Identification Please (Bichir variety)

[From NC]

I recently (yesterday) purchased a "dinosaur eel" from Petsmart and I would like to know what variety he is. Unfortunately he or she (cant tell yet) is in hiding in the tank at the current moment, so i can not get a photo. As soon as I am able to, I will post a photo.
He/she is only about 2 inches long, kind of a tan color. What do I need to feed this little guy since he is so small? Could I feed him worms of some sort (cut up earthworms or red wigglers?)? He is in a 55 gallon tank with three other balas and an algae eater. I used to have 3 year old Oscar who recently died (he was HUGE).
Any information provided would be of some help, and if this is in the wrong place, please feel free to redirect me.

****photos coming soon!!

Thanks

Jason

 

[greenmaji]

WELCOME TO AA!!!!!
I am willing to guess that the eel is most likely a spinny eel of some sort.. and would eat sinking food like shrimp pellets..

Im going to try to say this as nicely as I can please dont be offended.. Your tank was a little too small for the Oscar (they need 75+ gallon tanks).. they can get to 16" and very full bodied not to mention live for over 10 years in a proper tank for them.. yours likely was not full sized and died early from the lack of space needed.. The balas are most likely too big for a 55 as well. depending on the algae eater (if its a common pleco) the 55 isnt really big enough for that fish either.. I dont know how big your particular eel will be when it matures so you might be ok with it.. more advise is needed.. I hope this has been helpfull.. :?

 

[talloulou]

is this him?

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/poly-sen.htm

 

[greenmaji]

is this him?

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/poly-sen.htm

The link didnt work for me..

 

[talloulou]

PetsMart Dragon Eel is Gobioides broussoneti

http://sunflower.bio.indiana.edu/~sholtzma/fish.html

sorry I had to keep editing some reason to get the link to work

 

[greenmaji]

The first link you had up says the minumum tank is 80 gallons.. 8O sounds like its MTS time!!!!

 

[talloulou]

hmm well if the links aren't working I can't figure out why but anyway petsmart sells a

dragon eel which is gobioides broussoneti

and a dionsaur eel which is polypterus senegalus

occasionally you see them mislabeled but most likely you have the pollypterus senegalus. There is lots of info on the web. sorry about my links

 

[talloulou]

Here is another link that might help if it works

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=47886

 

[whitetiger_CJ]

from NC, the fish you are referring to is a senegal bichir. or polypterus senegalus. it will get about 12 in long, and needs to get a variety of food. small bichirs love bloodworms, and plankton. as the fish gets bigger, he will eat small fish if given the chance. speaking that you bought it from a petsmart, it will also readily accept pelleted foods. congrats on the new bichir. they are fun to watch, and will grow quite rapidly. HTH ~corey

 

[From NC]

My Oscar died due to jumping out of the tank while my wife and i were away at the beach. He would get annoyed every now and then and attack the heater and jump around. He knocked the lid, light, and cover off the tank. It was a sad sight to return home and find Artichoke (my oscar's name) stiff on the floor.
that appears to be my eel in that photo!
I have managed to get some photos of him eating some chiclid pellets a little while ago. i will post them soon

 

[whitetiger_CJ]

I just remembered that fruitbat has a very good profile on this bichir. the link is:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=21833

 

[From NC]

I read fruitbat's post. That is how I foudn this website! That post is brilliant! Mine is just so small at the moment, I would like to make sure that he is getting enough nutrition.

Here are a couple of quick photos of him:

 

[Fruitbat]

From NC....

VERY nice little Polypterus senegalus! Glad you found the profile helpful. I've had really good luck getting small bichirs to put on some length and weight using frozen (thawed first, of course) bloodworms. Don't use the freeze-dried stuff if at all possible. Frozen (thawed) beef heart makes a good supplement. As they grow you should consider trying to get them used to eating pellet foods. I prefer Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets over most of the others but have also had luck feeding shrimp pellets and the like.

Nice pickup!!

-Joe

 

[From NC]

Fruitbat:

I think that I might try using the frozen bloodworms. They can be bought at petstores, correct?? But I have some questions about them:

1). Do I just sit them out and let a couple thaw before I feed him?
2). How often do I feed?
3). At what point can I introduce feeder guppies to him?

