Need Info

[Freshwater Tim]

I am looking at getting 2 P.ornatipinnis tomorrow. I have been reading about them for the past cpl days but there are a cpl things I need clarified.
Will these two 7-8" Bichirs kill off my 7" BGK or the 2 clown loaches I have?
Do I need to leave a 3" gap between the water surface and the glass top?
Do Bichirs onl breathe atmospheric air or will they breathe the air generated in the water by my air pumps?
When I fill the tank up to the top of the trim on the outside of the tank there is still approx 1/2" airspace between the surface of the water and the glass top.

Any other things that you may think I need to know(that I wouldn't find on the net or this site ) would be appreciated.

Thanks
Tim

 

[King-eL]

Please read the stickies you'll learn a lot from there. Most of the info that you need are already there.

As for the BGK knife it will depend on how hungry your bichirs is. Also the ornate will outgrow that BGK and possibly eat it in the future. I'm not sure how big your clow loaches are but make sure that they better be at 8"+ as the ornate will outgrow them as well and eat them if they are smaller than 6"-8".

 

[Darth Scohin]

Yes you DO need to have 3" or more space between the top of the tank and the water level. Bichirs only can survive off of diffused O2 when they still have their external gills, and at that size they will need warm atmospheric air to keep them alive in the long term. A few questions:

How big is the tank? you'll need a floor space of at least 26"X48" anything smaller may be too little room for a permanent residence. Also, Bichirs are dirty so you'll need a filter appropriate for their Biomass

How big are the clowns? they should be at least 4"+ right now and 6"+ or else when the Ornates get bigger they may find a snack.

Hope that helps.

 

[Freshwater Tim]

Yes you DO need to have 3" or more space between the top of the tank and the water level. Bichirs only can survive off of diffused O2 when they still have their external gills, and at that size they will need warm atmospheric air to keep them alive in the long term. A few questions:

How big is the tank? you'll need a floor space of at least 26"X48" anything smaller may be too little room for a permanent residence. Also, Bichirs are dirty so you'll need a filter appropriate for their Biomass

How big are the clowns? they should be at least 4"+ right now and 6"+ or else when the Ornates get bigger they may find a snack.

Hope that helps.

My tank footprint is 72 x 24 with 2 Rena XP3 filters. I am in the process of trading in some of the fish I have... the clowns may be added to the list as the largest one is only 2"....I do want to keep the BGK tho. Both the Bichir and the BGK have bad eyesight, but in the long run, I think that the Bichir, with his strong sense of smell, would win over the BGK .