How many polys in a 75 gallon?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Termato said:
The reason she suggested that is because with 2 bichirs in the tank it is going to be really stocked for a 75. Once you add 2 -3 ropes and you can't have eels unless you wanna run extra filtration. At that point why not just get a bigger tank.

You should always build your set up around the fish, not the other way around.

IMO you should stick with 1 bichir, 3 ropes and call it a day on the bottom.
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That's pretty funny bro. Why do you think 2 bichirs in a 75 gall is overstocked? Am I missing something? Is it possible you are thinking of lower jaw species & not upper jaws?
 
framcosco said:
That's pretty funny bro. Why do you think 2 bichirs in a 75 gall is overstocked? Am I missing something? Is it possible you are thinking of lower jaw species & not upper jaws?
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I would say it would take about 5 Senegal Bichirs to stock a 75.

If you had 2 Ornate Bichirs in a 75 that would stock it.

All depends on the breed man.
 
Sanguinefox said:
I wasn't referring to the ropes. Bichirs in general are not social (again that doesn't mean they can't be but in general many of them are solitary hunters) but they can be conditioned to be willing to put up with and interact with others of their own species. Yes Ropes are social by nature but they are also not technically bichirs(not that it matters). The are related to the family. I'm mixed on the idea of putting a potentially 3 foot long fish(I'm getting mixed lengths when looking them up) in a tank that is only four foot long and roughly a bit over a foot wide. It can't move but a foot in any direction without hitting a wall when full grown. That bugs me. As much as you like the Ropes you have to think long term. Is it right to put a fish that long in a tank like that?

If the animal isn't very active I can see how it wouldn't matter but I do believe these are active fish(looking that up right now). So...in my own opinion I would caution against putting them in your tank. That said I am with you in that I love bottom dwellers too. I have bichirs, and loaches, and even a single really pretty cichlid. I'm very conscious of the fact that they all have different needs and some of them have territorial issues. This is why even though I have a 75 gallon I'm actually in process of re setting up a 50 gal that I have so that I can take all my non bichir bottom dwellers out and give the left over fish as much room to grow and be happy in. I am not for the idea of pushing the limits of just how many fish you can stock because the mentality down the road leads to a lot of dead or stressed out fish. Even if they don't die of illness or disease they may not ever reach their full potential color and size wise when they are under stress.

If you stick with bichirs that are under or don't get much bigger than a foot, go with 3 bichirs and maybe two eels. But pay close attention to how you scape the tank so they all have hide areas. Planting is a big key here. I know some sites and people caution against plants in a tank with these animals. My experience is that adult bichirs like healthy big plants. They like to hide amongst the root and shoot systems, and will use it to suspend themselves while chilling out in different areas of the water column. Plants alone also help create places to hide. With videos I see on youtube, often times bichirs of the smaller variety tend to seem really happy (they show healthy behavior) in well planted tanks.

EDIT: could you give me the specific scientific name for the "Ropefish" you seek to get? The common name sometimes gets used for multiple fish and I'd like to zero in on exactly what you are looking to get.
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What are you talking about? You joshing me? Bichirs in groups get along great for the most part. Sure you'll get an agressive one here and there. Didn't know bichirs could be conditioned. 3 foot long fish? watcha talkin about willis? What fish gets 3 feet long? A standard 75 gal is wider than 12 inch btw.

You are looking what up right now? googling your info I see? hmmmm, not the best place to find anwers.. but oh well.....man I can go on and on.....

You are asking for the specific scientific name of ropefish the OP seeks? There is only one. Erpetoichthys calabaricus. Hope you can zero in on exactly what the OP is looking to get! Geesh.
 
Termato said:
and 4 Palmas polli (marbled bichirs) would stock it.

You sure know how to welcome people to this forum with your wonderful attitude and knowledge of fish keeping.
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Don't get me wrong brother. I love you. No joke. Welcome to MFK. I mean this. It's just that you and the other new poster is simply giving bad info. You are giving info based on what you are reading online. A lot of the stuff online is inaccurate. This is the best place to get fish knowledge in general -- with that said, I will no longer post on this thread. I will let others chime in. Believe me there are some here with some serious bichir experience & know what they are talking about. Learn from them. Listen to them. Take care brother.
 
framcosco said:
What are you talking about? You joshing me? Bichirs in groups get along great for the most part. Sure you'll get an agressive one here and there. Didn't know bichirs could be conditioned. 3 foot long fish? watcha talkin about willis? What fish gets 3 feet long? A standard 75 gal is wider than 12 inch btw.

You are looking what up right now? googling your info I see? hmmmm, not the best place to find anwers.. but oh well.....man I can go on and on.....

You are asking for the specific scientific name of ropefish the OP seeks? There is only one. Erpetoichthys calabaricus. Hope you can zero in on exactly what the OP is looking to get! Geesh.
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Or so people think when they are too busy paying attention to "OH LOOK HOW MANY FISH I HAVE" and don't pay attention to the animal's behavior. Now that said, when you want to research an animal you can bounce around different websites including fish sites(to talk to owners), and informational sites dealing with actual biology. It doesn't hurt to look up actual biology dealing with the animals in their natural habitat. I do agree that the internet is not always the best place to find answers but other fish keepers are also not always the best either (just skimming through some of the threads here and it seems lots of people have problems with berserk animals or badly behaved ones and I don't wonder why). Many pet stores also fail in this respect. So you do what you can which is pull as many resources together to get the best general idea. Then with that knowledge you can make more informed decisions.

Yes I am asking the OP what is the scientific name. I am curious as to what background stuff is floating out there and I don't like basing research on common names which can often be misused online and on the web. I've seen Senegals labeled "Rope-fish". I talked the manager of that store to get that fixed because they genuinely didn't know that they were two separate fish.
 
My understanding was that people overstock their poly tanks in order to reduce aggression. It was also my understanding, from reading this forum, that it is standard practice to keep bichirs in a big dog-pile, and that photos of these tanks usually are met with compliments and approval, and the fish all look healthy and content (as far as I could tell). I think if you perused the photo threads in the polypterid forum, you would see that you probably have a bit more wiggle room than some of the comments here would suggest.
 
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