Banded pike characin

Care at a glance

Overview

The banded pike characin is a slim, fast surface predator that hangs just under the waterline waiting for prey. It is a fish for experienced keepers with a very large tank.

Caring for the banded pike characin

The banded pike characin needs a big, long tank of at least 159 gal (600 L). Fit the lid tightly, since a startled fish will jump. Keep the tank dimly lit, with plenty of open length at the surface and some floating cover.

Use soft, acidic water at 73 to 82°F (23 to 28°C) and a pH of 4.5 to 6.5. Filter it over peat or leaf litter, and darken it with wood and tannins. Bright light and hard, alkaline water suit it poorly. It often ignores dry food and prefers live and frozen items such as earthworms, river shrimp and other meaty foods.

It is gregarious and does better in a small group of its own kind. Treat it as a predator, since it will take any tank mate small enough to swallow. Pick only large, calm, open-water fish as company. Breeding has not been recorded in aquaria.

Good to know

Boulengerella lateristriga is one of the pike characins, family Ctenoluciidae, a small South American group of pencil-shaped surface hunters. It carries a dark stripe along a slender, silver-gold body, with a pointed snout full of small teeth. It is the blackwater member of its genus, tied to soft, acidic rivers. Imported fish are wild caught.

In the wild

The banded pike characin is a blackwater specialist from the Rio Negro and upper Orinoco. These tea-colored rivers are stained by tannins and very low in minerals. The fish patrols slow, shaded surface water among overhanging growth and wood.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Spotted pike characin

  Boulengerella maculata

  13.8 in (35 cm) · 106 gal (400 L)

  13.8 in (35 cm)106 gal (400 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Red-tail pike characin

  Boulengerella cuvieri

  34.6 in (88 cm) · 528 gal (2,000 L)

  34.6 in (88 cm)528 gal (2,000 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Hujeta gar

  Ctenolucius hujeta

  9.8 in (25 cm) · 55 gal (210 L)

  9.8 in (25 cm)55 gal (210 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Pike topminnow

  Belonesox belizanus

  7.9 in (20 cm) · 44 gal (165 L)

  7.9 in (20 cm)44 gal (165 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Giant river hatchetfish

  Triportheus rotundatus

  9.8 in (25 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)

  9.8 in (25 cm)79 gal (300 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Narrow hatchetfish

  Triportheus angulatus

  9.8 in (25 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)

  9.8 in (25 cm)79 gal (300 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)