How do bichers rate in size
- Thread starter wild bill
- Start date
I am fairly new to serious fish keeping and even more so to poly's so how long have they been in the aquarium trade? Could we not start to get some estimate of age from some of the oldest ones being kept. Then as these fish continue to age start to set up estimates of potential or average lifespans. It was mentioned a lot of poly's do not die of natural causes what is the number cause of poly death.
Some like the senegal and ornate have been around for a long time, but some polys like the moke and teugelsi were only discovered about 10 years ago. Something else to think about is often time polys have multiple owners and their age or when they were bought most likely will get lost somewhere down the line.
Good point. When they bring in WC"s just how big are they as that would also add to the problem of aging.
I am guessing in the wild they would grow a lot faster much our captive fish the larger the aquarium the faster they grow.
I am guessing in the wild they would grow a lot faster much our captive fish the larger the aquarium the faster they grow.
I think the size would vary just as it does today. You sometimes have larger 20"+ polys being brought in and then you have some very small 2-4" polys. I'm not sure they would grow that much faster if they did grow faster because of when they are in captivity they have a readily available food source where as in the wild they would have to hunt to find their food and could possibly goo weeks with out finding food. They would also be moving around looking for the food and burning energy and loosing girth that could've been used for growth.
They'll never go weeks without food in the wild. Stomach contents show them to eat a lot of aquatic invertebrates. They'll be able to find some of them to eat every day. Add in small fish and carion and you have a very well fed fish. The main advantage captive fish have is the lack of parasites.
Ok yeah they may not go weeks, but I was saying that they will probably not have the abundance of food in the wild as they will in captivity. Even if they did have a lot of food an crustaceans it would take more effort to consume them than it would to be to eat pellets or something that doesn't move in captivity.
Bichirs actually have abundance of food in the wild than in captivity. In captivity we only feed them what we think is enough for them and sometimes not feed them when the water in our tank gets foul or they no longer eats the foods, so they eat the next feeding time. In the wild, bichirs can scavenge on dead animals, eat aquatics invertebrates and live fish on daily basis. Many fish in the wild especially bichirs will actually continue to search for food as they need to grow fast. Wild bichirs that don't eat for weeks means death. It won't have the energy to catch prey or avoid predators as it will be too weak. Also parasite on or inside the body also will kill a weakened bichirs. It's also one of the reason why bichirs in the wild needs to eat more. As not only it feed itself but as well the parasites in the bichir's body. In captivity we can starve out bichirs for weeks but still lives as they don't have parasites. Wild bichirs actually grows a lot more faster than in captivity. In captivity most of the food we give them are mainly frozen foods as it's cheaper than pellets. Frozen foods have a high thiamese content which stunt fish growth. Wild bichirs dont have to deal with high amount of thiamese as the food they eat are not frozen. Wild bichirs growth rate will also depend on the season. Some wild bichir will grow fast and some will grow slow. Those that grows fast can become powerful swimmers to avoid predators and can also able to eat larger prey item. Also they need to grow fast, especially in the first year so they can breed. Wild bichirs actually grows 2-3x faster in the first year than bichirs in captivity in the first year. Wild bichirs will actually grow even more during the flooding season as they migrate in flooded areas to spawn. This been observe by many fishermen who catch bichirs, especially in Nigeria. In order to catch larger bichirs species they catch them during rainy season. While the more common smaller 8-12" size are being caught any time of the year as bichirs that size mainly live in shallow water. Smaller than 8" are being caught just a few months after spawning. It's hard to catch larger specimen during none rainy season as many lives in deeper water. Only time they see larger specimen is when they go up for air as they will sometimes sky rocket out of the water for 2-3 feet. Another defense to avoid predators. We don't see this in our tank as they don't have to worry about predators. They also sometimes get spotted close to the water surface just staying still during the day time.
Ok yeah I see what your saying. I just would have thought that there would have been more food available in captivity than in the wild or maybe not more but that the polys would have easier access to food in captivity than in the wild, but I guess I was thinking wrong thanks for the clarification.
From the sounds of it then bicher breeding may be triggered more by size than age. Our bicher do get plenty of food at least three times a day. It has been said to feed tilapia fillets but I assume they would be frozen which means we would be stunting their growth.
I think will keep using cull fish as a supplement to their pellets. Would wild frogs and the like be a good food or up your chances of a parasite problem?
I think will keep using cull fish as a supplement to their pellets. Would wild frogs and the like be a good food or up your chances of a parasite problem?
