maximum size of cb endli, minimum tank size and compatability

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LickMyHead

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2011
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31
Austria
Hey guys,

I love polypterids (especially my cb endli), but my biggest tank is only a 125g one. At the moment, my cb endli is 8inch long and eats like a pig.
But i wonder how big he will get and if he will outgrow my tank. As he grows, his mouth gets bigger and bigger, and im afraid he could attack my other fish in the future.
Right now he is living with 3 ctenopoma acutirostre (5-6inch), 3 ropes (12-14inch), 2 palmas polli (8-10inch). In my smaller tank lives a 5 inch very thin retropinnis with 5 hujeta gars (4 inch). these guys should be transferred to the bigger tank if they are no longer prey for the others.
Is it possible to keep a fullgrown cb endli with hujeta gars of 8 inches? will the ropes and the retropinnis turn one day into spaghetti?
 
I used to have some fairly large polys (12'' or so) in my tank along with ropefish and I never saw any issues. I think mine were unusually tame though.
 
Should be fine in 125g for at least a few years.

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CB are hard to tell. Some get pretty big and some stay small. I think it be safe to plan for it to be 16" however CB's can get larger, but they can also stay smaller. Only time will tell
 
CB have the same potential as WC, i hear myth's that they stay smaller but just like WC's that come in very small how big they get depends completely on the diet and care given to the fish and not where it was born.

With that said it'll take a long time to outgrow a 125, As they get older they become quite inactive, if cared for properly it ill have a fairl steady growth up until 14-16" and then growth will slow. I keep some big 20"+ endlies with bichirs as small as 10", they have never shown any aggression or interest in eating in smaller bichirs but anything smaller then that i think would be at risk of being eaten.

I suspect rope fish would be ok with them as well especially if grown out together, Same with the ctenopoma acutirostre at least for several years. The Retro at that size is risky once bigger it should be fine, as for hujeta gars that one i would not do, they are the perfect shape to become feeders and silver fish always trigger a feeding frenzy with my bichirs. I wouldn't mix them at any sizes.

LickMyHead said:
Hey guys,

I love polypterids (especially my cb endli), but my biggest tank is only a 125g one. At the moment, my cb endli is 8inch long and eats like a pig.
But i wonder how big he will get and if he will outgrow my tank. As he grows, his mouth gets bigger and bigger, and im afraid he could attack my other fish in the future.
Right now he is living with 3 ctenopoma acutirostre (5-6inch), 3 ropes (12-14inch), 2 palmas polli (8-10inch). In my smaller tank lives a 5 inch very thin retropinnis with 5 hujeta gars (4 inch). these guys should be transferred to the bigger tank if they are no longer prey for the others.
Is it possible to keep a fullgrown cb endli with hujeta gars of 8 inches? will the ropes and the retropinnis turn one day into spaghetti?
Click to expand...
 
Like others have said 125 will be fine for quite a while. It helps bichirs aren't the most active fish either.

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Even on top of that, theres the possibility of a short bodied bichir. I have a 3 year old 6" senegal, and had a 8" endli that I owned for a year and half from 3".
 
Its a luck of the draw with CB, could be fine and reach WC size but also it could not. It could be fine in the 125 for life but i would put it in something at least 28 inches wide as a perm home. Just remember footprint is always better then height for these guys when it comes to housing.

the Hujeta gars would be fine i suspect if they are big enough, im talking width also not just length. They may become lunch if the endli gets really large. The retro will be fine if you can fatten him up, the ctens will eventually be lunch for the endli if left in there.
 
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