattern). http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?id=4
The other members of the Andionacara genus are 4 blue acara- type fish (A. pulcher, A. latifrons , A. sapayensis, A. coeruleopunctatus) as well as the much different A. biseriatus (golden acara).
Anyways, their is no doubt that scarhbar's fish is a regular GT (A. rivulatus according to the CRC). Is it low quality? I dunno, maybe. It's probably female(though I definately not certain) and and it's status in a pecking order is more then enough to account for a drab coloration. Not nessessarily any indication of what the fish may become!


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## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

I know that it is a rivatulus, simply by the orange it has already. I've also looked at MANY pictures, and I can say that it is a rivatulus.

Female? Not sure! If so, she really bosses my bigger Oscar around. She bullies him around like no ones business. The random aggression that my pike showed, is very uncommon. The pike is one of the nicer fish in the tank surprisingly. But I would love to give her, her own tank! If only I had another tank. If it is a female, and stays near 8", what is the smallest tank size? I have a spare 29 gallon, but that is pretty small  hmm I have a 55 but with Angels and Tetras. That wont work.... ugh she may get sold


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## ivanmike (Jun 15, 2003)

right on bernie - I'm no rivulus expert by any means - in the vid it just wasn't screaming at me in terms of its ID.

To the OP - will the pike take pellets or krill? (they can be notoriously picky)


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## scarhbar (Feb 17, 2011)

Ugh I was too tired when I wrote that earlier, I meant I wanted to give the green terror her own tank.

But my mike does NOT like pellets. It loves blood worms though!


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