My tank- need advice on bichir growth!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I used a 20 long to grow out my bichirs

x2 ornate bichirs
x1 senegal
x1 delhezi

the senegal grew more than 1" per month. I fed them twice a day with sinking pellets and they got feeders once a week. the senegal was my fastest grower. they are the most active and also first to find the food. I got my senegal at 2" in july, now hes about 8" and very thick. he should be longer but he is a semi short body so his tail ends right after his back fin.

as for the growth rate of the other bichirs, 2 ornates are not 7" + 9"-10" they grew a lot faster once the senegal was removed.
The delhezi has only grown like an inch an a half, he eats lots though hes just really slow at growing for some reason (they are all in a 225g tank)


PS, Peltand in Shawnessy have really clean minnow feeders, they are in a 75g and overfiltered. I have never had a problem with their feeders. for the love of god avoid golfish from petsmart
 
Well he mostly eats cichlid pellets with blood worms and mysis shrimp mixed in. Feeders he's only ever had three times, so it's not a staple but more of a once in a while kind of thing.

The only feeders I get are guppies from Riverfront or Minnows from Pisces. I prefer the guppies as they are often in a lot better shape than the minnows.
 
Ponera said:
Well he mostly eats cichlid pellets with blood worms and mysis shrimp mixed in. Feeders he's only ever had three times, so it's not a staple but more of a once in a while kind of thing.

The only feeders I get are guppies from Riverfront or Minnows from Pisces. I prefer the guppies as they are often in a lot better shape than the minnows.
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Youre very lucky you have acess to the NE. all the best fish stores are up there. I have to make do with the crappy chain stores in the SW. Riverfront and Pisces have exceptionally clean facilities I guess you can't do much better for feeders! My bichirs btw also learnt to eat hikari gold from the surface. but now they are in the big tank my Giant Gourami eats anything that touches the surface with lights on
 
Hah yeah. Mine is still scared of me, I hope that changes as he gets bigger! In your experience, is that the case? Mine is super active but when I gawk at him he hides.
 
Mine is really active now, hes always patrolling, cause he has a lot of space in my tank (5x3 footprint) he kind of does laps and then goes an rests in some fake floating plants. as soon as they realise you are the giver of food they will flock to you. my datnoid was the same used to hide from me at all times once he realised I gave him the shrimp he follows me around now... little bastard still won't eat pellets though
 
Is it standard for them to be active into adulthood? I was under the impression that they mellowed out a bit; all the adults I've seen (of all species, senegals included) tend to just lay around in wait, though all the infants are always going nuts swimming around. Mine has mellowed a bit and spends more time on the bottom than just swimming around randomly, I wonder if this could be an indicator of an impending growth spurt or something.
 
well I had a foot long senegal when I lived back in Europe and he was around 2 years old and fully grown, he was ALWAYS cruising around the tank. extremely active fish. some senegals can be lazy but I think the larger the tank the more active they are.

My senegal will swim around most of the day, he will take little 30 minute breaks where he will go up into a fake floating plant and just relax but hes always out and about day and night
 
I noticed he really liked the floating plants, but unfortunately they died. Cichlids nipping at them and such. Curious, all the adults I've seen (even in HUGE tanks) just sit around. :/ looks like I will need a bigger tank! I was thinking maybe he would just mature and sit around like a blob, being okay with limited space, but I guess not.

It's okay, I have a 10+ inch Black Shark (Labeo sp.) that was randomly dumped in my dad's pond tank and has doubled in size in 6 months (at 20c/70F, Insane....) and the up and coming Guianacara sp which will probably double in size.

I am starting to see how you people end up with 6 100 gallon tanks in your house, HAH!

I get the feeling like you are from Calgary, Rafini, perhaps I could come visit your bichirs and get a better idea of what I have coming? I did a lot of research, got a bichir for free (smallest species!) but I want this fellow to be happy and maybe have some bichir friends, or some other cool fish. At the very least some videos of their standard behaviours (patrolling, resting, etc) and knowledge on how common it is can help me give this little infant the best home ever!
 
So back when this was an unheated paddletail newt tank, I used to feed bits of chicken and fish to the newts that was leftover from meals (of course if it was heavily spiced or something, I wouldn't.) I tried this again today, my bichir went bonkers for some salmon. The Mbuna as well went crazy. Is it okay to do this occasionally with fish? I've seen raw fish being fed, but I mean like cooked stuff. If it is okay, I'll probably give them shrimp every now and then too (the kind we eat)
 
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