Hi guys! First time posting and I’m looking for advice on my tank. I currently have a 150 gallon that houses 3 bichirs that are all the same size (between 6 and 7 as I got them all at the same time. Two of them are saddled bichirs and one is a platinum Senegal. I also have four rope fish all just shy of a foot long.
I’ve had them all for a year now and they grew up alongside 3 weather loaches and the tank has been super peaceful. No aggression, no fighting for food and no chasing or attempting to eat one another.
I recently was given an Africa Lungfish (I think west African. It’s all one dark color with no spots) by a friend of a friend who was moving and no longer could keep it. it was living in a 40 gal. The fish itself is nearly 15 inches long and the previous owner said he was pretty old but didn’t give me a specific year/age.
Since introducing him to the tank he has been very peaceful and hides in a log on one side of the tank but the bichirs seem to have gotten aggressive. They completely destroyed and eaten the three loaches which is a huge shock to me as they’ve never given them a second glance in the past. I’m assuming it’s the bichir’s work as each morning I’ve caught them ripping into what’s left. I was able to get the third loach out with some major bites but alive and now in a hospital tank.
Im hoping to get advice on is this aggression normal in bichirs at this size or am I completely misreading the bites and it’s the lungfish’s work. I was reading that bichirs go through a growth spurt and eat a lot. I feed them a varied diet every other day of beef heart, massivore pellets, bloodworms, tilapia and shrimp. I also often hand feed them bichirs and loaches and never had an issue.
I attached pictures of the fish as well as the bites on the loach I have in a hospital tank to see if anyone can identify the bites. I’ve researched the lung fish’s teeth and bite and have watched him eat/seen the patterns the teeth make and it doesn’t look the same. (I even have a video of it eating but im not sure how to post it.)
If the lungfish is the one causing the deaths I will have to look in rehoming him but I was just hoping for some insight. I hope I’m not in way over my head here. Thanks in advance!
I’ve had them all for a year now and they grew up alongside 3 weather loaches and the tank has been super peaceful. No aggression, no fighting for food and no chasing or attempting to eat one another.
I recently was given an Africa Lungfish (I think west African. It’s all one dark color with no spots) by a friend of a friend who was moving and no longer could keep it. it was living in a 40 gal. The fish itself is nearly 15 inches long and the previous owner said he was pretty old but didn’t give me a specific year/age.
Since introducing him to the tank he has been very peaceful and hides in a log on one side of the tank but the bichirs seem to have gotten aggressive. They completely destroyed and eaten the three loaches which is a huge shock to me as they’ve never given them a second glance in the past. I’m assuming it’s the bichir’s work as each morning I’ve caught them ripping into what’s left. I was able to get the third loach out with some major bites but alive and now in a hospital tank.
Im hoping to get advice on is this aggression normal in bichirs at this size or am I completely misreading the bites and it’s the lungfish’s work. I was reading that bichirs go through a growth spurt and eat a lot. I feed them a varied diet every other day of beef heart, massivore pellets, bloodworms, tilapia and shrimp. I also often hand feed them bichirs and loaches and never had an issue.
I attached pictures of the fish as well as the bites on the loach I have in a hospital tank to see if anyone can identify the bites. I’ve researched the lung fish’s teeth and bite and have watched him eat/seen the patterns the teeth make and it doesn’t look the same. (I even have a video of it eating but im not sure how to post it.)
If the lungfish is the one causing the deaths I will have to look in rehoming him but I was just hoping for some insight. I hope I’m not in way over my head here. Thanks in advance!
