New 125 gallon Bichir question

[Nyrkorey]

So I currently have a 125 gallon ready too.. Ive never kept bichir before and I think it's the route I want too go. I love thier look. I have a couple questions pertaining to them..

I know there are alot of different types, I also do enjoy large fish. What species do you guys suggest and how many would a 125 do well with?
I know they are bottom dwellers so what would be a good combo to keep with them? Again im going for a little bigger looking fish. I have a 150 with my geophagus sveni that are beautiful but going for that more aggressive look on this one.

As for substrate, do they need sand or anything, I've seen people keep these guys with almost tile like bottom, I assume for the ease of cleaning. Any help on this would be amazing thanks as usual fellas

 

[Somesed]

My fav. are my Teugelsi. They get rather long, but not too long, and they are less bulky than ornates, for instance, so would be better suited for a 125. Also, my teugesli are my most active, so that's always nice. they are hard to find though, and usually they come pretty small. luckily they grow pretty fast. Tankmates are the tricky part. basically, you need fish that won't eat up all the bichir food before the bichirs get to it. I keep roseline sharks and veiled angels with my bichirs and that is a great mix. since you want bigger fish, Datnoids can also work. They get gig enough to eat the bichir food, but are timid enough to where they don't devour all the food. Chalceus work, but probably aren't suitable for a 125gal. I don't think you want any kind of larger cichlid like an oscar, as they will likely bogart all the food. If you don't plan on plants, you could red hook silver dollars.

For me, the bichirs are very sedentary during the day, so I want my other fish to create movement. That's why I go with the roselines and angels. both can get pretty large actually.

They don't need sand per se, but the red-brown sand that people use on this site really makes their colors better for sure. This is what I use. White sand is the worst for bichirs, they will get very pale on white sand.

 

[Nyrkorey]

My fav. are my Teugelsi. They get rather long, but not too long, and they are less bulky than ornates, for instance, so would be better suited for a 125. Also, my teugesli are my most active, so that's always nice. they are hard to find though, and usually they come pretty small. luckily they grow pretty fast. Tankmates are the tricky part. basically, you need fish that won't eat up all the bichir food before the bichirs get to it. I keep roseline sharks and veiled angels with my bichirs and that is a great mix. since you want bigger fish, Datnoids can also work. They get gig enough to eat the bichir food, but are timid enough to where they don't devour all the food. Chalceus work, but probably aren't suitable for a 125gal. I don't think you want any kind of larger cichlid like an oscar, as they will likely bogart all the food. If you don't plan on plants, you could red hook silver dollars.

For me, the bichirs are very sedentary during the day, so I want my other fish to create movement. That's why I go with the roselines and angels. both can get pretty large actually.

They don't need sand per se, but the red-brown sand that people use on this site really makes their colors better for sure. This is what I use. White sand is the worst for bichirs, they will get very pale on white sand.

Thank you for such an awesome response. I love how big the dats get I've always loved them but i do also love the idea of bichirs and angels thats a super awesome look. I may steal that from you haha

Also on a side note with birch.. I have another 135 with 8 geos sveni, 7 condos tetras .. could a bichir do well in there as well if I were to add one? Or since geos are bottom eaters would that clash with the bichirs

 

[EelWranglerSeb]

If it’s the dinosaur part you like about bichir look no further than the Delhezi. Perfect size for a 125, they have some beautiful patterns and I get a lot of personality out of mine. If you want activity then go for a Senegal, I have never seen a lazy Senegal Bichir

Tankmates: No fish that might fit in their mouth. If they get hungry, they are not afraid to explore their options, so stick with medium-large sized fish (5”+). Avoid plecos and most other algae eaters, many have a habit of sucking off slime coats. They do well with other bichir, better with some of the same species. They’re peaceful with everything that’s too big to eat.

Environment: sand or soil is best, as others mentioned their colouration is best on red-brown substrate. Don’t use gravel or stones that can fit in their mouth because of impaction risk, avoid mystery snails for this same reason. They’re fine with smaller snails. They prefer low light and like shade, they’ll knock up any plants that aren’t deep rooted or rhizome growers, avoid stems. My favorites are blood tiger lotus and Anubias. Happiest I’ve ever seen my Bichir was in a floating water sprite plant.

Food: when they’re smaller than 4” I found blood worms and broken up hikari pellets bulked them up quick, afterwards I switch blood worms for frozen tilapia thawed and cut to size, still using hikari pellets. Live feeding is NOT essential, and if exercised should only be for enjoyment/exercise, and should be done with carefully selected and raised stock once or twice a month. Do not use fish with thiaminase, do not use fish they might choke on, do not use store bought fish.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I’m partial to the endli bichers. I had one in my 220 and they have a very wide mouth to body ratio. I did target feed mine with giant tweezers. They are very primitive feeders. If it comes to their mouth they grab it. I had mine eat a 4” peacock bass that was in the grow out tank with it when it was only 7” long. His bulge was huge. Lol.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Here’s some pictures of mine. He ended up quite a bit bigger before I sold him. He’s probably about 12” in these pictures and he was easily 15” when I sold him.

 

[Somesed]

Might be hard to keep bichirs with the sveni. I have some sveni and have been wondering the same. I, for instance, have four small (3.5") sveni in with my 24" S. Am. lungfish, and some other small cichlids (cupid, macaw, red head geos). This works fine for now but most bc the little cichlids can't eat the massivore pellets i put in for the lungfish. If they get big enough to eat the massivore, I might have to switch to larger pieces of shrimp,, or something.

The angels and roseline sharks have been great with the bichirs, though

 

[Nyrkorey]

Might be hard to keep bichirs with the sveni. I have some sveni and have been wondering the same. I, for instance, have four small (3.5") sveni in with my 24" S. Am. lungfish, and some other small cichlids (cupid, macaw, red head geos). This works fine for now but most bc the little cichlids can't eat the massivore pellets i put in for the lungfish. If they get big enough to eat the massivore, I might have to switch to larger pieces of shrimp,, or something.

The angels and roseline sharks have been great with the bichirs, though

Ide love to keep a lungfish with my sveni but ide ne so nervous he would eat them when he got bigger.. maybe ill think about that!.. could moray eels work with sveni? I've seen someone on here selling tje freshwater ones

 

[Somesed]

I have my 24" S.Am Lungfish with 1" red head tapajos geos, and columbian tetras, etc. The tetras even bred once and there was one fry that lived to be 1" before it died of some other cause. This fish does not ever even look at another fish in the tank.

I would not try that with an african lungfish, however

never had eels

 

[Somesed]

See here for lungfish tank. The angels have been moved to my bichir tank, and the small geos and macaws are not in there yet, but you can see he's way bigger than any of the fish. no issues... except that the tank will be too small for for the lung at some point.

My SAL setup

Lovin this tank right now... 150gal 5'x2'x2' 1 SAL - about 22-23" 11 columbian tetras 3 cupid cichlids 4 veiled angels 1 electric blue acara

www.monsterfishkeepers.com