They get to about 12" max. but they grow extremely slow after they reach about 4-6" and rarely get past 10", they require at least a 30 gallon breeder, but a standard 55 gallon or larger is ideal. Feeders are not a good choice to feed any fish unless you are breeding them yourself, otherwise you risk introducing parasites and disease into your aquarium. The best foods to feed them are shrimp/krill, bloodworms, sinking pellets, earthworms (cut into pieces small enough for them to swallow), and blackworms. I feed mine frozen krill. They do well in temperatures between 78F and 84F. They are capable of surviving in water that is not well oxygenated, by breathing air from the surface (which they should be doing anyway even if there is plenty of O2 in the water. If your senegal's gills are moving, then it is alive, otherwise it isn't. Also, they are called senegal bichirs, not bichir senegals, or you can use the scientific name Polypterus senegalus.
