I only have one bichir, but I've been researching them for a while, and am absolutely in love with them. I've been researching them for a while, and thinking about them for a while, and I just had a 55 gallon aquarium given to me, so I'm on to my next addiction! And unfortunately, an addiction it is. . . I've been putting off setting up another aquarium because of how expensive this hobby is, and with 36 snakes, two cats, a ferret and a bird, I really don't need to be spending more money on animals!
Anyway, on to the point- Right now, I have him in a 20 gallon long, and he'll be there until he's large enough to put in the 55. Also until I can get a stand built for the 55, which probably won't be until spring.
I was given the 55 with an old Whisper filter, so I have that, too, but I know that won't be enough filtration, and I'll have to pick up something else. Any suggestions here? I'm looking at canisters, but want bang for my buck. I'm looking for what will work the best, but hurt my wallet the least.
Right now I'm looking at a setup of a few bichir including this Senegal, an albino senegal (already on order in the LFS I work in), and I'm debating between a delhezi, or endlicheri. I probably won't decide for a while, but I'm open to suggestions. I've been reading a ton about these, but haven't found- are delhezi or endlicheri bolder? Which tends to be more the active? I really like the idea of endlicheri, because they're that much larger, but want something that will be at least somewhat close to as active & bold as my Senegal who never stops moving.
For other tank mates, I'm thinking possibly a rope fish or two, and maybe a Severum. I keep tossing around ideas, and probably won't decide for a good while. For now, I'm going to toss in a couple livebearers, and enjoy free feeder fry until the bichir is big enough to eat the adults.
And the big question that I've found through all of my reading-
What is the difference between short bodied and long bodied? I've seen several people saying they have "sb" or "lb" bichir, but haven't seen any pictures comparing the two. How much of a difference is there here? Which species have the choice? Is it a gene, or a selectively bred thing?
And here are a few pics of my little guy. Sorry for the poor quality. Hopefully I'll get some better ones up soon!
And before I forget, I guess I do have two other questions- How often/much should I feed this guy? So far, he's only eaten a red wiggler worm cut into pieces for me, but I've only had him a couple days. You can see a little in those pics his belly is lumpy- should I continue to feed him at this point, or cut him off and make him wait 'til he's smoother?
And, how should I expect his color to change? I've seen a lot of variety in Senegals, between light and dark, speckled and smooth. Should I expect his speckles to grow in size or number, or fade? And, it doesn't show as well in the pics, but he has a stripe running down his side. It looks similar to a lateral line in other fish, but it's darker than most I've seen, and the other bichir in the tank he came from didn't have any- they were all solid shades of grey. Is this a lateral line, or some patterning? Will this fade/become bolder/ ?
Thanks!
Ronnie Nocera
Anyway, on to the point- Right now, I have him in a 20 gallon long, and he'll be there until he's large enough to put in the 55. Also until I can get a stand built for the 55, which probably won't be until spring.
I was given the 55 with an old Whisper filter, so I have that, too, but I know that won't be enough filtration, and I'll have to pick up something else. Any suggestions here? I'm looking at canisters, but want bang for my buck. I'm looking for what will work the best, but hurt my wallet the least.
Right now I'm looking at a setup of a few bichir including this Senegal, an albino senegal (already on order in the LFS I work in), and I'm debating between a delhezi, or endlicheri. I probably won't decide for a while, but I'm open to suggestions. I've been reading a ton about these, but haven't found- are delhezi or endlicheri bolder? Which tends to be more the active? I really like the idea of endlicheri, because they're that much larger, but want something that will be at least somewhat close to as active & bold as my Senegal who never stops moving.
For other tank mates, I'm thinking possibly a rope fish or two, and maybe a Severum. I keep tossing around ideas, and probably won't decide for a good while. For now, I'm going to toss in a couple livebearers, and enjoy free feeder fry until the bichir is big enough to eat the adults.
And the big question that I've found through all of my reading-
What is the difference between short bodied and long bodied? I've seen several people saying they have "sb" or "lb" bichir, but haven't seen any pictures comparing the two. How much of a difference is there here? Which species have the choice? Is it a gene, or a selectively bred thing?
And here are a few pics of my little guy. Sorry for the poor quality. Hopefully I'll get some better ones up soon!
And before I forget, I guess I do have two other questions- How often/much should I feed this guy? So far, he's only eaten a red wiggler worm cut into pieces for me, but I've only had him a couple days. You can see a little in those pics his belly is lumpy- should I continue to feed him at this point, or cut him off and make him wait 'til he's smoother?
And, how should I expect his color to change? I've seen a lot of variety in Senegals, between light and dark, speckled and smooth. Should I expect his speckles to grow in size or number, or fade? And, it doesn't show as well in the pics, but he has a stripe running down his side. It looks similar to a lateral line in other fish, but it's darker than most I've seen, and the other bichir in the tank he came from didn't have any- they were all solid shades of grey. Is this a lateral line, or some patterning? Will this fade/become bolder/ ?
Thanks!
Ronnie Nocera
Also, those dots will probably fade, at least they have been on mine.
