fatpuffer Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Is it normal for p.senagalus to eat gravel? does it aid in digestion? i notice that mine would eat a couple of gravel once in a while...i am pretty sure it regurgitate the gravel back out... thanks...J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishManTy Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Lots of fish love to move gravel around by method of their mouth. Im pretty sure that if it was a decent sized piece of gravel it would probably kill the guy. Im not sure what type of fish that is, but with cichlids, thats how they dig holes and caves. So Im 99% sure he probably just spat it out around the corner out of sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted December 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 its a common bichir...i actually seen him swallow the gravel...so i was wondering if this was normal...water conditions are fine...0 for both amm and nitri and 15ish for ntra... thanks ...J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 They rely on their olfactory senses more than on sight...it is possible that the gravel had some trace of food on it and he swallowed it thinking it was edible. In most cases, they just spit it up later...I have only ever seen two cases with bichirs that swallowed enough for it to affect their health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 sounds like the fellow is hungry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homebrewed Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 I've seen this, although I keep sand with my bichirs. Always though maybe they were being triggered by all the movement from the 200+ snails under the sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawntraviss Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Polypterus hunt by smell as said, theyre eye sight is pretty bad, thats why when you feed them they lift theyre head and "sniff", so when he eats the gravel he thinks its food, watch and be sure he spits it out, if he doesnt get sand! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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