Hey... came home last night and found my senegal bichir with a corey in it's mouth. Wow! First time EVER watcing him feed! The thing, though, was this... he never ate it! When I came in, he had the fish gripped by it's side and was just holding it there. Every couple of minutes, he's start kind of mouthing the corey and then would start pounding the corey into either the substrate or the glass. He kept doing this for at least an hour or two. Pretty crazy and very interesting to watch, but this is the 3rd corey he's done this to, and I'm wondering why he would do this if there was no plan on eating it... does anybody else encounter this with their bichirs? I'd really like to start getting him eating live food instead of sinking carnivore pellets... watching him hunt/stalk that corey when it busted loose (which was a couple of times) was amazing. The attitude of the fish TOTALLY changes....
Bichir Observation...
- Thread starter rsandelius
- Start date
he might be wanting to eat the cory, but since cories are also called armoured catfish and have nice thick, sharp bones in their pectoral and dorsal fins, he may have been deterred form swallowing it. why get him off prepared foods? pellets are generally well balanced and a very good diet. are you wanting to feed him feeder fish?
Yeah... he's grown about 4 inches in the 3-4 months that I've had him (up from 2.5" when I bought him) on those processed food. Truth be told... I like a little predatory action in the tank and seeing him hunt the cory down was really awesome. I'm definitely into seeing this fish eat live food. What kind of feeder fish would you recommend giving him? The tetras that I have spend too much time at the top of the tank and are much too quick for him.
I really don't recomend live feeder fish unless you quarantine them first.Feeders are usually in horrible shape and often disease ridden.You really are better off with a good quality pellet as part of a staple diet.
All that said try earthworms,ghost shrimp instead of live feeders they are far safer-Anne
All that said try earthworms,ghost shrimp instead of live feeders they are far safer-Anne
I've actually BEEN doing that... kind of as treats for the bichir... he goes through them pretty quick, though....
Speaking of treats... I was thinking about starting to feed my little buddy some earthworms. Is there any advice/caution that anybody would be able to give me on that front? Can I keep a small tin in the fridge for a week before the worms start dying/making it stink? I'd think that earthworms would be an excellent source of food for them...
my polypterus always have enjoyed peeled and chopped up raw shrimp as well.( ask the seafood counter person if it has been treated with any thing before you buy it- most grocery people ask me what I'm feeding when I order only six shrimp or so) It's fresh meat, and not live, so it fulfills the same purpose.
Earthworms are a favorite of all the fish- I learned that when I tried to drop them in for eels or other slow feeders, my fat severums would suck them up like spaghetti. I have to distract the pig fish to feed the slower ones. I keep them in their dirt in the fridge, and just rinse them really well before putting them into the tank.
Earthworms are a favorite of all the fish- I learned that when I tried to drop them in for eels or other slow feeders, my fat severums would suck them up like spaghetti. I have to distract the pig fish to feed the slower ones. I keep them in their dirt in the fridge, and just rinse them really well before putting them into the tank.