Bichir Question...

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actually that would be great... i want to pick up one of these for my 125G for christmas...

one site says 1' the other site says 18" which is closer?

both sites give suggestions on feeding and i already have most of the required food.

just curious on size...
 
actually that would be great... i want to pick up one of these for my 125G for christmas...

one site says 1' the other site says 18" which is closer?

both sites give suggestions on feeding and i already have most of the required food.

just curious on size...

Heck, with a 125g you can get a bigger Bichir!

The Senegalus is one of the smallest Bichir (along with the Palmas varieties). They really max out at about 12ish inches. Mine 2 seemed to stall out at around 8 inches though.

Senegalus are particularly good starter Bichirs as they are active during the day and do a good deal of swimming instead of being lazy bums on the bottom :)
 
I'm glad to hear they are active and that petsmarts size is wrong lol... im being cautious with size though as I already have a few fish in the 125 I dont want to overstock lol I think 12" is fine... cause you're not supposed to stock more than (total grown inches vs gallon limit) correct or incorrect? To mean that would mean I can't have any more than 125" of fish all together... but if im wrong please correct me :)
 
HopefulHobbiest said:
I'm glad to hear they are active and that petsmarts size is wrong lol... im being cautious with size though as I already have a few fish in the 125 I dont want to overstock lol I think 12" is fine... cause you're not supposed to stock more than (total grown inches vs gallon limit) correct or incorrect? To mean that would mean I can't have any more than 125" of fish all together... but if im wrong please correct me :)

Some people base stocking on the fish, filtration, and space the specific species needs in the tank so there is wiggle room depending on the fish you stock and what not.
 
I'm glad to hear they are active and that petsmarts size is wrong lol... im being cautious with size though as I already have a few fish in the 125 I dont want to overstock lol I think 12" is fine... cause you're not supposed to stock more than (total grown inches vs gallon limit) correct or incorrect? To mean that would mean I can't have any more than 125" of fish all together... but if im wrong please correct me :)

Yeah I try to steer people away from the inch per gallon rule. It's a good thing to use as a baseline but is extremely flawed. An active 1 inch fish doesn't have the same bioload as a none active 1 inch fish. Any predatory fish usually has a higher bioload than an omnivore of the same size, and so on and so forth.

What other fish do you want to put in there?
 
5 clown loaches
2 angels
2 gourami
2 pictus cats
3 bamboo shrimp
1 rainbow shark

Possible BGK

Possibly 2 BNP if I dont leave them in the 55
And finally (another possible) my 9 cory cats if not left in the 55 as well
 
Yes they will. And I would not put a bgk in any less than 150 gallons. I had a Senegal and its name was Killer.

I currently have a striped one which seems to be less of a killer but I catch him eyeing the cories sometimes. He's more a lover than a fighter lol. Just be very cautious about putting anything with those. Cool as all get out, with doggylike personalities. Keep it fed with frozen foods and the occasional meat snack/earthworm. (((Roger from Open Season.... "Meeeeet schnaaaack!!!!" :p)))
 
Not saying you shouldn't get one...just be very careful what you put in with it. I've pretty much built my setup around the bichir, because I love them that much. I know he will leave my middle/top swimming gourami alone, the knife fish could not care less and even "snuggle" with him in a rock cave sometimes (your experience may vary...a LOT), he won't even bite the pictus cat's whiskers when he is right next to pictus cat, and really all he does is try to sneak up on a cory but never really goes for him. This may be typical Polypterus Delhezi (striped eel) behavior, or it may not be...he is the only striped one I've ever had.

I got the impression from owning a Senegal that perhaps they are more aggressive. But that is just my experience so far with the breed. It's just something to think about when stocking...just want to save you the heartache of lost fish.

Any bichir should probably go into a tank based on growth potential of 12". Like someone else was saying, it may not get any bigger than 8"... you really just never know. I would start, if you still want one, with maybe an albino one...either true or Palmas. I've read those are less aggressive and don't grow so large. The good thing is their bio load is not much, unlike plecos and goldfish.
 
i'm really trying to find an awesome fish for my 125 that'll be compatible with the following fish:

5 clown loaches
2 angels
2 gourami
2 pictus cats
3 bamboo shrimp
1 rainbow shark
2 albino BNP
9 cory cats

Possible BGK(still really debating this one though)

i was hoping the bichir would work because they look beyond awesome but not awesome enough to risk my stock.

would you happen to have any suggestions compatible with the fish i've listed?
 
A Dinosaur Bichir from petsmart would be fine except for the shrimp with that stock. Mine isn't aggressive at all, all your fish would be fine. Mine is in a 220 and about 8 inches. 12 is rare. But instead of a BGK I think an African Brown Knife would be a better option.
 
so far everyone else has said its a bad idea and that it will eat my fish.

i'd like to ask what makes you so sure it won't eat my fish? especially the corys which most likely won't get bigger than 3"
 
Hi they will eat what they can get in there mouths. Basically if your fish are at least half as long as the birchir then they will be OK. My two birchirs lived with loads of baby B/Ns but one day the smaller one tried to eat a baby B/N with fatal consequences:( I have also been told that once added to an aquarium they will regard new additions as food? But cannot confirm this from my own personal findings.
 
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