75 Bichir Tank
- Thread starter that drumin guy
- Start date
It is very cool to see that there are ther people out there that like Bichirs too. I was lucky to find mine (Senegal) and he has grown from 8" to 12" in the last six months.
ok.; DRUMMIN GUY; you will have to get some artificial rocks and driftwood, and also plants so your bichirs are comfortable.
if you are getting them at a small size(5") decor is a MUST!!
and if you're doing a bichir mix tank, don't put anything fish on the top-layer.
if you are getting them at a small size(5") decor is a MUST!!
and if you're doing a bichir mix tank, don't put anything fish on the top-layer.
I think I will just have a few caves to begin with and then gradually remove them. Yeah I was planning on a retropinnis. Yall have any suggestions on the ones I should get. All I'm sure of is the delheiz. I was thinking of getting one larger growing one but not sure (keep in mind I have the spare 55 if needed).
Here's my take on the optimum tank set up. Different people have different opinions but this is what has always worked for me:
1) I like a tank with a medium-grained substrate.....I generally use standard aquarium gravel which is attractive and reasonably-priced.
2) I always use driftwood and/or rocks to provide some structure to the tank and to give the bichirs a place to get out of the direct overhead light. I find that bichirs seem to fare better when they have a hiding place where they can feel secure.
3) I always use plants in my bichir tanks, either real (most of the time) or artificial or a combination of both. Keep in mind that standard aquarium fluorescent lights will put you in the low-light category (<2 watts per gallon) so select your plants accordingly should you choose to incorporate live ones. I'm partial to Water Sprite, Java Fern, Anubias species, Cryptocoryne species and some Aponogeton species....most of which will do reasonably well under low light.
Regarding tank-mates...I keep various species of fish with my bichirs including Bush Fish (Ctenopoma and Microctenopoma species), African Knife Fish (Xenomystus nigri), African Featherfin Knife (Papyrocranus afer), African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi), African Mud Fish (Phractolaemus ansorgei, Congo Tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus), Dwarf Giraffe Catfish (Anaspidoglanis sp. and various types of Synodontis cats. Of course, I do tailor the size of the tank-mate to the size of the bichirs in the tank to prevent the tank-mates from being appetizers for the Polypterids. As you can tell, I stick to other West African fish as tank-mates for my bichirs but you could certainly add equivalent types of fish from other continents. I don't agree with kentobismol's comment that you shouldn't add any surface-dwelling fish. My African Butterfly Fish get along quite nicely with my younger bichirs and I have kept them with adult specimens of the 'smaller' bichir species very successfully.
-Joe
Here are some shots of some of my bichir tanks:
10 Gallon Grow-Out
Standard aquarium gravel, PetsMart fake driftwood, plants are all live: water sprite, Java fern, Aponogeton boivianus
20 Gallon (Long) Grow-Out
Eco-Complete substrate, PetsMart fake driftwood, plants are all live: water sprite, Vallisneria spiralis, Anubias sp.
100 Gallon
Standard aquarium gravel, multiple pieces of real driftwood and petrefied wood, plants are a mixture of artificial (left side) and real: Aponogeton crispus, Bolbitis sp., Anubias sp.
1) I like a tank with a medium-grained substrate.....I generally use standard aquarium gravel which is attractive and reasonably-priced.
2) I always use driftwood and/or rocks to provide some structure to the tank and to give the bichirs a place to get out of the direct overhead light. I find that bichirs seem to fare better when they have a hiding place where they can feel secure.
3) I always use plants in my bichir tanks, either real (most of the time) or artificial or a combination of both. Keep in mind that standard aquarium fluorescent lights will put you in the low-light category (<2 watts per gallon) so select your plants accordingly should you choose to incorporate live ones. I'm partial to Water Sprite, Java Fern, Anubias species, Cryptocoryne species and some Aponogeton species....most of which will do reasonably well under low light.
Regarding tank-mates...I keep various species of fish with my bichirs including Bush Fish (Ctenopoma and Microctenopoma species), African Knife Fish (Xenomystus nigri), African Featherfin Knife (Papyrocranus afer), African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi), African Mud Fish (Phractolaemus ansorgei, Congo Tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus), Dwarf Giraffe Catfish (Anaspidoglanis sp. and various types of Synodontis cats. Of course, I do tailor the size of the tank-mate to the size of the bichirs in the tank to prevent the tank-mates from being appetizers for the Polypterids. As you can tell, I stick to other West African fish as tank-mates for my bichirs but you could certainly add equivalent types of fish from other continents. I don't agree with kentobismol's comment that you shouldn't add any surface-dwelling fish. My African Butterfly Fish get along quite nicely with my younger bichirs and I have kept them with adult specimens of the 'smaller' bichir species very successfully.
