Bichir only tanks

[BillyCross]

Dont say you only want four polys, they can be addicting. Trust me, lolz

Oh no... not the "A" word again lol. I got that way when i started a Malawi tank. I ended up with a 55, 75, and 2-125's all with different types of cichlids. My faves became the peacocks. Wish i still had all the tanks, but tanks 125 and under are cheap and plentiful and my LFS (that i dont trust anymore) has tank and supply sells for used and custom sized tanks and i can get big ones cheap there too. Provided i can be flexable on dimentions, many larger tanks can be had.
.....i can see the "A" word at work already. Hahaha

 

[BillyCross]

Having done this before, but not being up to speed with nutritional specs at that time, i kept a tank with mollies just for feeder fish. I wont buy them just to bring home and QT for weeks, so i will breed my own and know they are safe and well fed.
My question is: Is live feeding bichirs a good idea? (Not every day, but like once every 2 weeks or month or when i have enough) I know now the importance of balancing their diet and variety. Just not sure if it makes them aggressive or not.

 

[Polyaddict86]

I used to feed them feeders but i stop it, my ornates became more aggressive and got used to live fish. It got harder for me to train them pellet feeding, plus feeders are expensive, try frozen fillet tilapia. Ornates can be picky eaters.

 

[Polyaddict86]

Allot depends on the person too some are ok with letting nitrates creep to 40 or 60 ppm i try to keep mine at 20 between wc's

One of the reason i put in some live floating plants to keep nitrate in check, and doing some stuff with my sumps for the ammonia and adding more biomax for more beneficial bacteria, and still doing a 20% wc on wed, and 50% wc on sunday to keep the water clean.

 

[BillyCross]

If u know anyone who cooks for a living, ask them about getting talapia when they make their prevayor order. U will be suprized what u will save by buying fish and seafoods by the case that way. I had been looking into making my own fresh fish type food to offset the hikari and things (making mine instead of using live)

 

[BillyCross]

One of the reason i put in some live floating plants to keep nitrate in check, and doing some stuff with my sumps for the ammonia and adding more biomax for more beneficial bacteria, and still doing a 20% wc on wed, and 50% wc on sunday to keep the water clean.

Thanks for reminding me... i was gonna ask if the 2x/wk changes made it hard on you keeping good bacteria and how u were fixing that issue. Does the biomax work well?

 

[Polyaddict86]

I does help alot, J jaws7777 can explane it better.

 

[BillyCross]

I does help alot, J jaws7777 can explane it better.

Thank you, ill ask him about it.
Im always scepticle of additives. I even cycle my tanks the natural way by suspending prawn and checking the levels until they're right. Then run it a week after that heavy water change to give beneficials a chance to build b4 adding any fish. May seem old school, but i know it works well and ive never had an issue that way. I never cycle with any live fish in the tank, i think thats cruel.

 

[Polyaddict86]

J jaws7777
DMD123
This two can really help when it comes to those stuff, im still learning from them about sump and filtration

 

[BillyCross]

Thank you. As you can tell, I am trying to seek advise from those with actual and current experience on the fish i want. The fact that i prefer species specific tanks is just a bonus for me I too am on a learning grade when it comes to the large tank filtration stuff and new options for meds and stablizers. When i say about the tanks i had, that was 25 yrs ago lol things have changed a bit. Fundimentals are the same, but this time i will be more informed and will surely enjoy it much more. I appreciate all the help and info and conversations I receive here.