Aggressive Palmas Polli

[Bennlfer]

My Palmas has been biting my other bichirs lately. Any suggestions for why he is acting like this? He is the biggest one i have, at 9.5 inches. And I recently removed a couple of driftwood caves and one of my bichirs.

 

[Jakob]

Add more, to spread the aggression. All bichirs can be territorial, in my tank its the smaller ornate..

 

[poly-nomial]

Probably the tank is too small. I have a 5" senegal with a 3" senegal in a 50/50 divided 55g, so that means they have about 22.5 gallons. They chase each other a lot.

 

[lungfishlover]

maybe as you have removed some tank furniture, as its the largest it is re-establishing its territory. should hopefully stop after a while.

 

[Aridd]

weird, polli at 12" gets along with my 11" senegal great, they are buddies. Wouldnt be dumb enough to add the 6" ornate yet though

 

[Jakob]

Probably the tank is too small. I have a 5" senegal with a 3" senegal in a 50/50 divided 55g, so that means they have about 22.5 gallons. They chase each other a lot.

I dont think it is the matter of tank size. Some polypterus sometimes tend to show a little aggression, sometimes it stops and sometimes it gets worse. Your 2 sens should be able to be together without a divider Fishaddict401...

maybe as you have removed some tank furniture, as its the largest it is re-establishing its territory. should hopefully stop after a while.

No, not necesserally remove.. But redecorate, and introduce them again.

weird, polli at 12" gets along with my 11" senegal great, they are buddies. Wouldnt be dumb enough to add the 6" ornate yet though

All polypterus have different individual characters. I would add 1 or 2 bichirs before you add an ornate. They can get pretty aggressive.

 

[Madding]

Agree that Ornates are the most aggressive bichir, especially towards other bichirs.

 

[Bennlfer]

Thanks everyone Ill wait and see if it gets worse.