The deed is done...New baby polypterus

[Christmasfish]

And the senegal was sold so I got the one I looked at in the first place...the nile bichir.
Heh!
So I put some croaking gourami in the empty 1ogal tank, I have a mixed bag of tetras in qt, ,I have baby in qt. The tetras will go in the 18 gal with dutch. Something to move around in the day and fast enough not to be random snacks. (He has a taste for shrimp tidbits, scallop tidbits and sardine tidbits as well as his eating heartily the pellet chow for morning.
So now I after the knife's permanent qtrs arrive this summer...I 'll have to make a new tank order to size. Heh!
Now to find him nice company that will ignore him while he's small and not be too expensive if they disappear later.

 

[Fruitbat]

Uh-oh.....you got a Nile Bichir?? If your lfs has him identified properly then he's either Polypterus bichir bichir or Polypterus bichir lapradei (probably P. bichir bichir). Unlike Polypterus senegalus senegalus, which reaches a maximum size of 16 inches or so, P. bichir will add an extra 10 inches to that length and grow to about 26 inches. Recommended tank size for an adult of this species is about 130 gallons.

They are cool-looking Polypterids, however, and are much rarer in fish stores than P. senegalus, P. palmas, and even P. ornatipinnis. If you don't mind my asking....what did you pay for him??

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, Xmasfish is the queen of barter; I'll bet she didn't "pay" anything.

 

[Christmasfish]

pay??people pay??!

Pay??? People Pay?!?!?

LOL.... he was part of my using up the last of my barter points for the baby royal knives, one of which has a black overlay(mutation he said).
He would have been about 21 bucks after taxes. I got extra points because I let them eat up all of my gourami fry but a chosen few.

And it is all pay from this point on-though if I raise some rare FW he carries on occasion like the coccina bettas or the brownums, or macros (And he'll get me any of these if he is out). I love the pugnax bettas, even though they are not striking..they are so funny in the tank.

Anyway, it now has the unisex name of Wu Long (pun intended)
It is a {Polypterus bichir}...bichir bichir..."Nile bichir".
The pet guy said that his ending size can be between 25-30
Rumour is that his one parent is 37.
It is very pretty with that cute little face like the one in the link.
His fish are all waaay cheaper than retail, and he has weird things too.
He actually sells supplies more for the business end. He went to college for fish keeping and worked for the state hatcheries.
I even got tetras from him. My daughter wants his neon tank. No dead fish and it is a moving riot of color. His tanks are not showpiece, so a snooty person may not like the good algae he allows to grow. But the water is clean and the bag water is alway right on the money. (I float them and add tank water for about 6-8 hours before I fish them into the QT tank.

:::::::: UPDATE: his wonky but recognizable form is now immortalized by digicam. Should be loaded under his type soon. Rrrr I need my 35mm fixed! :::::::

 

[Christmasfish]

Any poly keepers know for sure what he may be by the pic?

 

[Fruitbat]

Can't tell for sure.....can you get a better shot of the head?? Looks almost like a P. senegalus.

 

[Christmasfish]

Well That's what I wanted in the first place! Maybe he sold his polypterus birchir(Nile birchir) and I got the senegal after all!
I just had to feed him again too! He was doing the I'm hungry seymour finslap on the side. he ate 5 baby gobies! he couldnt eat one chopped in three when I gothim! Aauuugh!