Saw some lively looking little senegalus at Petsmart on Sunday, maybe 5" or so, only $6.99...so I grabbed 2. They're in my growout with my festivums, jurupari, and brown knife...and they're eating like crazy. I've never had little ones, what kind of growth rate should I expect?
Got back on the horse...
- Thread starter CTU2fan
- Start date
It really varies from individual
Growth in fish is determined by many factors both physiological and environmental.Factors such as genetics,sex,diet,water conditions,age, Maturity,Temp etc.All of this can impact total growth for a given year by an individual fish.Fish in captivity are on a very different water change and diet schedule that those in the wild.One they get 100% waterchanges daily and two they forage at will.They also have an open ability to select optimal habitat.
In captivity they do not receive the same conditions.We generally feed our fish in a manner best described as"stuff and starve".They receive a set amount of food and that's it.This does impact growth.Small bodies of water are also more likely to concentrate wastes much quicker.I do not care how much filtration you have or how many waterchanges you do a week, you can not replicate natural water conditions in captivity.Co-habitation with other fish in a small system also impacts the fishes growth through psychological stress as well as competition for food and living space.
To help your fish reach its maximum growth rate and potential size try the following.
GENETICS
Theres not a lot you can do here but hope for the best.Unfortunatly with farming taking place theres no telling how good the gene pool is especially with the manipulating of the gene pool they are doing creating short bodies,albinos etc.if the parents are on the smaller side of bichir size odds are the young
will be smaller than the normal 10-12 inches and genetics can influence rate of growth as well.
Temperature
Fish depend on their enviroment to supply them with heat.To this end their metabolism is heat dependent the cooler the water the slower the metabolism
and the warmer the water the faster the metabolism.The faster the metabolism is the faster food is processed and made available for lets say growth
as well as digestion etc.etc.The natural tempurature ranges from mid 70'sF to mid 80'sF so keep the tempurature in low to mid 80's to increase the metabolism rate.
WATER CONDITIONS
Establish and maintain a waterchange schedule this means 10% minimum do do this to remove the nitrates but also the other compounds that are
not dealt with thru biological filtration such as urea,inorganic salts,organic compounds including,protiens,hormones,and metabolites
PHOTOPERIOD
Fish like most animals need fairly normal periods of light and dark 8 hours minimum to 12 hours maximum of light good use a timer if you
need to but keep the fairly constant.Note here you can adjust the photoperiod to mimic nature.
SEX
Female polypterids generally grow bigger than males
DIET
Nutrition-Quanity and quality which is one reason i suggest adding a good quality pellet to a varied diet this insures they get they needed vitamins.Several small meals thru the day are better than 1-2 big meals,smaller meals allows them to scavage thru the day as they would in the wild(see primer for food & nutritional information).
TANKMATES
Avoid species that are generalized as agressive.Generally fish named after prizefighters,satan and criminals should be avoided.Polypterids are usually
slow to eat and agressive fish can often outcompete them
GROWOUT TANKS
consider using a growout tank for very young(small) bichirs a ten gallon is good for this as it allows them to exercise
and makes finding food stuffs easier so they can use the energy for growth then move them to a bigger tank when they get about 7 inches
The real question about growth is since we are supposed to be providing them optimum conditions why they don't necessarily grow larger?
Growth in fish is determined by many factors both physiological and environmental.Factors such as genetics,sex,diet,water conditions,age, Maturity,Temp etc.All of this can impact total growth for a given year by an individual fish.Fish in captivity are on a very different water change and diet schedule that those in the wild.One they get 100% waterchanges daily and two they forage at will.They also have an open ability to select optimal habitat.
In captivity they do not receive the same conditions.We generally feed our fish in a manner best described as"stuff and starve".They receive a set amount of food and that's it.This does impact growth.Small bodies of water are also more likely to concentrate wastes much quicker.I do not care how much filtration you have or how many waterchanges you do a week, you can not replicate natural water conditions in captivity.Co-habitation with other fish in a small system also impacts the fishes growth through psychological stress as well as competition for food and living space.
To help your fish reach its maximum growth rate and potential size try the following.
GENETICS
Theres not a lot you can do here but hope for the best.Unfortunatly with farming taking place theres no telling how good the gene pool is especially with the manipulating of the gene pool they are doing creating short bodies,albinos etc.if the parents are on the smaller side of bichir size odds are the young
will be smaller than the normal 10-12 inches and genetics can influence rate of growth as well.
Temperature
Fish depend on their enviroment to supply them with heat.To this end their metabolism is heat dependent the cooler the water the slower the metabolism
and the warmer the water the faster the metabolism.The faster the metabolism is the faster food is processed and made available for lets say growth
as well as digestion etc.etc.The natural tempurature ranges from mid 70'sF to mid 80'sF so keep the tempurature in low to mid 80's to increase the metabolism rate.
WATER CONDITIONS
Establish and maintain a waterchange schedule this means 10% minimum do do this to remove the nitrates but also the other compounds that are
not dealt with thru biological filtration such as urea,inorganic salts,organic compounds including,protiens,hormones,and metabolites
PHOTOPERIOD
Fish like most animals need fairly normal periods of light and dark 8 hours minimum to 12 hours maximum of light good use a timer if you
need to but keep the fairly constant.Note here you can adjust the photoperiod to mimic nature.
SEX
Female polypterids generally grow bigger than males
DIET
Nutrition-Quanity and quality which is one reason i suggest adding a good quality pellet to a varied diet this insures they get they needed vitamins.Several small meals thru the day are better than 1-2 big meals,smaller meals allows them to scavage thru the day as they would in the wild(see primer for food & nutritional information).
TANKMATES
Avoid species that are generalized as agressive.Generally fish named after prizefighters,satan and criminals should be avoided.Polypterids are usually
slow to eat and agressive fish can often outcompete them
GROWOUT TANKS
consider using a growout tank for very young(small) bichirs a ten gallon is good for this as it allows them to exercise
and makes finding food stuffs easier so they can use the energy for growth then move them to a bigger tank when they get about 7 inches
The real question about growth is since we are supposed to be providing them optimum conditions why they don't necessarily grow larger?
I got both of my sens as 1 inch tiny ass babies at petsmart at the same exact time
1.5 years later, one is pushing 9 inches, the other is only about 6 or 7 and much thinner. The smaller one was actually the more aggressive eater when younger too lol.
1.5 years later, one is pushing 9 inches, the other is only about 6 or 7 and much thinner. The smaller one was actually the more aggressive eater when younger too lol.
I'm thinking the deal with the CB sens and growth is a genetics issue, as the wild one I had years ago was very large.
My guys are in a 55G growout so maybe a bit big...but they're very active and don't seem to have trouble finding food. The hoevenii barbs growing out in there should be nearly ready for my big tank so that will help re: bioload, but for now I'm doing 50% weekly wc; I could probably get away with less in terms of nitrate levels, but there's something about my water, if I'm going smaller wc or more time between the fish get sluggish for some reason.
I need to get them chunky like my old sen, so they can go with the big guys. Right now they're kind of skinny, to my big fish they'd look like fat tasty nightcrawlers.
My guys are in a 55G growout so maybe a bit big...but they're very active and don't seem to have trouble finding food. The hoevenii barbs growing out in there should be nearly ready for my big tank so that will help re: bioload, but for now I'm doing 50% weekly wc; I could probably get away with less in terms of nitrate levels, but there's something about my water, if I'm going smaller wc or more time between the fish get sluggish for some reason.
I need to get them chunky like my old sen, so they can go with the big guys. Right now they're kind of skinny, to my big fish they'd look like fat tasty nightcrawlers.