Does anyone know how long they can live for??
The reason I ask; lower-jaw polypterus are rare as rockinghorse-s*** here, they aren't allowed to be imported but there are a few around that have been here since before the border was tightened in the mid 90's. I might have the once in a life-time [in NZ anyway] chance of getting hold of a big old congicus. It was in a big display tank at an LFS for years, and AFAIK actually belonged to the owner of the store. It was somewhere between 20-24" IIRC. He sold the store and the bichir vanished and was replaced with a tankfull of discus [boo!]. A guy I know knows someone who now has the congicus, and he said me might sell it for the right price, possibly swapping with my big ornate + cash. He said the fish could be over 20 years old, and would almost certainly be over 12 years old. So, my dilemma is that I really want the fish (I haven't seen it for years BTW) but I don't want to pay a heap for it if its going to die of old age in a year or two!
The reason I ask; lower-jaw polypterus are rare as rockinghorse-s*** here, they aren't allowed to be imported but there are a few around that have been here since before the border was tightened in the mid 90's. I might have the once in a life-time [in NZ anyway] chance of getting hold of a big old congicus. It was in a big display tank at an LFS for years, and AFAIK actually belonged to the owner of the store. It was somewhere between 20-24" IIRC. He sold the store and the bichir vanished and was replaced with a tankfull of discus [boo!]. A guy I know knows someone who now has the congicus, and he said me might sell it for the right price, possibly swapping with my big ornate + cash. He said the fish could be over 20 years old, and would almost certainly be over 12 years old. So, my dilemma is that I really want the fish (I haven't seen it for years BTW) but I don't want to pay a heap for it if its going to die of old age in a year or two!