-Joe
Here are some shots of some of my bichir tanks:
10 Gallon Grow-Out
Standard aquarium gravel, PetsMart fake driftwood, plants are all live: water sprite, Java fern, Aponogeton boivianus
20 Gallon (Long) Grow-Out
Eco-Complete substrate, PetsMart fake driftwood, plants are all live: water sprite, Vallisneria spiralis, Anubias sp.
100 Gallon
Standard aquarium gravel, multiple pieces of real driftwood and petrefied wood, plants are a mixture of artificial (left side) and real: Aponogeton crispus, Bolbitis sp., Anubias sp.
Retropinnis is definitely a must.beblondie said:
One thing you need to do whenever you get any wild caught fish, and I am sure Toyin (africanman of Reohoboth Aquatics) already does it, but it will also help if you do also. I am talking about a quarantine tank. This tank would have aeration to keep the oxygen flowing. You would want to invest on "parasite clear" from Jungle labs. Works great! I can't remember how long you need to quarantine the fish, but it always helps. Sometimes some people just do this on marine fish, and never freshwater. This could be true if the fish are tank raised or farm bred. But a wild caught fish needs to be quarantined and treated for parasites. Keep us posted!P.S.
Nice tank shots Joe
I added them to my tank shots collection 
QUARANTINE
Noun: a state of enforced isolation.Usually 4 weeks duration.
Why should we quarantine? In particular our bichirs are mostly wild caught this can lead them to be
carriers of all kinds of nasty things.And the importers can't catch all the bad stuff some of which may
not be evident for several days or weeks.It is far easier to observe and fix one fish than an chance
infecting an established tank.
There are two ways to quarantine new fish one is a basic bare tank.This is not a long term display
tank its meant to be emptied and cleaned and stored after the quarantine period. It can also do duty
as a hospital tank if and when the need arises. A tank sized to fit the specimen should be used for
this purpose Remember this is for temporary use.
Why don't we qaurantine?Simply because we are in a hurry to show off our new fish.However after
you have done this and wind up with a tank of sick or dying fish you will understand the importance of
quarantining fish.this applies to store bought feeders also.
The Tank 1
This is as simple as it gets Filter, Heater, and some plastic plants or some kind of structure to
hide in simple huh like I said its not long term .4 weeks in most cases should be fine.Its not pretty but
its not supposed to be .
The Tank 2
You setup the tank with substrate,plants, decorations as you would any display tank and
add the new fish and nothing more.Any future purchases for this tank will need to QT in a tank1 setup.
The Hospital Tank Is basicaly a tank 1 setup its use is to isolate and treat sick or damaged fish not
long term use As little decoration as possible is involved and the amount of water should be
measured so the correct amonut of medication is administered contrary to popular belief all tanks
are incorrectly sized and hold somewhat less water than stated.
To get the correct amount of water.
A tank holds measure the inside of the tank and calculate with those numbers.
Gravel displaces 2.4 gallons per 50 pounds. This is useful in calculating the true water capacity of your aquarium
Prophylactic treatment
What is it ?
Simply put its a preventative step,Its purpose is to prevent any disease or parasitc transmission between newly aquired fish and established tankmates.
Why?
Should it be considered? well in the case of bichirs since many species are still wild caught they may harbor parasitic organisms it is for this reason a prophylactic treatments may be considered.
What's involved?
SALT BATH
First, give them a prophylactic salt bath right in the transfer bucket. Separately dissolve 5 tablespoons of common salt (NaCl) per gallon of water. Add 1/3 the solution to the transfer bucket, wait ten minutes and add another 1/3 wait 10 minutes add the other 1/3 . Keep an eye on the new fish and remove any at the first signs of distress. Leave them covered in the bucket for a further 15 to 30 minutes.Many public aquaiums widely use a saltwater dip for all their new freshwater arrivals, at full-strength salinity (35 parts per thousand), for ten minutes. A major reminder is that common salt (NaCl) doesn't affect the pH buffer, but "Marine" salt and so-called "Aquarium" salt do. A change in pH, rather than the salt itself, accounts for most of the stress in a salt dip,If your fish do show acute stress you'd remove it,Net them out and transfer them to the Q Tank. Hopefully they should have left behind most of or all their external parasites.(this will not eliminate encysted parasites)Then, give the new arrivals 24 to 48 hours to settle down. Give them time to recover from stresses, get some color, and get their respiration rate back to normal, while you examine them.
