Help with bichir 100g tank

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Orajinz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 10, 2011
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pittsburg ks
So I'm new to this site and need some help, i currently have a 40g tank with 2 diano bichir 1 albino bichir 1 parrot cichlid and 2 kissing fish. Now i know what most are thinking that tank is way too small for them but this was just a temporary tank they are all still babies with my biggest fish, Brutus, being only 3.5 to 4 in. Im now getting ready to move them into their new home and need some advice.

First off is sand or gravel better for bichir fish i tried doing the research myself and found most just went by preference but some said sand was the way to go since its softer on their tummy's and wont cut them up.

Second i was thinking of keeping some of my fish in the 40g and adding new ones to the 100g when it was established, I'm mostly tempted by convict cichlids but have been told most cichlids are way too aggressive to keep with anything other than a cichlid. So I'm just wondering are cichlids really as bad as they say?

Last i was wondering if anyone had a good beef heart recipe for bichir. So far ive been feeding them flakes veggie tablets and blood worms. Every other week or so i go out and buy them ghost shrimp usually enough to last them a week or so they keep the tank clean and gives all my fish a nice little treat. But i want to work out the live fish cause i hear that may in the long run make them aggressive and i don't want that.

Well that's it if you can help with any of these questions i would really appreciate it, thanks in advance.
 
1. Sand or finely crushed gravel
2. Convict cichlid can be house with bichirs as long as they ain't bite-size
3. Forget beef heart, go sinking carnivore pellets.
 
Sand so it's easy on their stomachs, and also so they don't accidently digest a decent sized pebble and can't digest it. I had to introduce my 7 inch senegal bichir to my 5 inch convict cichlid, and when I first did it the convict went up to the bichir and looked it right in the eyes, and the bichir snapped a few times at it, and from then on there was no problems for the week or two they were thgether. This combo should be fine.
 
Sand is preferred but I use flourite for the plants in my tank.

Always be careful when introducing fish together. I thought a 12 inch Clown Knife would be fine with a 15 inch Endli and I ended up having to put the Knife in a hospital tank because the Endli didn't like his new tankmate... (they get along fine now though, Endli almost killed him though).
 
Cool thanks for the help now to be a bigger bother i have one more question. Earlier today my twins decided to give me a second to do some research and i read that pool filter sand is the way to go when buying sand for your fish tank cause i guess its smother and smaller grain than most of the stuff most lfs carry. Is this true?
 
We're bare bottom people unless, as in two of our tanks there's an undergravel filtration system. We used to have sand and our bichirs did really like it, but it always looked dirty...like needed to be vacumed daily in order to look clean. I'd go bare bottom if it's an option for you. It's cheaper, it's cleaner, and if you don't like the way your tank looks on the bottom, you can always spray paint the outside bottom tan or black or whatever.
 
The only bad thing about PFS is that they don't come in BLACK!
Expect your bichir's pattern to fade out. If possible, try find finely crushed black quartz sand
 
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