While I am relatively new (about 1-2 years) I have gone through a myriad of tank mates. I got my Ornate as a juvie at about 3-4 inches. He started with some tiger bards who he has since incorporated into his gut. He is now about 10 inches and getting fat, eating primarily Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets, Ghost Shrimp, and the occasional froz bloodworm/brine shrimp from the other fishes meal.
I still have in the tank 3 glass catfish that are maxed out in size and he ignores them. I have 2 bolivian rams with him as well that seem to be fine but have just become small enough to be eaten as he took out a pictus catfish at about 3.5 inches. I also have a large Leopard Ctenopoma that has been with the ornate since the beginning and they get along GREAT. They even swim around together, eat together, and even rest in the same holes and drift wood.
My recommendation is go with a fish that will grow with the Bichir and nore cause an issue when it grows large enough to do damage, I've heard horror stories about oscars.
some local fish keepers near me have kept peacock cichlids, severums, leaf fish, knifefish (may get huge), silverdollars, many kinds of loaches and eels. All successfully with different types of bichirs. BeBlondie made a reply post to me a while back with a species list of tank mates (most get monster) but just do some research on what you like. You can always toy with possibilities as long as you are wary and pay attention to aggresion and the size of the bichir's mouth!
good luck!
I still have in the tank 3 glass catfish that are maxed out in size and he ignores them. I have 2 bolivian rams with him as well that seem to be fine but have just become small enough to be eaten as he took out a pictus catfish at about 3.5 inches. I also have a large Leopard Ctenopoma that has been with the ornate since the beginning and they get along GREAT. They even swim around together, eat together, and even rest in the same holes and drift wood.
My recommendation is go with a fish that will grow with the Bichir and nore cause an issue when it grows large enough to do damage, I've heard horror stories about oscars.
some local fish keepers near me have kept peacock cichlids, severums, leaf fish, knifefish (may get huge), silverdollars, many kinds of loaches and eels. All successfully with different types of bichirs. BeBlondie made a reply post to me a while back with a species list of tank mates (most get monster) but just do some research on what you like. You can always toy with possibilities as long as you are wary and pay attention to aggresion and the size of the bichir's mouth!
good luck!
