I finally moved my bichirs from an all too small 55 gal to a 130 gal. They are incredibly happy now. I mixed gravel and sand for substrate with a lot of large driftwood and I use only live plants that I have been propagating over the years.
The 130 has 2 heaters to keep it at a comfortable 80 deg in my garage, and I plan to move it into the living room of my new house soon. I have 2-Fluval 305's to keep it filtered and make water changes every 2-3 weeks, mostly to vacuum out the giant turds and fertilize plants and my garden outside.
It's currently stocked with:
The Ornate: P. ornatipinnis ~ 23"
Lorox: P. senegalus ~ 10"
Weeks: P. weeksi ~ 11"
Retro (Ret): P. retropinnis ~ 10"
Bubba Jr (BJ): Ctenopoma acutirostre ~ 8"
they are fantastic tankmates. The Ornate, BJ, and Lorox have been mates since The Ornate was about 5 inches in a 30 gal. Weeks came next after I moved them to a 55 gal, and Ret was the most recent addition after moving to a 130gal. They all pile together sometimes, even BJ, but usually Ret & Lorox swim about together while Weeks hides on the left side under a rock or under the Ornate who hangs out against the back of the tank with BJ. I just have tank pics and a few fish but I will post more soon.
The new 130!
The old 55 - now my river tank
Weeks & The Ornates back end
Lorox
B.J.
The 130 has 2 heaters to keep it at a comfortable 80 deg in my garage, and I plan to move it into the living room of my new house soon. I have 2-Fluval 305's to keep it filtered and make water changes every 2-3 weeks, mostly to vacuum out the giant turds and fertilize plants and my garden outside.
It's currently stocked with:
The Ornate: P. ornatipinnis ~ 23"
Lorox: P. senegalus ~ 10"
Weeks: P. weeksi ~ 11"
Retro (Ret): P. retropinnis ~ 10"
Bubba Jr (BJ): Ctenopoma acutirostre ~ 8"
they are fantastic tankmates. The Ornate, BJ, and Lorox have been mates since The Ornate was about 5 inches in a 30 gal. Weeks came next after I moved them to a 55 gal, and Ret was the most recent addition after moving to a 130gal. They all pile together sometimes, even BJ, but usually Ret & Lorox swim about together while Weeks hides on the left side under a rock or under the Ornate who hangs out against the back of the tank with BJ. I just have tank pics and a few fish but I will post more soon.
The new 130!
The old 55 - now my river tank
Weeks & The Ornates back end
Lorox
B.J.
