Lonely fish?

[BichirMohawk]

I don't think your fish is lonely exactly, Ctenopoma are solitary in nature, and several sources describe them as territorial. It does however seem that many people who keep them together find success. Most territorial fish also don't become territorial until adulthood. If you plan to keep two or more together, I suggest making sure the tank is adequately furnished, with many hides and sight barriers, preferably with a good portion of plants.

A general rule for shy predatory fish, is that they become more active directly depending on the amount of safe places to skitter off to, so if your Bichirs are hiding a lot then this will help with that as well.

Thanks for the input, I will look into making more hiding places. This is just my opinion, but I consider the fact that the ctenopoma is not "exploring/hunting in the wild" in a 55 gallon, rather it knows it is in a limited amount of space with food that comes everyday which it associates with me opening the lid. I don't feed live food, thus, it loses it's instinct of hunting or searching for food. If that makes any sense, I think since they don't feel the need to explore/hunt or find new hiding spots, they would probably enjoy the company/interaction with another fish since they don't worry about their main function job of hunting and finding hiding spots which keeps them busy. Does that make any sense anyone? The 2 bichirs sleep together side by side in the same hiding spot.

 

[magpie]

You should feed ghost shrimp now and then. It's fun to watch them hunt and it adds some mental stimulation for them.

 

[Jafar P Arab]

The cteno was 2 inches when bought, kept for 3 monthes so far, now around 3 inches. It's just the cteno and 2 bichirs.

Thanks for the input guys, I will try for another one.

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[Jafar P Arab]

The cteno was 2 inches when bought, kept for 3 monthes so far, now around 3 inches. It's just the cteno and 2 bichirs.

Thanks for the input guys, I will try for another one.

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[litigator666]

I have 4 bushfish on my tank and I don't see aggression with each other. They are approx 4+yrs old and 5 inches.

A guy here generously sold me his bushfish. Also realized I have 5 (not 4 as above) specimen on the tank while acclimatizing the new guy. That's how lazy I'am on checking what I have.

All in I have now 6 bushfish specimen.


I believed the more you have in the tank, the lesser the aggression.