cichlidfan1975 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Saw these guys the other day.....just wanted some info.....agressive?size?tankmates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigA Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Probably mislabelled. Should have been labeled as Cuvier's Bichir, or Senegal Bichir. Polypterus senegalus. A primitive lobe-finned fish from west africa. I kep a couple a few years ago and am looking to get some more. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi...gal_Bichir.html They are an amazing fish. Very prehistoric looking. Have some unique characteristics. The scales are whats called ganoid scales. They are very hard, and uniquely shaped, providing the fish with a very tough skin for if they get out of water and crawl to the next water hole. They also have a kind of lung. They developed this as they live in shallow pools that have a very low oxygen concentration, and as the pools dry up they crawl from pool to pool trying to stay wet. They are not aggressive. Can be kept with any similarly sized fish, but any fish that can fit into it's mouth WILL BE EATEN. Many neon tetras have gone missing that way. Usually get to about 10-12 inch's and will live for about 7 years. Watching them feed is amazing too. I had no issues with mine. It was my first fish, I kept it in a 10 gal to start (don't do that) moved him up from medicine hat to barrhead in -30 weather in the middle of January. Survived the trip magnifigantly. Moved him into a 29 gal and eventually into a 44 gal. Very hardy fish. This is just what I have picked up over the years of having one. Christian (tortis) is the real expert on bichirs. Hopefully he can fill in anything I left out. Enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Christian (tortis) is the real expert on bichirs. Hopefully he can fill in anything I left out.Enjoy!! Only a couple of things:1) Have a good top on the tank, as the bichirs breach and can inavertently jump out; 2) You should get a good 10-15 years from a Senegal; 3) Feed them lots of good, meaty foods and keep up on water-changes if you want to see optimal growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlidfan1975 Posted June 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Christian (tortis) is the real expert on bichirs. Hopefully he can fill in anything I left out.Enjoy!! Only a couple of things:1) Have a good top on the tank, as the bichirs breach and can inavertently jump out; 2) You should get a good 10-15 years from a Senegal; 3) Feed them lots of good, meaty foods and keep up on water-changes if you want to see optimal growth. Do they prefer to be groups or is singly just fine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigA Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 From what I have read, the do not get along well with others of the same species, unless the tank is sufficiently large enough and has enough landscaping to provide each fish with it's own territory. However, everytime I go to any one of the LFS that carries bichirs here, I see that they tend to have so many in one tank that they are stacked on top of each other. Not sure why that happens. Christian, do you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 I keep multiple bichirs in the same tank and they seem fine with it. Sometimes they bite eachother but that's mostly during feeding time, and has never been serious. But they sometimes stack up on top of eachother even though there's plenty of room for them to find their own caves. I did have my senegal without any other bichirs for most of his young life and he didn't seem adversely affected by that, so maybe it doesn't really matter if they're in groups or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 Many Polypterus species can be nasty towards conspecifics, particulary if there are only a couple in a tank...and bear in mind that when you see many specimens of a single species in an LFS tank, they are rarely sexually mature adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 In a shameless plug for Christian's place of employment, I will point out that they have some beautiful ornate bichirs in stock right now if you decide to go the Polypterus route. There is a little picture guide to the different bichirs along with a species description you might find helpful at monsterfishkeepers.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 In a shameless plug for Christian's place of employment, I will point out that they have some beautiful ornate bichirs in stock right now if you decide to go the Polypterus route. There is a little picture guide to the different bichirs along with a species description you might find helpful at monsterfishkeepers.com. Thanks...they are nice, but ornates do get considerably larger than Senegals (26" vs 12"), and may be a bit much for most aquarists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 (edited) Ah, I never considered that. Good point. I should have remembered that since that very factor prevented me from picking up the TSN you had in with the PBass. You guys had some albino senegals too as I recall. Albinos aren't my cup of tea, but they may interest this poster. Edited July 1, 2007 by Albertan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigA Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 (edited) Also. check out the ropefish. It's in the polypteride family but is a different genus. Make sure though that for any of these, the tank is sealed as they are great escape artists. As for the bichirs, I would recommend Polypterus palmas polli or Polypterus delhezi. Both are medium sized and have a lot more patterning and colouration than the senegal. More info: http://www.polypterus.info/ Edited July 4, 2007 by BigA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 As for the bichirs, I would recommend Polypterus palmas polli or Polypterus delhezi. Both are medium sized and have a lot more patterning and colouration than the senegal. I agree...and the polli in particular are far more diurnally active than almost all other species....unfortunately pollis are quite uncommon in Alberta shops, and delhezi have been almost completely absent for the past year or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 There are two "Palmas Bichirs" for sale at the Grande Prairie Petland at the moment...$120 each. :boxed: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigA Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 I agree...and the polli in particular are far more diurnally active than almost all other species....unfortunately pollis are quite uncommon in Alberta shops, and delhezi have been almost completely absent for the past year or two. Do you know why that is Christian? Are those species captive bred or WC? I know that most senegals are raised in captivity now, but am not sure of the other species. Are there problems bringing them in from africa now? Or just not enough consumer demand maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Do you know why that is Christian? Are those species captive bred or WC? I know that most senegals are raised in captivity now, but am not sure of the other species. Are there problems bringing them in from africa now? Or just not enough consumer demand maybe? Combination of the two, I suspect. P. palmas ssp are not captive-spawned like senegals, and between collection issues and a lack of consumer demand/identification (most P. p. polli I see in shops are mislabelled "P. retropinnis"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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