Growing out P. Polli

[moodydoody]

I have just received two ~6" Polli that are awesome and already gobbling up all the massivor and shrimp pellets I can feed them! They are just a little too small for me to feel comfortable placing them in the 125 with my other fish . I have a 8" long finned Oscar who's mouth is just big enough I am afraid he will try to eat one of them and then possibly choke himself. So I have two options,
1: Place them in my cycled 10 gallon as a growout tank
2: Place them in the planted section of the sump on my 125

As far as actual swimming room, the footprint of the 10 gallon barely edges out the planted sump area (200 square inches vs. 180 square inches). Water volume, the sump beats the 10 gallon by a longshot as it also has the water from the 125 and the two canisters which circulates through there. The sump is lighted so that is not an issue and due to Purigen/plants the nitrates in the 125 are less than the 10 on a normal basis (tap water comes out at 15 ppm nitrates so it is always a battle). Both receive weekly water changes and are around 80 degrees. They will be alone in either the 10 or the sump. One other thing worth mentioning is that the sump is a gravel substrate for the plants and the 10 is bare bottom.

The one upside that I can see to the 10 gallon is that it is easier to see them.

So, which do you think is a better growout for these little guys, the 10 gallon or the planted area of my sump?

They are currently in the 10 gal for a quarantine period so the switch would be after that time.

 

[moodydoody]

Oh, and one last question, is either of these tanks big enough for my skinny little polli to growout in? They don't have to grow out much, just enough to go into the 125 and not be oscar food. Although I am not sure if they can match the oscar in growth rate (he is starting to slow down but has been growing like a weed himself)

 

[GarNiac]

why not getting rid of the oscar, once you get your hand on bichirs, you'll be buying more soon.

 

[spwd]

Ha ha lol^^^

Hes right though.


Steve

 

[Illbuyourcatfish]

^agreed

 

[AmaroSwe]

lol i have 2 agree aswell, i just ordered 9 more bichirs, i have a total of 15 bichirs now over a period of 3 months

 

[phillydog1958]

why not getting rid of the oscar, once you get your hand on bichirs, you'll be buying more soon.

^ I sort of agree. I'd dump an Oscar for a Bichir in a minute. My first Bichir was a Senegal. Now, I have 3 Senegals and 2 Dels. At he time of purchasing my first Bichir, I had 2 Oscars. I now have zero Oscars.

 

[moodydoody]

hahaha, well, unfortunately the oscar has to stay, he is the reason we upgraded to the 125 and is my wife's favorite fish. Once everyone is full grown it should be fine, the bichirs are just a little smaller than I thought they would be when I imagined 6" in my brain hehe.

 

[Loves severums]

6" is too big for a 10 gallon.

 

[Cholly]

I have to agree, 6" is too big for a 10, won't see much growing there without daily water changes. Is the sump covered? Because they're liable to feel cramped and more likely to "go walkabout". Water quality is much more likely to be good, but there's still the cramping aspect to think about. This is why I've kept my 29, it's pretty good for a grow out even though I don't keep smaller fish any more. Check Craigslist, you can probably catch a 29 for less than you paid for the fish. You may get lucky and find something in the free section, two 55's just went that way up here recently, I missed one but was quick enough for the other. Lady was moving to an apartment that didn't allow anything over 20 gallons, poor woman.