Well my ornate was 3" when I got him and He would only eat HBH super soft sinking krill pellets but at the time none of my other fish would touch them so the little bottle lasted me till he was about 6". now he eats 2.5" paraya @ 6",2-3" WC mono pbass, raw shrimp, tilapia, and I finally broke down and bought a $30 bag of hikari massivore pellets yesterday(I suggest getting some). Bichirs are surprisinglly cheap to accomadate if you think about it. Besides the miss haps.