Regarding Feeding

[Spiritofthesoul]

Could a 10" ornate go without food for 2 days?

My ornate is now a giant among the other bichirs in the tank. I fear it could grow too fast and become a threat to the other smaller bichirs.

Here is my normal feeding schedule

Mon-Sat : normal
Sun : skip

Im planning to modify it abit to reduce the growth rate of the ornate.

Mon-Fri : normal
Sat : Handfeeding of krill to the smaller bichirs, Skip for Ornate
Sun : Skip

Could the ornate take 2 consecutive days without food?
Or should I do the skip for ornate on a friday, normal feeding on a saturday and skip for sunday?

 

[tokyogasmask]

Of course, that won't cause any problems.

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

My only fear is that the ornate might turn onto the smaller senegal out of hunger.

 

[tokyogasmask]

What size is the sen?
I personally would risk keeping an ornate with a Sen full stop.
Ornates have been known to ...

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

6~7" now

 

[Bubutmd]

2 days without food for any bichir will not cause any problem.The only problem will be if you always starve the bigger bichir to somehow retard its normal growth rate,it might eventually trigger predation since hunger is a basic instinct which will trigger the fish to hunt his smaller senegalus bichir tankmates.

 

[lix.ma14]

No prob at all. alot of fish are more hard than you think. an adult bichir (like yours) can EASILY survive without for food for atleast 2 weeks. i have a red wolf fish that didn't eat for 2 weeks. I also remember reading of a fellow MFk user that posted that he had a juvinile ropefish that didn't eat for 2 MONTHS before finally eating!

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

The only problem will be if you always starve the bigger bichir to somehow retard its normal growth rate

I don't think it would cause its growth to the extent that it would be stunted. My ornate is a really agressive eater who don't bother to chew. While my little senegal is busy chewing on a hikari pellet, the ornate swallowed like 4 of them in 1 gulp.