Officially a Bichir keeper now

[jaws7777]

Welcome to the crew. Your gonna be a great addition man.


As far as stocking you already know the drill. What you put in has to come out (wc)

I'd go with 3 to 5 like Hendre suggested.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

Perfect. Thinking 4 is a good number then. Definitely getting an albino sen. I think it will look great on my black sand. As for the fourth we will just have to see what comes available. I'm limited locally. Most of your basic sens will run 30 to 50 bucks. So will just have to see what comes up on the local Facebook groups or online.

Thanks for that chart T thefredpit . That's very helpful.

I noticed a lot of folks around here are feeding the hikari brand carnivore pellets. I may switch to then once the Omega one pellets run out

 

[Polyaddict86]

I was going off this chart
View attachment 1312943

as far as seeing a 21" gold dust I haven't seen one either and the 12-14 would be a large one too

Yeah dont really go by that chart it kinda off especially with UJ. I bet no one here or anybody that kept poly seen a UJ past a 13” mark, the biggest UJ ive seen was a 12” del.

 

[Polyaddict86]

I was going off this chart
View attachment 1312943

as far as seeing a 21" gold dust I haven't seen one either and the 12-14 would be a large one too

Yeah dont really go by that chart it kinda off especially with UJ. I bet no one here or anybody that kept poly seen a UJ past a 13” mark, the biggest UJ ive seen was a 12” del.

Perfect. Thinking 4 is a good number then. Definitely getting an albino sen. I think it will look great on my black sand. As for the fourth we will just have to see what comes available. I'm limited locally. Most of your basic sens will run 30 to 50 bucks. So will just have to see what comes up on the local Facebook groups or online.

Thanks for that chart T thefredpit . That's very helpful.

I noticed a lot of folks around here are feeding the hikari brand carnivore pellets. I may switch to then once the Omega one pellets run out

you can also add tilapia fillet as staple, cheap and easy to get and polys love them.

 

[thefredpit]

Yeah dont really go by that chart it kinda off especially with UJ. I bet no one here or anybody that kept poly seen a UJ past a 13” mark, the biggest UJ ive seen was a 12” del.

I've got a young teug that is already 14" and if I remember right someone had a 30" teug and I've seen ornates 24"

 

[Polyaddict86]

I've got a young teug that is already 14" and if I remember right someone had a 30" teug and I've seen ornates 24"

30” WC teug was Dr.B and the 24” ornate was Burbotman .
Dr.b teug was bought at the size 28” and it only grew 2” more i the tank while Burbotman grew his from 3” to 24”.
Teug,ornate and weeksii are the big trio that can grow 24”, other UJ dont grow past 12” even as WC specimen, maybe a WC del can get 13”-15” but it will take years, CB UJ dont get pass 10”-12” .

 

[twentyleagues]

30” WC teug was Dr.B and the 24” ornate was Burbotman .
Dr.b teug was bought at the size 28” and it only grew 2” more i the tank while Burbotman grew his from 3” to 24”.
Teug,ornate and weeksii are the big trio that can grow 24”, other UJ dont grow past 12” even as WC specimen, maybe a WC del can get 13”-15” but it will take years, CB UJ dont get pass 10”-12” .

That's pretty accurate I'd say. My cb dels are less then 11" they are around 2yrs now the wc is 13" easy, think she's about the same maybe a bit older.... magpie ? Gold dust or as we in the poly group have come to call them by their scientific name Butt, mine is around 9" seems to be holding steady atm but getting thicker. It hides alot from what I hear that is what they do. Actually most in the palmas complex do. Polli are great and maybe get as large as a good wc sen 12ish" at most. You are fine with what you are feeding. All polys seem to like the carnivore pellets though, they stink up the place so be warned. Tilapia is good but keep feeding what you are feeding as its designed to be a complete food.
Welcome aboard! We take side trios alot in these threads hold on tight! Lol

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

Wow guys. Thank you for all the excellent info. Very much appreciated. So basically as long as I stay away from the weeksi, teugs, and ornate I should be safe in housing about 4 of these guys in a 75 long term with a handful of cichlids.

Thank you for the info on the food. I'll look into the tilapia and see how they do. But glad to know I don't need to make changes.

Glad this forum is here. Full of knowledgeable folks and willing to help a bichir noob such as myself. I've been keeping fw fish for years now. Mainly South and central American cichlids. But I found myself with some tank room and have Always wanted bichers. Now I've got some and you guys have provided a soft landing.

 

[magpie]

Also agree to stick with 4-5 UJs, no Teug/Weeksii/Ornate.
Another vote here for Polli if you like active polys (who on the whole aren't very active.)

Another option to consider for activity would be a group of 3 ropes. As long as they wouldn't be considered noodle snacks by the cichlids depending on which you go with, of course.

For feeding, a couple types of pellets are great. I do believe that variety promotes the best health, so I also liked feeding tilapia or silversides alternate to pellet days. I'd also mix in frozen krill, live blackworms, and live earthworms on occasion. I think most of us feed every other day, unless you're looking for rapid growth.

now the wc is 13" easy, think she's about the same maybe a bit older.... magpie

I got her in Dec of 2016. She was 6" then.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

Thank you magpie for the advice. I've been feeding every day so I may back that off Once I start feeling up this tank a little more. Right now I’m definitely getting an albino Senegal but after that it will be a tossup between a gold dust and a polli. I think that will give me a good mix of active bichers For my 75.