Re: Apisto Predators

["David A. Youngker" <nestor10@mindspring.com>]

From: Mike Jacobs
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 7:37 PM

> Dave..............you'll have one fat, happy dwarf-pike
> left..............trust me!  I use to every now and then
> see Vinny Kutty's pike tanks when they were feeding
>.........NO CHANCE!!!..............;-)

This is the "kid in the candy store" response I expect for at least the
first ten minutes, anyway  ;-)

> The pikes are true predators, not just fish that eat fish
> that happen to wander by!  I'd give the odds at 2-1 that
> they wouldn't last 2 weeks.

Ah, see - that's where finding the balance comes in.

I'd like a predator that is a threat to the matured Apisto as well as the
fry, but not one that constantly consumes its weight in prey every 24 hours.
If there's one that hunts like the larger carnivors - swallow a fish and
take three days to digest it before getting hungry again - Lionfish comes to
mind in the marine world.

Balance that against an easily bred, fairly capable, fuller bodied Apisto
like Borelli.

> I really don't think you have ever seen a pike when
> he's hungry.......talk about efficient killers!

Hence the query for a reference of some sort. But a compendium of experience
would serve the same function.

For instance, Ken Roese's note on C. Regani behavior brings up one
possibility. It doesn't sound as though the Aggies and Thomasis had too much
of a problem (fry loss is certainly acceptable in my case - I'm more used to
letting them fend for themselves anyway to prevent being overrun). But he
doesn't mention if they were raised together or what the Pike's normal diet
is.

The specific type of hunting behavior isn't (or doesn't seem) critical. If
it's an ambush hunter, that's certainly not a problem, although I might
could see (apologies to the English major/grad) how a constantly- prowling
free- ranger might be a little too disruptive. If an occasional burst of
speed would net 'em a Tetra or two, that would be OK, but even a 10-ft tank
wouldn't keep a Zebra Danio from darting around like its tail's on fire  ;-)

Of course, it doesn't have to be a Pike at all - that was just the first
thing to jump off the keyboard. And if they're not too ravenous and not too
territorial, than perhaps even a pair of somethings or others. Hopefully not
a _breeding_ pair, though...

So yeah, I'm open to ideas - wide open...

-Y-




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