Mike’s Fish Tank – Pike Topminnow

An interesting new fish is the pike topminnow. It has an elongated appearance with a flat back profile.The lower jaw is longer than the upper, and upturned. The pike topminnow has large eyes and a dorsal fin set far back on the body. It is a light, olive/brown color with light green iridescence and small black spots on the flanks. The belly is a lighter yellowish white.There is a dark spot at the base of the caudal fin.

This fish can be found in the aquarium trade; however,they are not easy aquarium resident. It lives principally near the surface of the water and requires a large tank with plentiful plant growth.

This is a highly specialized predator, with an extremely flexible upper jaw that enables them to take very large prey items for their size. A single spawning can produce up to 100 young. The fry are small and, similarly to their parents, require feedings of live foods (in this case including such things as water fleas, baby brine shrimp, and white worms); the parents are exceedingly cannibalistic to fry, usually requiring the fish keeper to remove the fry for their own safety.

The males grow to about 4 inches and the females to about 8 inches.

It is hard to get these fish to eat non-live foods but some will eat frozen or freezedried.

Pets A Plenty is located on Rte 281 Cortland, across from Tops Market in the TJ Nails Plaza. 753-9213. Open 7 days a week. We now have a website. www.petsaplety.biz. check it out. I post care sheets, coupons, new animal arrivals, contests and more. Any questions, email me at friskyy@hotmail.com

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