I recently acquired a 4" delhezi and I have about a 7-9" ornate bichir already. They are in separate tanks currently, but I want to put them in the same tank. Will the ornate eat the delhezi? What are the chances of them getting along?
Inter-Species Aggression
- Thread starter uncwnells
- Start date
I personally think the size difference is pushing it even though it is a spacious tank. I would hate for you to lose a nice delhezi to predation.
The delhezi will definitely fit in the ornates mouth, but Im still new to polys and am by no means an expert
I'd grow out the Delhezi another inch, but I know there are members who have done it and it was fine.
Yeah, I think I am going to let the delhezi grow an inch or so, and fatten up a little bit before I integrate them.
Hello,
for me ornates are the most aggressive bichirs i know.
There are several reasons to see the situation i do:
My first ornate killed dozens of cichlids (Dempseys and all other in every size) ...
A ornate kept by a keeper i know killed a same-sized catfish (Herpetopneustes fossilis) ...
My actual ornate is aggressive to nearly every other bichirs (except the females). Here it would be comment fights - no injuries at all.
These aggressions are not a reason to be in trouble for me. There is no damage at all when taking care of my bichirs. All other fish are possible meals ... but i'm a bichir specialist and have to accept these unorthodox situations. And my bichirs are all healthy since several years! That's what i want ...
Greetings
Uwe
for me ornates are the most aggressive bichirs i know.
There are several reasons to see the situation i do:
My first ornate killed dozens of cichlids (Dempseys and all other in every size) ...
A ornate kept by a keeper i know killed a same-sized catfish (Herpetopneustes fossilis) ...
My actual ornate is aggressive to nearly every other bichirs (except the females). Here it would be comment fights - no injuries at all.
These aggressions are not a reason to be in trouble for me. There is no damage at all when taking care of my bichirs. All other fish are possible meals ... but i'm a bichir specialist and have to accept these unorthodox situations. And my bichirs are all healthy since several years! That's what i want ...
Greetings
Uwe
uncwnells;3496587; said:
Mixing sizes with polys is like having unprotected sex, except if you screw up with bichirs, it won't ruin the rest of your life. The point is you're throwing dice every time.
If you do mix them, there are some smart things you can do like pull out (and put the smaller bichir in a grow-out tank), but remember you're still gambling. be smart and make sure you feed the ornate A LOT so that it's the fattest you've ever seen it. If you feed it feeders, forget mixing sizes, you're just begging for trouble.
But if your ornate is on prepared foods (frozen, pellets, etc...) and you don't really have a grow-out so mixing is a only option, then you might want to try it.
The next thing you can do is OBSERVE. Fill a small cooler with ice and put a six pack in there (soda?
). Get ready to post up in front of the tank and watch how the larger polypterid behaves around the smaller one.Naturally they smell each other because they are a lot like dogs (strong sense of smell), but if they open their mouths a bit, the same way they do when reacting to a new type of food, that's a big red flag. Take out the small bichirs and grow it out more.
One last thing, use their natural instincts to your (and their) benefit. Add lots of floating plants into the tank for the smaller bichir to hide. Feed floating pellets so that it never really has to leave the plants cover, and trust me it will grow out in those plants until it feels safe to wander below.