Are Polypterus aggressive?

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Flexxx

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 15, 2007
235
3
18
North Carolina
Are any of the Polypterus aggressive ? I have an Ornate. He is not aggressive, but he does not hide from anything, not even my Dovii.
 
Hello,

some of them are really friendly to other fish, some of them not! Every bichir has its own character!
I never kept an ornate that had been friendly to all tankmates - one of them had been a cichlidkiller. It didn't matter what size the cichlids had ... he did act like a shark. Some other keepers in Germany did similar experience ...

On the other side i heard from other keepers that they do not have any problems with their bichirs in community. It's a question of personality of the bichir ...

The best would be if you have the opportunity to keep the ornate in another tank - if the community do not work.

Greetings
Uwe
 
From my experience, they are not aggressive at all. They may eat smaller fish, but this is not aggression.

I know what you mean about yours not hiding from your Dovii. I have had aggressive cichlids try and get my bichirs out of their territory, but the bichirs just sit there. I would call this being stubborn, not aggressive.
 
Bichirs are actually aggressive to other bichirs sometimes but not to other fish. Althought Iused to have a female ornate bichir that won't let any fish go in her cave, but that's is just protecting her territory. I later took out her cave and she is now peaceful.
 
I've only had mine for a little under a year and he's still pretty small, but in my experience, she doesn't really pay any attention to the other fish in the tank. She did eat my archer, but I think that one may have died on it own first and he scavanged it off the bottom of the tank.
 
My weeksi is aggressive towards the other birchirs and towards my tyre track .
The other day my peaceful but very active endli that is a few inches bigger than the weeksi shot up from near his cave with him still attached he had all of it's side fin in his mouth but he did let go.

The endli and the retro are very peaceful.
 
Flexxx;2644559; said:
Are any of the Polypterus aggressive ? I have an Ornate. He is not aggressive, but he does not hide from anything, not even my Dovii.


My ornate always hides.
I never see him :(
My senegal and albino sengal are out all the time.
never had any problem with them bothering other fish.
 
my bichir nipp each others tails thats it no other fish
 
uwe;2644586; said:
Hello,

some of them are really friendly to other fish, some of them not! Every bichir has its own character!
I never kept an ornate that had been friendly to all tankmates - one of them had been a cichlidkiller. It didn't matter what size the cichlids had ... he did act like a shark. Some other keepers in Germany did similar experience ...

On the other side i heard from other keepers that they do not have any problems with their bichirs in community. It's a question of personality of the bichir ...

The best would be if you have the opportunity to keep the ornate in another tank - if the community do not work.

Greetings
Uwe

totally agree...
 
iv got a delhezi and hes the biggest wimp alive!!! always hides his head in a hole but leaves his body flopping out lol 'i cant see u, u cant see me' stylee.
i did have some tiger barbs left in there from when i cycled the tank, barbs disappeared, bichir seemed to have a growth spurt lol
but other than that he is so peacefull and beautiful to watch
 
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