Yes, but while feeder guppies are cheap it makes it very risky to feed them. While they are cheap and you can by them in bulk they can have all sorts of diseases. As far as sizes 12" is max with 8"-10" being more realistic. Female polypterus so grow larger than males but not by much and the sizes can vary.
Senegalus Polypterus Growth
- Thread starter Sha tha Aquarist
- Start date
Thanks. On another note, do u know at what size the anal fin becomes easier to tell whether it's male or female? Also, I plan on quarantining all fish first. I really want to let my bichir eat as it would in the wild. Maybe I should just host a separate feeder tank and feed as needed?
It's probably big enough to tell right now if you want to post a pic. As far as it eating in the wild there's a few things that complicate this. First off is CB senegals have never been in the wild so while the instincts are there they probably haven't used them yet and might be rusty. Secondly if you want to feed them like they would be in the wild you'd have to feed insect larvae, insects, and small fish as this is what they wild feed on in the wild. I see what your trying to do and I think the closest you'll get is dropping a few feeder guppies in every few days, but I would highly reccomend feeding a healthier diet of cut up tilapia, bloodworms, worms, pellets, etc.., but if you insist on going through with this I would reccomend extremely QTing the guppies just to be safe.
But at this age it could turn into a male in a few months. If you got it little only about a month ago there is still time for it to develop into a male so I would wait a little longer (6 months-8 months) and check back to be sure it stays a female or becomes a male.
Thanks! It's hard to tell from the pic but the anal fin touches the back fin but it's still quite skinny like a female's? Either way is fine. Thank you for your help.