CHEMICAL
The first treatment in the Q Tank should be an anti-helminthic (anti-nematode) treatment for intestinal parasites.I use "JUNGLE LABS PARASITE CLEAR'' or "JUNGLE LABS PARASITE GUARD" both contain broad spectrum anti-helminthic (anti-nematode) at recommended dosage this should elimanate any internal or external parasites.While there are other drugs I haven't used them and the ones listed are available online
from the major suppliers
Sources include TFH, April 1998
Noun: a state of enforced isolation.Usually 4 weeks duration.
Why should we quarantine? In particular our bichirs are mostly wild caught this can lead them to be
carriers of all kinds of nasty things.And the importers can't catch all the bad stuff some of which may
not be evident for several days or weeks.It is far easier to observe and fix one fish than an chance
infecting an established tank.
There are two ways to quarantine new fish one is a basic bare tank.This is not a long term display
tank its meant to be emptied and cleaned and stored after the quarantine period. It can also do duty
as a hospital tank if and when the need arises. A tank sized to fit the specimen should be used for
this purpose Remember this is for temporary use.
Why don't we qaurantine?Simply because we are in a hurry to show off our new fish.However after
you have done this and wind up with a tank of sick or dying fish you will understand the importance of
quarantining fish.this applies to store bought feeders also.
The Tank 1
This is as simple as it gets Filter, Heater, and some plastic plants or some kind of structure to
hide in simple huh like I said its not long term .4 weeks in most cases should be fine.Its not pretty but
its not supposed to be .
The Tank 2
You setup the tank with substrate,plants, decorations as you would any display tank and
add the new fish and nothing more.Any future purchases for this tank will need to QT in a tank1 setup.
The Hospital Tank Is basicaly a tank 1 setup its use is to isolate and treat sick or damaged fish not
long term use As little decoration as possible is involved and the amount of water should be
measured so the correct amonut of medication is administered contrary to popular belief all tanks
are incorrectly sized and hold somewhat less water than stated.
To get the correct amount of water.
A tank holds measure the inside of the tank and calculate with those numbers.
Gravel displaces 2.4 gallons per 50 pounds. This is useful in calculating the true water capacity of your aquarium
Prophylactic treatment
What is it ?
Simply put its a preventative step,Its purpose is to prevent any disease or parasitc transmission between newly aquired fish and established tankmates.
Why?
Should it be considered? well in the case of bichirs since many species are still wild caught they may harbor parasitic organisms it is for this reason a prophylactic treatments may be considered.
What's involved?
SALT BATH
First, give them a prophylactic salt bath right in the transfer bucket. Separately dissolve 5 tablespoons of common salt (NaCl) per gallon of water. Add 1/3 the solution to the transfer bucket, wait ten minutes and add another 1/3 wait 10 minutes add the other 1/3 . Keep an eye on the new fish and remove any at the first signs of distress. Leave them covered in the bucket for a further 15 to 30 minutes.Many public aquaiums widely use a saltwater dip for all their new freshwater arrivals, at full-strength salinity (35 parts per thousand), for ten minutes. A major reminder is that common salt (NaCl) doesn't affect the pH buffer, but "Marine" salt and so-called "Aquarium" salt do. A change in pH, rather than the salt itself, accounts for most of the stress in a salt dip,If your fish do show acute stress you'd remove it,Net them out and transfer them to the Q Tank. Hopefully they should have left behind most of or all their external parasites.(this will not eliminate encysted parasites)Then, give the new arrivals 24 to 48 hours to settle down. Give them time to recover from stresses, get some color, and get their respiration rate back to normal, while you examine them.
CHEMICAL
The first treatment in the Q Tank should be an anti-helminthic (anti-nematode) treatment for intestinal parasites.I use "JUNGLE LABS PARASITE CLEAR'' or "JUNGLE LABS PARASITE GUARD" both contain broad spectrum anti-helminthic (anti-nematode) at recommended dosage this should elimanate any internal or external parasites.While there are other drugs I haven't used them and the ones listed are available online
from the major suppliers
Sources include TFH, April 1998
Awesome tanks FruitBat. I love those plants. I'll definately invest in the parasite clear. I mean I'm spending a lot of money on these guys and I'm going to do whatever I can to keep them healthy. I'll definately keep you guys up to date. I just need to wait till we get some carpet in the house to put the tank down (katrina) and I'm good to go. It probably won't happen till maybe another two weeks but in all honesty I never would have dreamed I would have figured out what I wanted to do with my tank this quick. Guess now I have to just continuesly read and stare at other people's bichers till I get my own 
. Thanks everyone for all the help. I really honestly appreciate it.
. Thanks everyone for all the help. I really honestly appreciate it. 