herpetology!

As per the topic, what do you guys think? I was told they are fine alone but also they do school. I was also told they are not really a devoted schooler like a tetra though and are willing to hang out with other cichlids, angels, discus or any fish that doesn't harm them. I just grabbed one today, seeing if my Geophagus and Bichirs leave it alone. So far, so good!

Can you score me a 6-8 inch female Geophagus surinamensis (or at least a female from that complex)? Also, do you take fish for resale? I got unlucky on some babies of this species and they all turned out male. Need to rehome some of them! Thanks, can you PM me with info?

So I did a full treatment of triple sulfa and it cured all the visible symptoms. I put carbon back in a few days later and now the cichlids are scratching on the rocks and one of the bichirs is blotchy again. I've dropped $60 total on meds and they worked, but now it's back. What the hell is this crap? It responds to anti bacterials so logically that is what it is, but it comes back when treatment is done? It was even longer than a normal treatment. I started with 2 doses of Erythromycin and then did four of triple sulfa, all with carbon removed and doing the water changes as needed. Any suggestions? They are still active and eating like crazy, Is it possible that it's a nitrate issue?

In my experience keeping my dads pond comets alive when he brings them in every winter, this can be a few things. Bacterial infection or parasite are most likely. Are you seeing anything hanging off the fish? If you are unsure, you can always hit it with broad spec anti parasites and anti bacterials, Metroplex and Kanaplex are both good when used in tandeom even, they are what I've used to treat most of the issues I've ever had with hit giant, gross goldfish.

It's not very photogenic, it's too...well brown. Mostly just functional at this point while things are growing up.

Should I wait for the dose of meds? I've done the two 33% WC's and plan on another tomorrow. edit: The one that is most impacted by the affliction is out swimming about, no longer hiding in the corner. I take this as a good sign, I am going to hold off on the meds and keep with the aggressive water changes.

Heyo, I've had a very healthy and rapidly growing tank for months. I was stupid and bought some feeder from petsmart, as a food bonanza usually triggers some sort of growth. In this case, it is probably bacterial. My Rosy Barb, Synodontis and 4 Geophagus are all untouched, but my bichirs are infected (they ate all the feeds, durr.) The smaller of the two has the worse symptoms, but yah a cloudy eye appeared today. I thought the blotchy slime coats were from the normal bichir nipping bullshit that happens when they are courting, as they are doing all the normal courting behaviours and do so a lot more when I feed more food, but it turns out it's probably an infection of some sort. So, symptoms: Shy, reclusive smaller bichir suddenly (was once the more active of the two) blotchy slime coat cloudy eye A bit of heavy gill use Treatments so far: two 25% water changes in the last 3 days a change of some of the filter media (not all of it though, don't want to crash the system!) Aquarium Salt I am thinking probably something like Metroplex or Kanaplex, but just lookin for any thoughts before I grab some meds tomorrow afternoon! I'm not terribly worried as the larger of the two has had a similar issue almost a year ago and it turned out to be bacterial. So much for feeding feeders to them...they eat cichlid food like beasts, I have no idea what I was thinking. Ugh. The draw of watching them hunt is super cool! Thanks!

Does anyone know if these fish are impacted by heat/salinity/acidity/some environmental factor when determining sex in ovo/as fry?

yah I am finding the males are consistently a lot more territorial than virtually every source I've looked at will tell me. I mean it's fine cause of what's in the tank, more than half the time they don't care if he's all over them they just keep doing whatever they want. What I DO care about is trying to have a pair that breed for me. Right now, I'm tempted to just sell off every single one of theses idiots, get like 12 small geophagus and hope once again, for the third time, that one won't outgrow everyone and take over. At least my bichirs are into each other (the 69 smelling, displaying, etc) even if they are too small yet!

So I recently upgraded my 30 gallon to a 45 bowfront. Right now I just have two less than half grown senegal bichirs (a male and female that are paired, just waiting on breeding...probably need to get bigger), a half grown Synodontis petricola (or maybe more than half, they are a small species) and of course the Geophagus surinamensis. I originally bought 2 babies Geophagus, but one started heavily bullying the other and I got rid of the subordinate one, as I am pretty sure they were competing males. I then added 4 babies to the tank. One was bullied out already and another is on the process of being bullied. One isn't really growing but eats like a pig and doesn't get chased quite as much. The big male is digging pits and displays the black dot on his side for the other Geophagus. Ideally once I've got a pair of Geophagus I am confident are male/female, I'll get a much bigger tank for everyone. Right now they are all growing like crazy and there is plenty of room, so I'm not too worried about size for now. Any ideas on how I can tell when they finally pair up? Also, if this male doesn't bond with any of these up and comers, will I have to just get rid of all of them and buy like 8-10 babeis to start over so they can pair? I'd really like to avoid that as this male is freaking gorgeous. Thanks

I have two brand new Geophagus altifrons (sold as surinamensis) who aren't getting along. I finally took the mean one out and did a complete overhaul, having my Guianacara in the middle to defend her conch shell. I am getting some incredible dominance dancing right now from my 3 inch babies!

