Hello,
i've read those words about the ornates in "live aquaria" ... now i know the exact translation of the one-of-a-kind disturbing description done by Sterba (or Mergus - i don't know who had copied whom ...).
First - ornates are fast growing! When i bought mine in spring 2008 he had only 8cm (approx. 3,15 inch) in lenght ... now he has 20cm (approx. 8 inches) in lenght. I#m feeding only 1-2 times a week (but then plenty of feeders, worms etc.).
Here as a newbie in spring 2008:
Here 2 months ago - shortly before he killed the Sajica ...
My ornate is doing well with other bichirs and with his "best friend", a Channa pulchra. This is my second ornate i'm keeping (the first one was growing too fast - and i didn't have a new tank - in other words - i didn't had the place created to positioning the new big tank) ...
This ornate also "loves" cichlids - especially at night. My "Left-over" (i had used this as name for my last cichlid - all others were eaten by my former ornate) was left over as a bizarre puzzle with some parts missing - they caused that fat belly unmasking the offender ...
To make dimensions clearer ... ornates are not only dangerous to small fish - the cichlids weren't small, "Left-over" was a prey one would commonly did not think about ... see him on the pic a bit on the left side (the Weeksi on the pic is approx. 10 inches long):
The size: Ornates are growing fast up to a lenght of 35-40cm (approx. 13-15 inches) - then the ornates will explore the slowness concerning growing ...
Those 60cm+ (23 inches+) ornates are old specimens ... it tooks decades to grow up to this lenght.
Back to the fish you want to combine: Maybe it will work, maybe not. I've read much about the combination ornate & other fish ... my experience: Cichlids do not work (will end as feeders) but other keepers had made other experiences.
It's a bit like the disagreeable discussion about the combination Oscar & Bichir - maybe it works, maybe it's a catastrophe ...
Greetings
Uwe