All you help and advice is greatly appreciated and need!!

Thanks!!!!

Jason

 

[severum mama]

You can thaw your bloodworms by getting a cup of tankwater (not tapwater) and putting a cube of the worms in there- then you won't be thawing the whole package. Make sure there is no detergent on the cup. Then just wait for a few minutes and dump some in. You can feed him small meals twice a day, and vary the diet so he doesn't get too picky about his food. I don't know when you can give feeders as I have never fed them in my tanks, but you may want to think twice about that anyway. Feeders are generally kept in miserable conditions and may introduce diseases to your tank.

You can buy frozen bloodworms and all kinds of other frozen food at your LFS or chain pet store. They should have a freezer case with all sorts of these entrees. You'll also be able to get the frozen beefheart that Fruitbat recommended at your LFS or chain store. Hope this helps.

Oh, and WELCOME TO AA!

 

[whitetiger_CJ]

I know it was addressed to fruitbat, but I can answer some of the questions.
I would get a glass of water from the tank, and put the cubes of food in there to thaw out, it only takes about 2 min. I feed my senegal once a day, and he is growing like a weed. I would say you could put a few feeders in with him now, and see what happens. you will be suprised what he will eat. my senegal eats roseys that are a little over half his length.

 

[Fruitbat]

Jason....

What severum mama and whitetiger_CJ wrote is correct regarding frozen bloodworms. With the frozen beefheart....I simply take a cube of the stuff....let it sit out for five or ten minutes until it starts to soften up and then tear off bite-sized pieces and drop them into the tank.

Personally I avoid giving my bichirs (and almost all of my other fish) live feeder fish. The only fish I have that get a steady diet of feeder guppies are my African Pike Characins (Phago loricatus) for the simple reason that they absolutely refuse to eat anything else. Even then I always quarantine the guppies for at least a week before I use them as feeders. There are two reasons I don't use live feeders....the most obvious (and main) reason is the risk of introducing diseases and/or parasites to my fish. The second is that I don't want to risk my fish developing a taste for live food to the point that they won't eat frozen or pellets. The one live food that I unhesitatingly offer to my bichirs is earthworms, which they eat with great gusto.

As for frequency of feeding....I feed my smaller bichirs twice a day (they grow much more rapidly when they're young). My moderate- to large-sized bichirs get fed once every other day.

-Joe

 

[From NC]

Thanks for all the info guys!

I read online that these little guys are aslo widely known for escaping from the tank. Anyone here ever have that to happen??

I think that it is amazing that they can breath oxygen, surviving outside the tank for 3 hours!

(this coming from my previous fish knocking the top of his tank off, breakin the heater, and falling to the floor and died)

 

[Fruitbat]

Jason....

Yes.....I have been unfortunate enough to have bichirs decide to take a walk on a couple of occasions. Both instances, fortunately, ended well for the fish.

In one case I had a 12" Polypterus senegalus bump the lid of the aquarium hard enough to allow it to escape. I don't know how long it had been out of the tank but a commotion in the room attracted my attention. When I got there I saw the bichir in the middle of the floor making threatening, open-mouthed lunges at my cat. The cat was apparently impressed because it didn't make any effort to take the fish on. The bichir was returned to its tank unharmed.

Last year I almost lost one of my albino Polypterus senegalus. I had just introduced the fish to a new tank and it was getting pretty darned late at night. There was one small corner of the plastic insert that I had to cut away to make the filter fit correctly. I was tired and figured everything would be alright until I could seal the hole in the morning. When I got up the bichir was nowhere to be seen. I finally found him on the floor, dried into a curved little bichir shape and covered with carpet fibers and cat hairs. He looked to be quite dead. On the off chance that he was still clinging to life I returned him to the aquarium. Within five minutes I noticed him start to breathe and within an hour he was swimming around the tank. A couple of days later (after all the carpet lint and cat fur had fallen off) the bichir was as good as new. Needless to say....the opening in the back of the tank was fixed!!

They're tough fish....but a dry floor is no place even for a bichir!

-Joe