i think my endli is sick =[

[Phongstuh]

hes been chillin i see him swim up time to time but stays in the corner of the tank....
recently all i ever see him do is lay there motionless... could it be something wrong?
eats all the guppies i buy for him to eat but i might change his diet, cause i heard its better to feed worms?
ive came across him later tonight with his head stuck uunder gravel is this dangerous to the fish? could gravel hurt it or scratch it in anyway?
sorry im new to the fish scene i dont know much but all help is appreciated

 

[ILikeBichirs]

Perfectly normal. Endlis are pretty lazydont don't worry if he just hangs out, and my endli loves to kinda stick his head into the sand. But yeah you should cut the feeder and with over to tilapia fillets, smelt or even shrimp

 

[mistahoo]

hes been chillin i see him swim up time to time but stays in the corner of the tank....
recently all i ever see him do is lay there motionless... could it be something wrong?
eats all the guppies i buy for him to eat but i might change his diet, cause i heard its better to feed worms?
ive came across him later tonight with his head stuck uunder gravel is this dangerous to the fish? could gravel hurt it or scratch it in anyway?
sorry im new to the fish scene i dont know much but all help is appreciated
View attachment 832544

I've had a few endli and what I notice from all of them, they just lay there. It's normal. They just chill until feeding time. Guppies are fine but it's better if you gut load them. Digging and hiding its head is also normal. They'll do that from time to time. It's natural to them as a means to sneak up on prey in the wild. The gravel could hurt it if you have a thick layer, but if not, it'll be fine. It's best to use sand or bare bottom.

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[mistahoo]

I feed mine tilapia, market prawn, and Hikari massivore. She bulked up really well and is pushing about 14". I love her but my favorite are the bichir bichir and polypterus delhezi

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[Phongstuh]

so how do i train him to eat pellets? cause i rent out a room and have a mini fridge with no freezer.
whats best to get for him? should i buy ghost shrimp or other live foods and let them in the tank for him to eat as he pleases or feed it normally with pellets?

and i really need yo get rid of the 3 goldfish in the tank -_- my gf thought it was a good idea to buy them and throw them in the tank without telling me so now im stuck with 3 fish who eat everything i put in the tank so Zeus cant even eat pellets if he wanted to....

 

[mistahoo]

Live foods will get very costly once it gets large. I find it cheaper just to go with pellets and frozen foods. Any type of sinking pellets will do. It's mainly your preference. Some people will tell you massivore is the best, others will say nls is, etc. Whatever pellet you want to buy is up to you. Sinking pellets are easier to work with since bichirs are bottom dwellers, but you could train it to eat floating pellets (that'd be pretty cool to watch).

I usually toss in a pellet to see if it'll eat it. If not, remove the pellet and discard. Repeat until it will eat it. Basically starving it until it will accept the pellets. It's worked for me on several fish that'll only eat live.

Warning you now, it's not a foolproof technique!! Your fish might resist until it dies from starvation.

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[Phongstuh]

greatt... this is gonna take some patience, i needa to find a bowl to throw these goldfish in so they can stop eating all the pellets i drop in, but anways do you think he will be okay with another bichir? i plan on getting him a friend lol possibly a ansorgii when i get better at taking care of these types of fish what do you prefer? and one quick question a sponge filter.. what are the benefits of it over a regular filter like my TopFin 20? and is it easier to maintain than the traditional filter? and will it work well with sand? thanksss

 

[mistahoo]

You could feed the goldfish some pellets and then freeze them after 15 min. Then use them to feed to your bichir

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[mistahoo]

I've never had an ansorgii mainly because here in Houston, bichirs don't seem to popular other than Senegal species. I've owned an ornate, endli, delhezi, and Senegal. Of them all, I really love the delhezi! Very active and swims all over the place. Unfortunately mine ended up dried out on the floor while I was asleep. Senegals are also quite active.

Bichirs can be great escape artists! They'll swim up to the surface to gulp air and some swim a little to fast.

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[mistahoo]

Your bichir might take to pellets like nothing. I've had small ones that went straight for the pellets.

As for the filter, it depends on what size sponge filter. They're beast though! I'm not quite sure of their performance with sand substrate since the filter would be sitting right on the sand or close to it.

What size tank are you using?

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