Ideal conditions/set up for Bichirs?

[guanl23]

My god it's huge what size is your tank and it looks awesome by the way.

hey thanks its only around 75 gallons lol!

Why is sand so important for them ? Its not like they will borrow in it or play with the sand.

sand helps them find the food easier too.
here one of my endlies

 

[PaiLum92]

Haha, thats an awesome pic of your endli. I've ever one seen my Del bury the tip of his nose once, never saw him do it again though.

Hell, I may just buy you guys a plane ticket so yall can come set my tank up, mine looks like a dollar store fisher price toddler toy wind up fish tank compared to you guys'.

 

[fwlionfish]

They eat off the bottom, and because they are pretty much blind (at least my Del was), they grab what they can. If you have gravel they may grab a bite of some by accident, then you have a problem on your hands (imagine a piece of gravel traveling through their tiny little system, and imagine what comes next)… i.e. it can lead to major complications with digestion, and your end result could be a dead Poly. Besides that, they spend most of their time on the bottom, and sand is easier on them. And yes, they do like to bury themselves and burrow and such; it’s one of their hunting techniques…

^ exactly


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[Ramsey666]

well I read somewhere else that bichirs do just fine even if its bare bottom or with substrates tanks. besides, bare bottom tanks are much easier to maintain.

 

[fwlionfish]

Barebottom tankes are ok but I thought on this thread you are trying to find a more natural look. Correct me if im wrong. And sand especially PFS is just as easy as Barebottom to clean all the junk sits on top of it.


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[PaiLum92]

well I read somewhere else that bichirs do just fine even if its bare bottom or with substrates tanks. besides, bare bottom tanks are much easier to maintain.

I think barebottom tanks are ok for the bigger fish, like 25"+, imo. My problem with them though is if the fish craps or has any uneaten food it just floats around and looks junky, no sand or anything to settle on. Just my opinion though.

Also, not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but I even has a juvenile Jaguar Cichlid swallow a piece of gravel once, so any fish is susceptible to it really. It’s just a way to ensure your fish are a little more safe, along with making the tank look more natural.

Barebottom tankes are ok but I thought on this thread you are trying to find a more natural look. Correct me if im wrong. And sand especially PFS is just as easy as Barebottom to clean all the junk sits on top of it.

Yea, not sure who this guy is coming along arguing for gravel in a bichir tank. I love the look of sand, looks way more natural, and gravel to me looks so cheap an ugly, almost like they don’t care. When I first started out, I used gravel, and hated it. But that was before I found MFK and the wonders of sand. Oh well, when his Poly swallows a piece of gravel, he’ll wonder what went wrong.

 

[Pshmock]

I agree with the other posts, Sand substrate with some driftwood and heavily planted is ideal. Also I have observed from my own tank that the more polys you have together the more active they are. I also like to keep my sens with some ropefish since they go so well together. I don't really recommend bare bottom just because it doesn't look too nice.

 

[PaiLum92]

Ive decided to order some Manzanita Wood from Manzman, and to find, or try to find, some realistic looking fake plants, as I said, I have horrible luck with live ones.

Im just going to center a large piece of wood in the middle with some plants around it, then through some little pieces around the tank.. I wanted to order one of those realistic backgrounds, but I can't afford $250 right now lol.

I'll post pictures when its all set up, yall can tell me if everything looks good/anything should be different..

 

[Gar88]

looking fwd for the pics buddy... here is a pic of mine.... from rotten luck to this.... been 2mnths ive set this up now....

 

[y26tan18]

They eat off the bottom, and because they are pretty much blind (at least my Del was), they grab what they can. If you have gravel they may grab a bite of some by accident, then you have a problem on your hands (imagine a piece of gravel traveling through their tiny little system, and imagine what comes next)… i.e. it can lead to major complications with digestion, and your end result could be a dead Poly. Besides that, they spend most of their time on the bottom, and sand is easier on them. And yes, they do like to bury themselves and burrow and such; it’s one of their hunting techniques…

They may swallow substrate as they eat from the bottom. Gravel can block their digestive track. And they actually do borrow their heads into the sand.

I see. I know the problem with gravel. Just think that a bare bottom tank is much easier to maintain. Also when I had sand in my tank, I've never seen them playing in it...Guess now I know mine are emos.