Couple of senegalus ?'s - tank depth & stunting

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CTU2fan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2007
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Port Orange, FL
So I've had my little sen for almost a year now, he was maybe 4" when I got him and he's about 6" now and not much thicker than a pencil, and he hasn't grown at all in a few months that I can tell. He's a CB Petsmart sen...is it possible he's stunted? He eats quite a bit and he's always been in decent sized tanks (55, 75, now 170) with good params.

Also do they generally have problems with deeper tanks? None of my previous bichirs (CB sen, palmas, huge WC sen) seemed to mind, but the one I have now has been resting on top of my powerhead right near the surface rather than hanging out on the bottom the way they usually do. I'm planning on putting in some taller plants that he can hang out in and be close to the surface.
 
Well if he's that small he might not be growing as fast because the tanks so big he can't find food, mine always used to sit next to my filter near the surface, so I wouldn't worry about that
 
Well it's not your fault that the sene is stunted. As expected in CB sene, especially at petsmart is that most senes of today have bad gene pool. Slow growers and don't get up to max potential size. I had one of those before back in 2004 and it only max out at 9" in 2007 and never grew anymore. Even delhezi are now maxing out at 10" same with the polli at 10-11". Even some laps and endli are now maxing out at 14"-16". When before CB endli and laps can even get up to 18"-20"+.

The only thing that I'm getting afraid about is that when they start to breed mokes in mass number as I'm sure they will be the smallest bichirs around when they start breeding them in captivity. However it will be good news to those who have smaller tanks and wants to add some bichirs. Not for me though.:(
 
I was thinking that it must be the genes, as we see the smaller CB bichirs. I know he is eating, I see his full belly :) Sinking pellet, Kens moist pellet (which all my fish love), krill, earthworms...maybe I should be happy then, I was thinking of adding some schooling tetras, if he stays small maybe I can. But of course there's the ABK to worry about...
 
2 of my sens are about the same size as yours when I got them, they still can grow, although slow, just feed them well, mine now are around 8".
 
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