My senegal bichir was with a group of clown loaches for the last month in the grow out tank, He snapped and killed them all. He even went for the catfish. From what I've read they should have been find together as long as they were the same size . Once the bichier hits 5" beware of what tank you put them in. He is now in the large tank with larger fishes. Going to get him his own tank soon .
Bichiers with other bottom feeders
- Thread starter sirknife
- Start date
Good tip. Thank you for the insight. Will be sure to keep this thread in mind when the one i recently acquired finishes quarentine.
Huh wow Sen killed all your loaches. Were the loaches tiny? I've heard of sens being aggressive but only rarely, other then the if it fits in my mouth I'm gonna eat it thing. I have a tank full of polypterids and my sens are the most stable. I did just have my two teugelsi go on a rampage though. They were the biggest in the tank both over 16" so that may have been part of it? Killed and ate a rope a butterfly and a synodontis in just a couple days. They live elsewhere now.
Polys are predators and so you do need to exercise caution. I know a guy who had 10 sens in a tank and fed nothing but live foods fish, frogs, bugs. Thise sens were so aggressive. Mine eat mostly pellets but as stated above my teugs lost it. Below is a poly skull endlicheri I think. Kinda gives you an idea of what they may be capable of. Teeth are serrated like a shark.
Polys are predators and so you do need to exercise caution. I know a guy who had 10 sens in a tank and fed nothing but live foods fish, frogs, bugs. Thise sens were so aggressive. Mine eat mostly pellets but as stated above my teugs lost it. Below is a poly skull endlicheri I think. Kinda gives you an idea of what they may be capable of. Teeth are serrated like a shark.
I never feed any of my fish live food. I’ve got a huge ornate that actually hangs out with a blue botia. The loach was tiny when it went into that tank and the bichir has never bothered it. The two actually swim together and hide under the same piece of drift wood all the time. I was extremely surprised and I know this won’t happen with every specimen, but I wanted to share my experience. You can actually see the botia in the first pic, he’s under the powerhead. He definitely fits in the ornate’s mouth but he’s never tried. I’ve only ever fed this bichir pellets or market shrimp.I only feed my bichir blood worms, pellets, and f/t shrimp, the loaches and bichir were all the same in size. My wife caught him attacking the catfish too. I thinking I have a territorial bichir . He is in the 210 gal and he is the smallest fish in there . He is with a clown knife, giant gourami, shoal with silver dollars, tinfoils and parrots. Gourami already kicked his butt letting know she is the queen of the aquarium. I see how this goes but I'm not adding any more bottom feeders.
On that same note I have a 1’ ornate who also lives with blue botias (9) for the last 6 months or so with little to no issues up until recently. I have seen these tooth patterns a few times previously but they are getting more intense and are starting to seem a little more concerning now that he is also going for my catfish.
Wow I know we agree on fish all the time but this looks like a photo strait out of my system!! I’ve got a bare bottom that I painted to look like sand but it looks pretty similar!
What are you feeding that one other than pellets?
Yup thats a poly bite. You need to get it out of there. Thats a I'm going to eat this, not I'm the boss of this tank. If it was territorial it'd be fin nips.
Agreed!
The botias will most likely stay as they are not causing any issues atm. The bichir is who will be taken out. Most likely by the end of this week.
Rob909
funny how similar set ups we have. I feel the same when you post pics of yours. I have a wave maker on order so soon enough it will look even more like your tank. Lol
Rob909
funny how similar set ups we have. I feel the same when you post pics of yours. I have a wave maker on order so soon enough it will look even more like your tank. Lol