New to Bichirs and here as well, have a feeding Q.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
N

North.Idaho.Cowgirl

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 15, 2009
7
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0
Idaho
Hello everyone! I came across an opportunity to aquire three lovely little Senegal Bichirs, and of course I jumped on it. I have long wanted one of these, but could never come across anything healthy or uniform lookiing in the pet stores, everything we get here seems to be deformed.

So, I now have one little albino and two brown senegal polys. They are munching like crazy on carnivore pellets, and I am quickly noticing how dirty these little guys are! Oh well, part of the deal eh?

My question is if I can feed them mosquito Larvae? I have a large plastic bin near my house that has long been the breeding ground for thousands of mosquitos. We have raised long toed salamanders as well as many batches of tadpoles each year and those always seem to love the larva. I walked by this evening and it struck me that being carnivores, these little polys might like to dine on some of these little bugs as well.

Another question is tank size. I have these three in a very small tank right now just to keep them in water, but love the idea of building a ply tank, that I can make to my own dimentions. If I were to plan on building a tank, what would I need to aim for as far as housing these three polys (and possibly a couple more, Im hooked!) for at least 5 to 6 years. Right now they are only about 3-4" but I understand they grow quickly. I noticed that there were mostly rectangle shaped ply builds going on, some of which are amazing btw, but I would love to build a large deep corner tank.
 
Remeber that polys NEED about 2"-3" of space between the lid and the water line or else they will drown...read the stickies however, there is alot of helpfull info...Also, a minimum for Sens IMO/IME is a 55gal but they would be happier in a 75gal

Also, it is not advized to feed outside feeders as they may contain unkown diesease, but poly's do love Bloodworms which are misquito larvae
 
welcome!

Like Darth Scohin said, a 75 would be ideal for 3 senegals. However, since you mentioned possibly adding more later I suggest a 125g if you can afford it. That way you have room to add to your collection without needing to upgrade again and waste $$$. Also a 125g will help you maintain better water quality (you've already noted yourself how messy bichirs are :D). Whatever tank you decide, just don't skimp on filtration. I like to shoot for 10x turnover, meaning for a 75g tank using 750gph of filtration.

Your bichirs will love the bloodworms. I wouldn't worry too much about disease, a lot of people culture their own foods. The problem really is with storebought feeders which live most of their lives in squalor and are often sick or heavily dosed with copper-based antibiotics (bichirs are intolerant of copper).

Good luck with your senegals, and be sure to check out the Bichir Primer:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65770

:cheers:
 
thanks for the advice! I am just digging these guys.

I have been researching a lot of tankmates and such and looks like I am going to have to turn my basement into a fish room. I came across a lovely 13" arowana at the lfs, for a whopping $15.:drool: Also a very lovely albino oscar to match my handsome tiger.

Looks like I need to start putting together some plans for a big tank :)

Btw, I know that aro shouldnt go with the polys, because of agression right? I wont have a tank in time to get him, but lordy he is a handome thing.
 
Uh oh, Looks like I am tank re-arranging today then.:headbang2

I have laid out an idea for my first ply build. Looks like 24x24x60. Will rough out to be about 150 gallons :) Can house a few Bichirs in there, and apparently, a long desired aro as well.
 
Oh well, the aro was gone as expected. I would have needed to build another tank anyhow :)

I did do some re-arranging. I had two african cichlids in with my Oscar, but they were not doing much of anything but hiding and I think they were threatened by O. In addition to that, I have a serious snail problem in my 35 gallon. We are talking thousands. I was at a loss as to how to get rid of them, then it dawned on me that the cichlids would eagerly eat them up. So the two went in there, with the senegals. Lots of hiding holes and fake plants to hide and roost in.

While at the lfs, I looked at the Oscars they still had the albino that really caught my eye. Very nice and lovely marked fish. This lfs has oscars easily over 12" but this one is about 5" and very healthy. After a little while I put "her" into O's tank and he was in love. They have been swimming together, swirling over each other, laying with each other. My tiger, O, was even moving rocks out of "her" way when she was hiding. Its very sweet, I have never seen an Oscar be so friendly and attentive to a new one, there was no dispute at all just instant oscar love.

My little cichlids got some corys from the 35 gallon in their tank, and the tank the senegals were in became a remale guppy refuge. I even got pics of all my tanks :)
 
You may find your polys eating the snails too. They will certainly love the mosquito larvae, just be careful they all get eaten before they turn into adult bloodsuckers.

You can definitely have an arowana with your polys (and oscars), but with what you already have you're probably best off shooting for a 1'+ aro, and add it once you have the new tank built and the polys are well grown...little aros can be a bit delicate and are best grown out alone.

Good luck and welcome to MFK!
 
yup, I was hoping the polys would help the cichs dine on some snails. I may have to switch tanks with the small cichs and guppies to get them to eat the snails in that tank too. I am hoping to get rid of all these little pond snails that clog up my filters and eat any eggs that are laid, and maybe get some more of the bigger mystery snails for the smaller tanks.

I can keep Oscars with an Aro? I didn't know that. Thanks.
 
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