Need Advice (polypterus/bichir/pictus cat question)

[Moloch]

Thanks for the advice everybody, and yeah 45 sounds right i did the volume calculations earlier and got something around there. I'd really like to get a couple chiclids i've just never had them and don't want to get the wrong ones hah. I really like green terrors, managuense, black convict, and bumbleee chiclids, pretty sure all but the bumblebee are south american chiclids, who knows maybe some day i know managuense get huge and convicts reproduce like crazy, and idea if green terrors or bumblebees would be compatible with the bichirs as long as i give the bichirs a slight head start on growing? also anything special i should know about chiclids that are more difficult than any other fish? thanks

I've got mine with a Jack Dempsey, the two sen's are 3 & 4", the jack is probably 2.5-3". They're doing fine in my 65, but the jack did like to fin-nip & chase the sen's when they were all in a 20. I bet at smaller sizes you'd be fine in the 45. I think the green terror is similar to the jack dempsey and I'm probably going to be adding one to my 65 soon (along with a pictus cat, assuming the wife likes the choices)

What you want to avoid with cichlids in a community is breeding pairs. I've heard of convicts killing full grown oscars etc etc when they start mating off and protecting their eggs/spawn. So you want to pay attention to the sex of your fish if you're looking for a peacful community of cichlids.

Beyond that...I think the African cichlids generally have higher maintenance requirements (depending on which ones you get, I assume) as far as water parameters and things like that.

Try to look for the more peaceful species if you're worried about it. Severums are supposed to be pretty nice, and I personally dig the look of them. There's plenty of options and, to me, they don't seem any harder to take care of than anything else.

 

[NCStateFisher]

hmm cool deal, maybe i'll go with a green terror & black convict that way they aren't paired up, i'm sure that your wife will approve the pictus cat choice, my girlfriend wants me to get some pretty bad haha, i was just reading a bit and it said the green terrors are a bit less aggressive than the jack dempseys, so who knows haha, whenever i get it all set up i'll be sure to add pictures

 

[Moloch]

Right on, I'd imagine that would work. Let us know how it goes. I'm hoping to add the green terror in the next week or so, so I'll tell you how that works out with the sen's & dempsey if I do.

 

[big_tank_boy]

if u plan on getting a 100 u could probly go with something like
1-Green terror
1-Sen Bichir(or2)
3-Pictus
and i think that would leave room for some larger schooling fish i really wouldnt put more than 1 cichlid in any less than a 4' long tank cichlids even when young are really aggresive to eachother... i like to keep fish that live in the same area in the wild but i know eveyones styles not like that.

 

[NCStateFisher]

hmm true.. well i have to go get the tank this weekend and then treat it and let it run for a few days anyway so i have plenty of time to decide

also, is it correct the bichirs will eat shrimp pellets when they are juveniles? that seems like it would be a very affordable easy way to get some size on them until they're big enough to eat feeder fish

 

[Moloch]

if u plan on getting a 100 u could probly go with something like
1-Green terror
1-Sen Bichir(or2)
3-Pictus
and i think that would leave room for some larger schooling fish i really wouldnt put more than 1 cichlid in any less than a 4' long tank cichlids even when young are really aggresive to eachother... i like to keep fish that live in the same area in the wild but i know eveyones styles not like that.

After this thread and another in the poly section I'm looking at something almost just like that for my 3' 65 gallon...
1x jack dempsey
1x green terror
2x senegal bichir
3x pictus cat

I'm hoping in the next year maybe 2 that I'll be able to get a 55long or a 75 and take the poly's out of the cichlid tank, but I'm not planning on it so I'm trying to stock as if they'll be in there for life (or at least for a few years)

 

[NCStateFisher]

i haven't been doing this long but how wide is ur 65 gallon? cuz pictus can get 8-10" each i think along with the bichirs at 1'+ a peice you're gonna have a really crowded bottom, i stretch the limits a bit sometimes too tho haha

 

[Moloch]

The sens shouldn't get much larger than 10-12" (more commonly 10" as I understand it). And the pictus cats I don't know, I've got a guy in another thread saying they're 4-6", petsmarts info card says 8", this thread says 8-10"

I'm definitely going to research them more before I make any real decisions. I was sort of trying to avoid any (or many) more bottom dwellers though...sort of looking to reserve all the space I can down there for the 2 poly's since they're already in a tank smaller than I'd like to keep them in. So we'll see.

FWIW though the tank (if I remember right) is 19x36 on the bottom. I'll probably change my mind 6 times again before I actually add whatever fish will be in the pictus spot...I'm thinking the GT will probably be in in the next week or two though. So we'll see.

 

[NCStateFisher]

there ya go 19" width nice and wide, hey who knows it may work out, i know it'd look cool haha - and the same thing for me on the pictus some say like 4-6 then others 8-10 its hard to make a decision with so much uncertainty, if you could pull off those combos of fish though it'd look great

 

[Racersk]

I just browsed your original post, and alot of the responses.

Juvenile bichirs, especially Seng's, will be just fine for 6-8 months in that 45 gallon(look up standard aquarium sizes on Google for further references... ). The one I have had the longest, about a year now, is just reaching 10.5". I got him at ~3" and thin, if your worried about sizes, stick with either a normal Senegal or Albino, neither should get bigger than 12".

I 'had' a Pictus cat, but it succumbed to ich, I bought it at PetSmart and I noticed strange behavior and then white dots. It passed when it was reintroduced after hospitalization, then I found the skull... From my research, 10" max in perfect growing scenarios, and they tend to do better in schools.

An African Featherfin might be a better choice as it is actually closer to the Bichirs natural fauna(located within the same geography), and I believe they stay withing the 6" mark...Something to think about.

Oh, tinfoil barbs are good, but they do tend to fin nip and are VERY active! You may want to wait until you get the 100 gallon up and running...