Senegal Bichir tank mates...

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Glomgold

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Sep 8, 2004
Messages
51
Location
Arizona
I recently purchased a 4" Senegal Bichir from Petsmart (for only $5.99 :p) for my 55 gallon tank. I originally planned on having two Bichir fish in this tank, however I feel a 55 gallon tank may be a little too cramped for two full size Bichirs. I know that Bichirs will eat smaller non-threatening fish, which rules out a lot of tank mate possibilities. However, I was wondering if my Bichir would live peacefully with 2 or 3 smaller Cichlids, such as Electric Yellow Cichlids, Convict Cichlids etc.?

TIA
 
Well, electric yellow's are african and convicts are south american and should not be mixed. The convicts may actually go after the bichir and possibly kill it; they are very aggressive. I'm not sure if the bichir would work with the electric yellows but since they are african cichlids, I know they like high pH (7.8-8.5) and at least moderate hardness. Although, I have heard they are not as aggressive as the other africans. Therefore, maybe if you can provide those water conditions they could be ok, but I'd wait for someone else's opinion.
 
I have 2 senegal bichirs in my 55gal with one platinum gourami. I also considered getting some skunk loaches to live with them, but have decided not to. Any way the bichirs don't bother the gourami. It is really a good match. I also had an african butterfly fish in with just one of the bichirs (before i got my second one), but he just grew too slow and i had to move him before my bichir did. I have heard from people on the forum they have been kept successfully together.
 
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