Considering a Senegal

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
my newest addition was a small del ~3". she's just as active as my sen but now quite as neurotic. (my sen is kinda a freak) btw she LOVES beefheart and has probably grown almost 2" in the month and a half i have had her
 
GeneralActivity levels
From Most active to Least active:
These tend to be more active during ''lights on''periods and all are about the same activity level however
a list is a list and needs a starting point
P. senegalus
P. palmas polli
P. delhezi
P. palmas palmas
P. palmas buettikoferi
P. retropinnis
These tend to be more active during''lights off'' period
P. e. congicus
P. e. endlicheri
P. Zaire green
P. weeksii
P. lapradei
P. ornatipinnis
there are exceptions as each does tend to have their own''personality''
 
Im glad senegals are active, as well as the delhezi....because right now those species are the ones Im most interested in :). Im working on my 35G tank today which will be the growout....its getting playsand afterall. I dont want to risk the micro gravel atleast not until the bichirs are adult and then I doubt theyd have a problem passing it in the rare case they did eat some. Thanks for the vid on vacuuming sand, it was helpful....now lets see if I can master that without having a sink full of it.
 
Just a quick note. If you can get it do pool filter sand vs play sand. It is a little heavier so it stays on the bottom a little more when vacuuming. It is also already rinsed so it is almost ready to go into the tank out of the bag. Play sand will need to be rinsed a lot more than the filter sand.
 
heres a long explanation of why not to buy a bichir
dont buy a bichir. they look like cool prehistoric fish but they are really stupid and will piss you off. i had two senegals and one died from eating a frontosa that was too big. the other one really pisses me off because i moved it to my other tank where my convict pair and red parrots were. he kept invading the convicts little rock in the corner and no matter how much they viciously attack him and bit his fins, he just swims away and comes back the next second. so now the pair decided not to mate and they went their own ways. he just never got the point. feeding him is the biggest pain. it takes him so long to notice that the food is added and comes to the surface when its all gone. when i go to add more food so that he can eat, he sees me and darts back down and bumps into whatevers in the way. then the other fish eat the food. when he tries to get around, he just runs into other fish like their not there and you can tell the fish get pissed. if you give them a place to hide then theyll hide and come out when they smell food. whats the point of having such a good sense of smell if it cant eat the food before everyone else does. maybe my bichirs are real stupid ones or they they shouldnt be mixed with other fish like cichlids. ive seen some videos of endlicheris waiting for their owner to feed them. these fish can handle most water conditions so mixing shouldnt even be a problem. bichirs look awesome and you can impress people by showing them how bichirs hunt crickets and other insects but these guys are oblivious to whats around them and really make you wanna reach your hand in the tank and strangle them. these fish have no intelligence so please dont bs and say these are really smart clever fish. im sure there are those that agree with me.
looks-10 main reason i bought them
behavior-3 (cool when they snatch a cricket but usually sits at the bottom)
intelligence-0 (they hunt like idiots and dont put their k9 sense of smell too good use)
 
Cichlids mainly hunt using sight and since light travels faster than anything else of course they'll be the first ones to the food. I like to see a cichlid hunt in complete darkness though cause I'm pretty sure the bichir would be the first to the food in that case. And yes bichirs aren't for everybody that's why people should do research first before buying them or buying any fish for that matter so they know what to expect.
 
aznxcalikid;1287307; said:
heres a long explanation of why not to buy a bichir
dont buy a bichir. they look like cool prehistoric fish but they are really stupid and will piss you off. i had two senegals and one died from eating a frontosa that was too big. the other one really pisses me off because i moved it to my other tank where my convict pair and red parrots were. he kept invading the convicts little rock in the corner and no matter how much they viciously attack him and bit his fins, he just swims away and comes back the next second. so now the pair decided not to mate and they went their own ways. he just never got the point. feeding him is the biggest pain. it takes him so long to notice that the food is added and comes to the surface when its all gone. when i go to add more food so that he can eat, he sees me and darts back down and bumps into whatevers in the way. then the other fish eat the food. when he tries to get around, he just runs into other fish like their not there and you can tell the fish get pissed. if you give them a place to hide then theyll hide and come out when they smell food. whats the point of having such a good sense of smell if it cant eat the food before everyone else does. maybe my bichirs are real stupid ones or they they shouldnt be mixed with other fish like cichlids. ive seen some videos of endlicheris waiting for their owner to feed them. these fish can handle most water conditions so mixing shouldnt even be a problem. bichirs look awesome and you can impress people by showing them how bichirs hunt crickets and other insects but these guys are oblivious to whats around them and really make you wanna reach your hand in the tank and strangle them. these fish have no intelligence so please dont bs and say these are really smart clever fish. im sure there are those that agree with me.
looks-10 main reason i bought them
behavior-3 (cool when they snatch a cricket but usually sits at the bottom)
intelligence-0 (they hunt like idiots and dont put their k9 sense of smell too good use)

you had a bad experience, i love mine, and only feed them at night when their sense of smell gives them the advantage over the other fish
 
Onion01;1287399; said:
you had a bad experience, i love mine, and only feed them at night when their sense of smell gives them the advantage over the other fish

Same here, I feed the ornate @ night but my Senegals go after the morning pellets I feed to the other fish. Once I got my ornate in April I've been hooked and have since added 2 Senegals to the mix (1 albino 1 regular) and planning on adding a delhezi soon.
 
QUOTE "feeding him is the biggest pain. it takes him so long to notice that the food is added and comes to the surface when its all gone. when i go to add more food so that he can eat, he sees me and darts back down and bumps into whatevers in the way. then the other fish eat the food. "

I think the biggest problem there is that it sounds like you are feeding him floating food, they eat of the bottom as a general rule. As for the rest of it, everyone has their own opinion....
 
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