Does this look strange to you?

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T

ToRif

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2009
97
0
0
Germany
Hi,
i have two nigerian laps. They sometimes swim with their head bent down a little bit. I only had upper jaw bichirs before and they dont do it so much...
Do you think this is normal or might there be a Problem?

I think its normal, but i want to make sure. I made some videos... please dont care about the dirty water, i just fed pellets before the videos were made. I do a water change every day in this tank... (and they wont stay in that small tank)

If you watch all the videos you can see it sometimes..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qo5kLuE1ow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKhMnI4FsBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2lKwrQAFL4

Sorry for my English again..
 
I do see what your talking about, I just got my first sengal birchir a couple months ago and the only time he swims like that is if he is searching for food, but yours look nice and have nice full bellies what kind of pellets do you feed them ? Maybe they are getting the nutrition they need but maybe they still feel hungry ... I would try giving them some tilapia fillet cut up into to small nuggets or maybe some shell off shrimp .
 
Hi,

they sholudnt be hungry... They eat shrimps, diefferent kinds of fish , earthworms an pellets...

Maybe its just a typical behavior for lower jaw bichirs? I think i saw it in youtube videos of other P. bichir and laps as well...
 
it might be, I haven't ever owned a lap before ... hopefully one of the birchir experts will chime in soon :-)
 
Not a bichir guy, but if I saw any of my fish do this (and I do!) it's typically either a submission/dominance posture, an attempt to bury into substrate, or the hunt for food on the bottom.
 
i bet the slight bending down of the head while they swim is due to the bare bottom tank. I've seen that with my bichirs when i was cycling my tank before i had substrate, and i've seen it in videos of bare bottom tank. It's not a typical behavior for lower jaw bichirs, or bichirs in general. In a tank with substrate, they will not do that.

ps. when they were trying to swim 'down' with the head down and tail pointing up, that's because they're freaked out by the net and trying to hide or get away. Anyway, i know that's not what you're asking, just pointing it out for others who might be wondering in case they thought that's what you were referring to.
 
Thank you very much, that could very well be the reason! Ill see how they react in a tank with substrate! As long as they arent sick im glad...
 
my lap does the same thing, but only when he is looking for food.
 
iloveoscars702;4120803; said:
my lap does the same thing, but only when he is looking for food.
Click to expand...
yes they'll do that when they're searching for food, but that happens after you put the food in and they can smell the food so they're frantically swimming around searching, or they'll hang/hover around where they think the food is and poke their heads around the bottom trying to locate it. But if they're just swimming like that with no food in the tank, it's because of lack of substrate typically.

anywho, Torif, they look fine and healthy. no need to worry.
 
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