Yeah the one won't stop chasing the other. He is even fin nipping. I've changed the tank around 3 times, same one is butt hurt non stop. Suggestions?

Yeah it's getting more and more aggressive....though it's in with a juvi senegal bichir and an almost fully grown Bandit Guianacara so I'd love to see how that turns out for it. How can I intervene? I am down with changing the orientation of things. The Guianacara held its own against an Mbuna and N. brichardi....and is moving out more and more to tell them off. We'll see what happens. Don't wanna lose one to territory bs. Didn't realize they were so territorial, was told they were a smidge more passive haha. Edit: just changed decor. I will not tolerate my two new pretties hating each other lol

Hah. I've heard they are really hard to sex, was hoping that I lucked out and got one of each. Are they territorial? It might just be territory fights.

I just got a pair of Geophagus surinamensis which are about 3 inches long. They have settled in and are chasing each other around, I'm pretty sure it's one that is chasing the other consistently. Does this say something about sex or do they just do this for funsies?

Heh thanks. You know it's so hard to judge but I know the anal fin has become fat more buliker and he's gained about an inch in the last 4 months. He also probably doubled in weight, it's just hard when you see them every single day and it's somewhat gradual....but one of my dad's giant danios is in with him and he's DEFINITELY grown (the danio is food and already was dispatched) The largest senegal I've seen, I think it was male, looked like a fatass compared to some of the snakier/longer breeds. Is this about right? also this bichir is insanely active. He only stops moving when he has a distended belly a few times per week. Still, I do wonder about this filter and this mulm. I know I gravel clean every week 25% wc,

I do 25% wc's weekly. I have so much mulm though it is sometimes hard to keep up. Stupid mature gravel substrate! I have a penguin filter, I'm not sure how good it is. The biowheel seems a bit dumb. I might switch, which brand would be a good bet?

Yep, but for now he's only like 13 cm or so...so he is more than fine where he is. I've read before that they can put on a ton of size in a short amount of time, which is why I was wondering about his growth rate. He is fat and active, swimming non stop all over the tank and picking off any feeders that go in the tank, so it's not a health issue at all. Are you sure they are supposed to grow small? Everything I've ever read says that at this size they should be packing on the weight. I feed a varied diet from healthy feeders (minnows, guppies and even a goldfish), daily cichlid pellets, uncooked shrimp, brine shrimp, blood worms...it's fantastic, he isn't finnicky at all. I actually had to put down the mbuna that was in the tank, she was taking over EVERYTHING. Now there is just a Guinacara and N. brichardi; the brichardi might be re-homed in the future. Who knows. I do know for sure that this is a male, the anal fin is very clearly male. It's also captive bred; so I am actually expecting him to max out at 10 inches, maybe even as small as 8 given that captive breds tend to be smaller, as do males. We'll see what happens with him.

Hey all, I have had a senegal bichir for a few months now. I haven't noticed a tremendous amount of growth from him, though he eats cichlid pellets and everything else he can get his mouth on at every opportunity. He is in a 30 gallon with a N. brichardi, a red zebra cichlid and a bandit Guinacara. Kind of an odd mix I know, but it's great cause they display a lot and don't hurt each other. I am curious how the bichir growth should be looking. He is now about 12-13 cm in total, I think he is putting on weight and thickness, but I was told they should have a growth spurt at some point. What is everyone's experience with bichirs? Steve

Not only is he alright, but the bulge and bruising is GONE. It's like he never even ate. I am keeping him at 82F so his metaboism will be high but DAMN.

Ugh tell me about it. It's my first carnivorous fish. My paddletail newts know when to call it quits on a meal, this guy apparently does not. I've been stressing like CRAZY all night about this silliness.

update: no new bleeding, just a hematoma (bruise). Fish is still active when I come up to the glass, very alert and reactive to lights. I turned off the lights so his tankmate would be less likely to harass him and I removed all the feeders.

So I have a 10cm Senegal Bichir. I chucked in some fathead minnows, using the guppies that he's slowly been working on over the week and a half as a gauge. Turns out, he ate about 5 of them in the time it took me to eat dinner. Now his belly is about twice the diameter that it was before and one side has some redness. I am going to assume this is probably his final meal as he ate a LOT. I've removed the excess as was the plan originally, but now I think that he's going to die overnight from eating waaaay too much. What can be done, is this common with bichirs and is he probably dead?? I find it baffling how easily he caught the stupid minnows but the guppies evaded him rather easy. He was eating about 1 small guppy per day as a rate of how much he ate, which was about right for his size (never saw a bulge from his meals). Now his greasy boiler is so massive and the entire distended region is purple with bruising. It looks like haemorrhaging.

Well this guy is only 10cm long now and fighting a minor bout of septicemia. Doing well on the erythromycin and looks like it has made a full recovery. I moved the cichlids out of the tank, for now, until its a bit bigger. Then we'll see who bullys who.

Yeah I've noticed this bichir hangs out on the top of the water surface a lot. He seems to enjoy hanging out in the water hyacinth at the top. I didn't realize they were one of the more active ones, that is awesome! How do you gender them??