View Full Version : My first Bichirs....
Well, after reading many interesting threads and seeing just as many amazing pics, I decided I needed to try my hand at Bichir keeping.
I have a 55 gal. long tank that I've been cycling with guppies for a little over a month now.
I've set it up with a ton of large and small rocks, creating several caves. So yesterday afternoon, I was browsing thru my LFS and found three four inch senegalus for sale at $9.00 EA. Of course I had to buy them after hearing about how interesting they are to keep.
My questions are:
1. What is their averege growth rate?
2. What is their max size?
3. What types of foods will they readily accept?
5. Will these three Bichirs coexist peacefully for the span of their lives?
6. What is the averege life span for a senegalus?
So far, all they seem to want to eat are thawed frozen bloodworms. I've tried brine shrimp, but all they do with those is suck them in.......and spit them right back out, forcing me to clean their substrate. As always, any info would be greatly appreciated!
can answer a couple
1. very very slow
2. about 12"
3. at that size, probably most worms, like bloodworms etc. small pieces of shrimp? theres prob a lot more things too that people will add
5. yup
klipsch
10-25-2006, 7:09 PM
in my experience
1. they grow at least an inch in a month. after reaching 6in their growth rate will become slower.
2. senegal 12in
3. my staple food is high protein sinking pellets, and i give them cut shrimp every other night.
4. yes
5. i think they will live for about 10-15yrs.
senegal in your country is quite expensive.. but whats good is, you have all kinds from platinum to ansorgii hehe.
klipsch
10-25-2006, 7:10 PM
congats on your new bichirs, hope you can post some pics.
wahwai
10-25-2006, 7:14 PM
Congrats on the pick up i feed mine prawns, lancefish,mealworms,bloodworms
Martin
Posted by klipsch........congats on your new bichirs, hope you can post some pics.
I will certainly try. My problem with posting pics right now is that I can't figure out how to get images from my camera phone (Cingular Razr) into my photobucket album. I'vetried emailing them to my laptop, but it never seems to take. Perhaps I'll go find a cheap digicam tonight.
And thanks for the info, guys. This site seems to be a fantastic source of information!
messiner
10-25-2006, 8:08 PM
in my experience
1. they grow at least an inch in a month. after reaching 6in their growth rate will become slower.
2. senegal 12in
3. my staple food is high protein sinking pellets, and i give them cut shrimp every other night.
4. yes
5. i think they will live for about 10-15yrs.
senegal in your country is quite expensive.. but whats good is, you have all kinds from platinum to ansorgii hehe.
agree to the tee
beblondie
10-25-2006, 8:49 PM
1. What is their averege growth rate?Many exhibit incredibly fast growth an inch a month is not uncommon other grow slowly
2. What is their max size? 10-12 inches
3. What types of foods will they readily accept? This has been posted several times in this forum do a search for a fairly complete list
5. Will these three Bichirs coexist peacefully for the span of their lives?Most likely
6. What is the averege life span for a senegalus?10-15 years is average-Anne
grmanrocks
10-25-2006, 9:21 PM
i pretty such stand right behind anne (not to sound vulgar):ROFL:
1. my ornate grows about an inch a month but my sengal grows much slower..........
2. sengals grow 10 about 12 inches, biggest ive ever seen was 9 tho...........
3. mine eats anything. and i take advantge of that.................. he gets shrimp, bloodworms, hikari pellets, algea wafers (he stole one from the pleco and now hes addicted), and feeders(very rarely)
4. it depends on the fish.......... my sengal and ornate wouldnt live together, despite several tries..........
5. a looong time, like anne said 10-15 years , hope u like um :)
ill say it agian scince noone else has (geez guys r u slackin:D ), get a bigger tank, cuz ur gonna want MORE! many many MORE!:ROFL:
good luck and ,
]v[FK FOREVER!
well anne posted already so i think that answers your q's?
enjoy and look for more bichirs!
UPDATE:
Well, it's only been a few days but my senegalus are now acting like they're feeling much more at home in their tank. This morning when I gave them their AM meal of frozen bloodworms, two of the three came out and swam right to the top of the tank in apparent anticipation of food. It was a really cool experience, too. I went so far as to stick my finger in the water near them, and they swam right over to me. They checked me out from a few inches back before swimming right to my finger! Of course my angels and Mastecembelus eels will eat from my hand, but I never thought a fish as shy and skittish as these were (just the other day) would do that! I intend to try hand-feeding them tonight!
Again, thank you all for the helpul info. This is a great forum with equally great members, and I hope to be of as much help to the next noob as you've all been to me!
---SIC---
rkc772
10-27-2006, 5:33 PM
i can't answer all of them but my experience is from my ornate and delhenzi bichirs.
1. growth has been 1" a month... slowed down after 8" (maybe because i'm not power feeding them since they are in my 180 gal tank already)
2. Food... i provide them with market shrimp, live black worm, frozen blood worm, feeders (when they were in the 10 gal tank-not anymore), hikari sinking pellets, and beef heart.
i love my bichirs...they are very very active in my 180 gal tank. some people told me they will be shy and not swim at all... maybe it all depends on the fish's attitude to swim.:D oh.. my bichir size are from 5"-10" :D
Bichirs man
10-27-2006, 5:50 PM
I bought mine at about 5 inches a long time ago. He's reached up to six, and REALLY slowed down in growth!!
Red Devil
11-03-2006, 7:23 PM
I am repeating myself but i am thrilled that i purchased my first bicher {albino} ..they are absolutely adorable and even though i have only had mine a couple of weeks i have found i enjoy him more then fish i have had for years..don't get me wrong i love them all..but he is a real character..Good luck with yours....
Keeper of the Ropes
11-04-2006, 5:51 AM
About the growth rate... I'm learning it depends a lot on the individual fish. Someone posted on the first page about their ornate growing much quicker than their senegal, and I'm experiencing the exact opposite. Also, I have a pair of palmas polli and a pair of mokeleme(oh good lord!)... mokelembembe. I couldn't tell them apart (the polli from the polli, not polli from the mokie lol) when I bought them because their size and coloration were identical, but now one of each species has been upgraded to the "teen tank" from the "baby tank" because of a huge difference in size. Keep in mind they were on the same diet.
Welcome to bichirs, and like it was said earlier, you'll need more tanks, and bigger tanks. I had one, then I bought my first senegal, and now I have eight, with a total of 19 bichirs. Good luck and HAVE FUN!
in my experience bro
1. they grow at least an inch in a month
2. P. senegal 12in max size
3. my staple food is high protein sinking pellets, and i give them guppy every weekends.
4. yes ...
5. about 10-15 years.
Okay, first of all I'd like to thank you all again! I've learned more about neotropical cichlids and bichirs in the last month on this site than I did in my years of fishkeeping before I found it!
Secondly, not only are my senegals doing exceptionally well, but yesterday I ordered an ornate to join them! I shopped around, too. Having a basic point of reference on which to base my decision proved invaluable, and I got this 5 incher ordered for $28!!!! Major score.
Red Devil
11-07-2006, 2:08 PM
Okay, first of all I'd like to thank you all again! I've learned more about neotropical cichlids and bichirs in the last month on this site than I did in my years of fishkeeping before I found it!
Secondly, not only are my senegals doing exceptionally well, but yesterday I ordered an ornate to join them! I shopped around, too. Having a basic point of reference on which to base my decision proved invaluable, and I got this 5 incher ordered for $28!!!! Major score.
Good for you ...post some pictures when you can..
and again, im sure this won't be your last bichir purchase