Best Community Polypterus?

[Dan F]

Which poly is the least predatory? I had a "regular" bichir for several years as a kid, and he never seemed to eat his tankmates, but I don't recall what his smallest companions were. I may be out of luck, I am especially worried about the Hillstream Loach (Neons are... expendable).

Any help would be appreciated.

125 gallon community
7" Oxydoras niger
4.5" L-075 Para Pleco
1.5" Reticulated Hillstream Loach
4 x 3" Fancy Goldfish
10 x 1" Neon Tetras

 

[HiImSean]

with the hillstream loach being small i'd be worried with polys as well as the goldfish. you're prolly thinking of a senegal which can be bought from petsmart.

 

[Delhezi222]

Agreed. Senegals are the least aggressive, however the loach and goldfish may still end up as lunch.

 

[pdbrady]

The goldfish won't end up as lunch. They're fancies, so they're bigger bodied. No senegal is going to eat that. The bichir AS WELL as the goldfish might eat the loach. I wouldn't roll the dice on your odds.

 

[Delhezi222]

The goldfish won't end up as lunch. They're fancies, so they're bigger bodied. No senegal is going to eat that. The bichir AS WELL as the goldfish might eat the loach. I wouldn't roll the dice on your odds.

I highly doubt a 3" goldfish could eat a hillstream loach at half the size. Hillstream loaches are often as wide as they are long. Also, I highly doubt the goldfish would even try to eat it, no more than than the niger cat would. Goldfish aren't exactly vicious predators.

 

[channarox]

^
what?
i think he was talking about the bichir.

my senegal ate a really fat goldfish before.
anyways.
the lower jaws are typically much more predatory.
however.
upper jaws are still predators.

 

[tezr]

My sen took out a glass knife that was only about 2 inches shorter.....

Plus the Cat will probably take out most of the tank as it grows.... I almost got one until I saw this pic..... That is the 500gallon tank they outgrew......

 

[Cohazard]

I tried mixing fancy goldfish with bichirs once, and their fins got shredded. I guess goldies just smell like food to the polys.

 

[pdbrady]

I highly doubt a 3" goldfish could eat a hillstream loach at half the size. Hillstream loaches are often as wide as they are long. Also, I highly doubt the goldfish would even try to eat it, no more than than the niger cat would. Goldfish aren't exactly vicious predators.

I didn't say he WOULD, could. Have you ever kept goldfish with smaller fish? There are many reasons you don't mix goldfish with other fish, one being they can be surprisingly aggressive. I used to manage petstores, and people always wanted goldfish, even with their community tanks. Some worked, but then some people come back and say they wish they'd taken my advice on not keeping gf with their tetras. Know why? Cause they ATE THEM. I wasn't singling out the goldfish as the only bad idea, just agreeing with what I thought someone else was saying. Maybe that's what they meant, maybe not. The goldfish will be minimuim 2x the diameter of the sens BODY, let alone it's mouth. But either way it's not a good mix for a bichir.

ps. I didn't even see the niger cat! Wow, that makes the WHOLE combo bad......

 

[Merbeast]

The neons are going to be lunch, but any upper jaw bichir (except the ornate) should be relatively chill as long as you feed it well.