Palmas Polli needs to slow down, what should I do?

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B

BuffaloPolypteridae

Feeder Fish
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Aug 5, 2013
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Buffalo
My supposedly WC Polli is such a pig its almost always looking for food (which makes me think rt4 lied and said it was WC just to sell it, it was also marketed as mokelembembe so double screw there) , he has went from this

uploadfromtaptalk1386815146771.jpg

To this, in less than 2 months. Insanity compared to the growth of my ornate and gold dust

uploadfromtaptalk1386815210630.jpg

Just in case you don't notice, he's gotten a belly unlike my other bichirs and has gotten at least 1.5-2 inch longer. Being fed frozen krill, frozen bloodworm, hikari carni sticks (yes he top feeds, as you can see from the pic), hikari cichlid gold and the weekly red worm for a treat

I DO NOT want an obese bichir on my hands, what's the best way to tackle this? I know feeding less would help but that's not really an option seeing my ornate and gold are not aggressive feeders and feed at their leisure, I need them to get their share. My ideas so far have been to

1. Put it in my 30 ga for a while to thin it out, but this would mean moving my 4 inch senegal I think it can eat to my 10 ga w/ corys and guppys.

2. Separate the palmas polli and the red wolf on one side, but that may be an issue, I don't see my wolf taking to kindly to having his home cut in half.. may make him more aggressive and I've been doing things since day 1 to get him to be docile w/ bichir and other fish

Anyone have any better ideas? Share em! Its gonna be a major PITA to do but I'll have to, it'll be better for the fish and myself in the long run haha
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I don't see the problem he isn't exactly obese and trying to slow his growth down will only cause complications. As far as his growth just cause he grows fast doesn't mean he isn't WC. Polys have varied growth rates depending on the species so just cause he grows faster doesn't mean much other than he is healthy. I wouldn't even think about trying to slow a bichirs growth rate. So if he's growing fast don't think of it as a bad thing think of it as the faster he grows the faster you'll have a true monster. Also IME plus will get a little large in the belly before they are about to have a growth spurt so don't think because he has a huge stomach that it means it'll be obese
 
As far as the pics I'm assuming that you are taking about it growing fast. I'm in the phone and can't see the pics very well lol
 
Quite an interesting problem I wish mine would top feed that would be cool to see. I would imagine the others will get more aggressive with their eating to compensate but that may just be my imagination.
 
Yes i was talking about it growing fast, too fast compared to my other bichir experiences for my comfort honestly haha which i why i posted about it. Ive seen many videos of obese polli.. i just dont want mine to end up that way

I also suspect its not WC because it immediatly took pellet.. just like a CB senegal, and any CB poly anyone ive known has had. I know overfeeding can be an issue, i know this bichir wouldnt be finding so much food in the wild haha so im making sure i dont need to take measures like i suggested.

Ill let it go on the way it is for a little but once its bigger if its still like this i may have to take measures

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Even fish in America are obese haha. The idea of fish obesity is pretty funny but obviously health concerns are no laughing matter. Good luck. Maybe you just have one that is going to get especially large.
 
I've had wc polys eat pellets right away, not sure that's a deciding factor. My polli is the same exact way. Most definitely my biggest eater. What I've found helps is to feed 5 days a week. Less money on food and water changes too.

Another option is just feed less. You're other polys will learn that food isn't something to ignore that way. My ornate would never eat, and after about a month of making food scarce I never see him miss a feeding.


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Agreeing with dr b, I wouldn't starve him out. I'd be concerned if he was full grown. However, now he's still growing. You'd be surprised how much polys thin out if you fast for a few days.


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I don't know why you think immediately eating pellets is a sign of being captive bred. Of the 8 polys I have, 7 are WC. I know this due to the source. Only one of them didn't eat pellets the day after getting it and that was my 22" Teug. She took 2 months without eating.

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^ really? You've gotten lucky! My wc beutt and f1 ornate (friend bred them) didn't take pellets for a long time (beutt about 2 months, Ornate about 4). Also any WC bichir any friend has had (a few of em keep polys, and a couple family members) has taken at least a while to get used to pellet, but then again they were mostly lower jaws and ornates.

Like I already said though, I'm going to let it go for a while as it is and see what happens. Hopefully its just regular polli behavior as it seems from your guys experience. Thanks for the help!

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