Bichir attacts Angel?!?!???

[Mysticshadows3]

I bought a palmas bichir about four months ago and it's been fine in the tank, and I just got back home and I turn on the aquarium light and feed my fish - and my bichir latched on to the bottom of my angelfish's fin and starts going spastic and wiggling around and biting at the angel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I have another angel, both are pretty close to full grown, and it hasn't been touched by the bichir - and neither has anything else in the tank) The bichir is just a baby (3-4") but it did damage! My heart dropped when I saw my angels fins being torn apart.....but my bichir has been really hyper lately and swimming fast all over the tank and always really active.

Do you think this bichir is going to develope to be way too agressive for such a docile fish as my angel?? How agressive are these bichirs?? Wow. I feel really stupip right now, and I feel horrible for my angel...

It's hard to get knowledge on stuff like this because every fish is different - and he's a spastic little fella.

 

[FishNCash]

I have bichirs with angels and discus. My bichirs we bother the angels. In fact the angels are so big that they sometimes bully the bichirs. My biggest bichir is 20" and it never bother the angels. I think you might have a crazy fin nippers. Bichirs are usually docile fish when kept with angels.

 

[Nemesis]

I had the same thing happen when my endli's were juvies with my severums. I guess it's just kind of a stage they go through, because now that they're big they don't mess with anything (exept accasionally my high fin pleco, which they seem to be attracted to).

 

[big_tank_boy]

weird i got a baby black angel in a tank with full grown upper jaw sp....... no problems but my angel fish chaseing them into there caves................

 

[Mysticshadows3]

I have an annoying hyper little kid bichir. That bites.
Thanks for your help guys!

 

[whamphyry]

post a pic please xD

 

[peewee]

it might have been underfed and desperate for food?

 

[King-eL]

I'm not surprise that the bichir bit your angel fish. Things like this usually happens during lights off. I got an 8" Midas Cichlid that got death rolled to death with my bichirs during lights off. All my bichirs will kill any cichlids that are under 9" during lights off. They just love the taste of meat of cichlidae.

 

[KuangMingJie]

I'm not surprise that the bichir bit your angel fish. Things like this usually happens during lights off. I got an 8" Midas Cichlid that got death rolled to death with my bichirs during lights off. All my bichirs will kill any cichlids that are under 9" during lights off. They just love the taste of meat of cichlidae.

Hihi! I was just wondering about what you said... "They just love the meat of cichlid..." How does a bichir taste the meat of fishes? I feed my bichirs red swordtails and they stop hunting till they are 3/4. But whenever when I feed little frogs, they eat until so bloated I was afraid they will burst... But yeah I know they can eat alot yet still ok... And they look so happy resting after eating so much.

So how does a bichir prefer a type of meat over another meat when they just swallow them? Like in my case they like frogs over fishes...

 

[King-eL]

Hihi! I was just wondering about what you said... "They just love the meat of cichlid..." How does a bichir taste the meat of fishes? I feed my bichirs red swordtails and they stop hunting till they are 3/4. But whenever when I feed little frogs, they eat until so bloated I was afraid they will burst... But yeah I know they can eat alot yet still ok... And they look so happy resting after eating so much.

So how does a bichir prefer a type of meat over another meat when they just swallow them? Like in my case they like frogs over fishes...

Bichirs and other fish have tongue just like us. That's why they are able to taste its meal and recognize it. In the wild they mainly eat cichlids, frogs and other insects. A swordtail or any Cyprinodontiformes are not wild in Africa.