couple of senegal questions.

[cburkhart78]

Have had a senegal for about 3 months.He's 4-5in long.Wondering what is best to feed(for growth) and how long it takes for them to really start getting some size.Right now mine is eating cichlid crumbles, bloodworm, and brine shrimp.Thanks in advance for the info.

 

[beblondie]

FEEDING & NUTRITION
Now that you have a bichir what does it eat? In their natural habitat bichirs normally eat small fish,various insect larvae and invertabrates.Bichirs are generaly non agressive ambush predators but also oppurtunistic scavengers.Objects to big to be consumed whole are often "deathrolled" till
small parts are twisted and ripped off the carcass.The key here is to balance the diet thru a variety
of foods with an eye on total nutrition.A varied diet is a good diet for your fish and yourself.
Now then what can we feed them? You actually have several options and They will be listed below
The freezer at your local fish store is a smorgasboard of foods which should include
silversides or lancefish
mysis shrimp
brine shrimp
krill
bloodworms
tubifex worms
squid
beefheart
Simply thaw and feed


Your local market can be a great source of foods check the seafood section of the freezer
You can use just about any foods you find there including
mussels
shrimp
most fish filets (avoid salmon i think its to oily)

Available at the butcher counter or they should be able to order it for you
beefheart
and yes chicken gizzards
to prepare the above cut it into strips and remove any fat you can find
fish do not digest mammialian fat well

Live foods include
some frog species(some frogs release a nasty chemical when bitten)
tadpoles
African dwarf frogs are safe and part of the natural diet
ghost shrimp
earthworms
mealworms feed only the recently shed(white) ones the chiton in the exoskeleton
can be hard to digest and in some can result in intestinal blockages.
There is really no reason to feeders except as the ocassional treat.
Various live fish and fry can be used for foods.Caution here unless you raise them
any commercialy bought feeders usually rosie reds/tuffies (the albino form of fat head minnows),
guppies,bait minnows etc.need to be quarantined before feeding them to your fish for several reasons.
reason 1 They are kept in horrible conditions
reason 2 They are often diseased
reason 3 They often are carriers of parasites
During quarantine dispose of the obviously sick or diseased.The remaining ones feed quality
foods a healthy feeder is of course better for your fish.
Goldfish just generaly are poor feeders and should be avoided. they are oily not very nutritious and constant feed of them causes faty deposits on the liver leading to premature deaths.They also contain very high levels of Thiaminase a destroying hormone.While many fish used as feeders contain this goldfish seem to have an abundance of it.Another issue is a spine at the front of the dorsal fin which can lead to problems if the goldfish is swollowed the wrong way (tailfirst).Yet another reason not to use goldfish,goldfish farms utilize copper meds in suspension form to combat diseases in the feeders associated with overcrowding.These copper meds are retained by the feeders for long periods after they leave the farms.Most lfs invariably retain all or part of the feeders shipping water when the feeders are loaded into their bins/tanks. And copper does not dissapate from a closed system.
The key is to balance the diet with a variety of foods listed above not just 1 or 2 items and skipping a meal once you notice a decline in growth rate is good for fish.The sad truth is we as hobbyists tend to overfeed our charges

Pellitized foods
Can be found in various diameters and forms include sinking and floating pellets and sticks
shrimp pellets
worm pellets
even pellets for cichlids will work
spirulina sticks
brine shrimp sticks
Algae wafers(some eat them some just look at them)

Read the labels and look for this information
NUTRITION FOR CARNIVORES
Below are the agreed upon nutritional requirements for predatory fish
below that is a list of necessary vitamins usually supplied and just for informational
purposes.
PROTEIN:: 45% or more (this would be the ideal)
FAT:: 3% Min. to 6% Max.
FIBER 2% Min. to 4% Max

 

[beblondie]

further to your question
How big is its tank?
whats the temp.?
how often are you feeding it?-Anne

 

[cburkhart78]

further to your question
How big is its tank?
whats the temp.?
how often are you feeding it?-Anne

Thanks for the info.The tank is a 45g.(I'm at work so don't have the measurements)The temp is around 76.He eats daily but i don't feed enough to gorge him.I did a little research before I bought him, I was just wondering what is best now because of his size( 4 in).Thanks again!

 

[beblondie]

4-5 inches is still small for a bichir especially if you've had it for a few months.some reasons could be genetics,not getting enough food,using enegry for other things instead of growth.At this small size it should be an eating machine.
Some things you could try
raise the temp. to about 80F
offrer several small mealss instead of one or two big meals
or
move it to a smaller tank for a few months to grow out.
Other than the above suggestions just keep feeding it a varied diet.And water conditions as clean a possible -Anne

 

[ninoe]

agree with you on that anne, 4-5 inches normally belongs to a grow out tank, make it easier for the bichir to find food, normally they get better at it as they grow. a 10g or 15 will be good for 2 to 4 mos for a single sen. its good to invest on a grow-out tank, as in my case, i never could retire mine, as some other bichir specimen finds its way in there.
well as for P. Sen growth rate, well some grow ridiculously fast and some slow and steady, a lot of factors can attribute to this, food, environment, genetics and such. Food and environment you can control, that's feeding and water quality ( water quality is always a huge factor in fish growth in general)

 

[RTCatz]

even when they do get to adult suze (i've seen plenty in fish stores) they're really not that impressive or big. you might want to ge another sp. if u want to get huge ones

 

[cburkhart78]

Thanks for all the feedback.A grow out tank isn't really an option right now.But i think I will do weekly water changes as opposed to bi-weekly to see if that will make a difference.I can't really get another species because I only have one decent sized tank and it's already close to being overcrowded.Thanks again!