i have a senegal who wont grow it seems like

Stoneyturtle420

Exodon
MFK Member
May 7, 2020
73
59
26
28
Richmond Virginia
I got a senegal bichir from a buddy of mine who had it for about 2 months and I've had it for a month in a 55 gallon, but he was around maybe 2 inches when my buddy got him and he is still the same size, I got an albino at the same time as him and the albino is now around 4 to 5 inches, and got a teugelsi not that long ago whos in the 55 with him who has shown growth already. Is it normal for the grey senegal to grow this slow or not grow at all, eats just fine and is very active but super small, the 55 has a bunch of rosy red minnows and 6 goldfish 2 small 4 decent sized, 2 spotted raphael and a black ghost knife. Water is at a steady 80 degrees. Yes I know goldfish don't need tropical water Temps but they seem to prefer it compared to the colder water Temps. Levels are all good in the tank too
 

Magnus_Bane

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Jan 26, 2020
2,734
2,923
154
28
Canton SD
I got a senegal bichir from a buddy of mine who had it for about 2 months and I've had it for a month in a 55 gallon, but he was around maybe 2 inches when my buddy got him and he is still the same size, I got an albino at the same time as him and the albino is now around 4 to 5 inches, and got a teugelsi not that long ago whos in the 55 with him who has shown growth already. Is it normal for the grey senegal to grow this slow or not grow at all, eats just fine and is very active but super small, the 55 has a bunch of rosy red minnows and 6 goldfish 2 small 4 decent sized, 2 spotted raphael and a black ghost knife. Water is at a steady 80 degrees. Yes I know goldfish don't need tropical water Temps but they seem to prefer it compared to the colder water Temps. Levels are all good in the tank too
Bichirs tend to grow in spurts. Mine stayed at 2in for around 4 months and then suddenly he was 4in almost over night. By 10 months old he had already grown from 2in-10in. Just give him time and he'll grow. Got any pics of the lil guy btw?
 

Magnus_Bane

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Jan 26, 2020
2,734
2,923
154
28
Canton SD
he tends to chase the minnows but isn't quite there to eat them yet my teugelsi I got at the same size as him and is already a noticeable size difference
Well makes sense, the Teugelsi is going to grow larger then the Senegal anyways so it makes sense that it would grow faster. Teugelsi can grow upto 30in while a Senegal caps out at only 14in. Btw the bichir I had was an Ornatipinnis so only a 4in difference in max size compaired to a Senegal, Ornates get upto 18in.

But yeah just give your lil guy some time to grow, they seem to grow slow at first but once he hits 4in he'll start growing a bit faster.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey

twentyleagues

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2017
6,674
9,876
463
Flint town!
Most polys grow for the first 8 to 10 months then slow down with an occasional growth spurt after. The polys I keep and have keep have followed that observation for the most part. It seems like the typically put on around an inch a month with in the time period. Now whether that is an actual inch per month or no inches for 4 months then in one month 4" spurt it usually avarages out. There is usually a stall period followed by slower more steady growth. My teugs at 18 months were 18" neither grew the same, one seemed to just go at a steady pace right to 18" and the other grew in 3" spurts.

Sens being captive bred really has messed with their genetics as kno4te kno4te had mentioned. My little sen got to about 6" then stopped growing. He lived for about 3 years. He had also developed a tumor early on but it didn't seem to cause him any immediate issues. When he started having issues they hit fast and we euthanized him. A friend that is a vet did a necropsy and found that the tumor was tapped into most of his systems by that time. That may have been part of his growth issues too. Most captive sens you'll be lucky to see 10 or 12" out of.
 

Stoneyturtle420

Exodon
MFK Member
May 7, 2020
73
59
26
28
Richmond Virginia
Yeah I found out about the pet store feeders woke up to my whole 75 gallon covered in ich, everyone itching and 18 out of 40 dead stuck to filter intake looked at them and saw the white spots, all the ones in my 55 have been pre treated for any disease before i put them in there probably about 15 in the 55 gallon and I had no idea teugelsi got to around 30 inches i was told around 16 inches so thats good to know, glad I'm getting a 150 this weekend to set up for them
 
  • Like
Reactions: Magnus_Bane
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store