75g Stocking Suggestions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Nim Dibbley said:
Most Senegal and Delhezi bichirs are captive bred and don't typically grow to the size of their wild caught counterparts. I had a delhezi for about 3 years before i traded him for another bichir and he only grew about 2 inches in that time (from 6 to about 8 inches.) If your tank is 18 inches wide I think either one of those species would work as they are not likely to grow more then 12 inches and that may take years.

Other bichir species grow bigger and faster, but are typically more expensive since they are less well bred in captivity.

I have not kept the other fish you are asking about, but i do keep a black ghost knife with my bichirs and they work fine together so i would assume the brown knife would be ok as well.

Bichirs work well with most other fish as long as the other fish is too big to get eaten by them and not big enough it can eat your bichirs. The other main consideration with bichirs is that they are bottom feeders and they react to smell more then sight when it comes to food. Whatever you keep them with, you need to make sure the other fish will not out-compete them for food.

I feed my bichirs Hikari sinking carnivore pellets as a staple. They get treats of earthworms, black worms, ghost shrimp or tilapia on occasion. Black worms are their favorite and fun to watch them slurp up like speghetti. When i feed them sinking pellets i have to throw in some floating pellets to distract my gourami i keep with them or he would eat ALL of their food.
Click to expand...

If that is indeed the case then imagine I will end up with the delhezi. When I first discovered bichirs I really wanted an albino senegal but after looking at the delhezi..I much prefer it.

Hopefully can make sure it's not out-competed by placing the food close to it?

I thought I read somewhere..of course doesn't mean it's true..that hikari contained something in their food that caused some fish to become more aggressive than they'd usually be.
This was on a cichlid thread though so probably doesn't apply to these pellets.

Thank you :D
 
They aren't really aggressive fish, but they are predatory and may try to eat something they THINK they can fit in their mouths. I have never fed my bichirs feeder fish and they have never attempted to eat any other fish (to my knowledge.) Any sinking carnivore pellet should be fine. I have only fed Hikari and they love the stuff.

You can try placing the food closer to the bichir so he gets there first, but i have never tried that. If you go with a top feeding fish to go with your bichir you should get an appropriate floating pellet for that fish and feed both at the same time so the other fish goes after the floating pellets and the bichir gets to the sinking ones.
 
Nim Dibbley said:
They aren't really aggressive fish, but they are predatory and may try to eat something they THINK they can fit in their mouths. I have never fed my bichirs feeder fish and they have never attempted to eat any other fish (to my knowledge.) Any sinking carnivore pellet should be fine. I have only fed Hikari and they love the stuff.

You can try placing the food closer to the bichir so he gets there first, but i have never tried that. If you go with a top feeding fish to go with your bichir you should get an appropriate floating pellet for that fish and feed both at the same time so the other fish goes after the floating pellets and the bichir gets to the sinking ones.
Click to expand...

Yes, and am worried for what they think they could fit. Both for the fish being eaten and then possibly getting hurt from trying to eat something they shouldn't!

Glad to hear the hikari should be fine, and definitely plan on different types of food for different level fish of the tank :)

If it's food that goes on the bottom of the tank I keep it hidden in my hand until it is placed on the bottom, and I try to make sure it is near the fish that should be eating it.
Or say if it's for a snail, then I pick up the snail and hold it over it til they come out of their shell and start eating it, then let them go about their business. :P

I guess it's sort of silly but I can't help it.
 
Something I didn't think to do..am going to google each fish combo to see what people say on their compatibility.
So like Knife x Bichir, Knife x Ctenopama, etc..and move down the list.

Have found out it's good to have multiple bichirs 'cause they like to pile on each other, so would like to know what ones (I'm guessing delhezi & senegal still?) and how many.
I know I was told that most upper jaws would be fine but because I know so little I really prefer when people tell me what exact ones to get, heh :P

Am also thinking will do a few PVC pipes for caves. Cover them in silicone & roll them in sand to make them look more natural. I wonder if it'd be good to tie some moss to them as well?
 
(?) Means that I've seen some cases of it not working/really not sure
Y = Yes, N = No, although didn't have any N's.. This is at least as far as compatibility goes, from what I had found. I'm still really not sure what to do about them preferring different flow rates.

Knife x Ctenopoma = Y
Knife x Bichir = Y
Knife x ABF = Y
Knife x Raphael = Y
Knife x Angel = Y


Ctenopoma x Bichir = Y
Ctenopoma x ABF = Y
Ctenopoma x Raphael = Y
Ctenopoma x Angel = Y


Bichir x ABF = Y(?)
Bichir x Raphael = Y
Bichir x Angel = Y(?)


ABF x Raphael = Y
ABF x Angel = Y(?)


Raphael x Angel = Y
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom