Bichir hunger/digestion rate

[BichirMohawk]

Curious if anyone has experience or knowledge in regard to this topic, thank you ahead of time.

1. Do they digest at the same rate we do?

2. If they are still full/stomach bulge after 8+ hours, did they overeat?

3. Does age/raw tilapia vs. pellets play a factor in their digestion rate?

 

[DMD123]

Loaded questions....

I do know with my polys that pellets seem to be digested at a faster rate and I can feed quite often and they can pack it away and then be ready for another meal soon after. When I feed raw foods like tilapia or silversides, they usually need an extra day to digest. So I feed every other day on the raw foods.

 

[Polyaddict86]

Im guessing that pellet get digested faster and raw slower like DMD123 mentioned. Just think of pellet as a ice cream and our air slowly melts it, same as pellets, it slowly melts in water, and once a poly eats it it melts faster cause of their digestive system. Thats just my opinion.

 

[BichirMohawk]

Thanks for the info, a day/24 hours to digest, esp if food is raw fish. If anyone disagrees with this, your input is welcome.

 

[DMD123]

Thanks for the info, a day/24 hours to digest, esp if food is raw fish. If anyone disagrees with this, your input is welcome.

I would say more like 48 hours with raw foods where the poly eats till it has noticeable food bulge. This would be to fully digest and be ready for another feeding. Not that they wont eat again in the meantime but this every other day feeding seems to be the best method for raw foods.

 

[Polyaddict86]

Yup when i feed pellets its once a day. Tilapia or any other raw food every other day.

 

[DMD123]

Yup when i feed pellets its once a day. Tilapia or any other raw food every other day.

Same feeding method but hit and miss if the polys get pellets since big, hungry cichlids get most of it first, lol

 

[Polyaddict86]

Thats why i dont have cichlids, lolz