HELP!!! sick senegal bichir

[arabellanichole]

Today my bichir is being very active and his red lines have seem to gone away!! Thanks for the help everyone!! Quick question before I go..would it be in my best interest to get a male cichlid for my female so she has a distraction from my bichir (not that they fight but she can be territorial at times when she’s hungry) or would it be harmful to my bichir do you think?

 

[tlindsey]

View attachment 1402083Today my bichir is being very active and his red lines have seem to gone away!! Thanks for the help everyone!! Quick question before I go..would it be in my best interest to get a male cichlid for my female so she has a distraction from my bichir (not that they fight but she can be territorial at times when she’s hungry) or would it be harmful to my bichir do you think?

Tbh adding a female Cichlid may not work. If the Cichlids spawned and fry was present they may attack or even kill Senegal to protect the fry.

 

[arabellanichole]

I have a female now.. but that’s a good point we wanted to do male and female because we heard they’d be less aggressive do you think same sex cichlids would be okay or no?

 

[twentyleagues]

I have a female now.. but that’s a good point we wanted to do male and female because we heard they’d be less aggressive do you think same sex cichlids would be okay or no?

Same sex would be better then a pair. If you wanted to add a male you should probably add another female or 2 also. The males can be quite aggressive.
Have you tested your water parameters? Polys heal pretty quickly but it seems odd to me that moving him to the other tank had such a quick response.....unless there was aggression causing the red marks. Make sure you have a top and space at the water surface for him to get air as they are surface breathing.
Cute little sen!

 

[tlindsey]

I have a female now.. but that’s a good point we wanted to do male and female because we heard they’d be less aggressive do you think same sex cichlids would be okay or no?

I agree with twentyleagues .

 

[arabellanichole]

Thank you so much!! & yes we went to petco and got a water test kit and all of our water levels and everything read normal but we figured out our heater wasn’t working!! our indicator light was still flashing on but no heat coming out so i think that may have created it and our cichlid is showing signs of ich now.. so i think that’s why he improved so fast & thank you!! ahaha i love the little guy didn’t even have a hobby for fish until i saw him in the store!!