Senegal Bichir & African Knife

[Kash]

Hi,

I'm a new member but have been on this forum many times, looking for information in the past. I recently got a Senegal Bichir and a Brown African Knife. I don't know much about predatory fish, so I had a few questions that I hope you guys can answer.

Here's some information about my tank:

26g bow front w/ Aquaclear 70 filter and plenty of Matrix bio media. It has river rock gravel substrate and a large castle for them to hide in.

Before anything, I did want to mention that I have no issues with upgrading the tank once they outgrow this one. They were an impulse buy from my wife, but I actually like them quite a bit and am willing to do anything necessary to make them as comfortable as possible.

Here're my questions:
1. Right now they're less than 3" long each and are in a 26 gallon bow front tank. I know I will need to upgrade the tank once they start getting bigger, so what would be an ideal sized tank to house both of them at full grown? That is assuming they can be housed together as they grow! Right now the Bichir seems to enjoy a massage, laying under the Knife's fin!

2. I've read a lot about their diet and have seen a lot of advise against live feeding, so I've decided not to do that (even though I was originally planning on feeding them some ghost shrimp every once in a while.) Currently they get shrimp pellets and I'm planning on getting the Hikari carnivore pellets tomorrow. I tried feeding them frozen plankton but it just floated on the surface and as soon as it sunk, it was sucked in by the filter! How am I supposed to feed them frozen food when it doesn't sink? And what frozen foods should I give them (I've read a lot about beef heart, just not sure where to get it from!)

3. While still on the food issue, what is the best way to remove uneaten pellets from the tank? I currently use a fishnet with a long handle but it's not very effective.

4. When is the ideal time to feed them? The Bichir seems pretty active and is out and about throughout the day. He does lay behind a castle ornament from time to time and will come over whenever he sees the pellets falling. The Knife on the other hand, will only come out when it's dark and even then, as soon as she sees somebody looking at her she runs and hides in the castle! I've seen her swimming around enough to know she's alive and healthy, just want to make sure she eats properly.

5. Considering the Knife doesn't come out to eat unless it's dark and there's nobody around, I have no way of know when she's out and when she's done eating, so what would be a good estimate of how much each one will eat so I don't have too much food left over for hours till morning when I can get them out?

6. Unfortunately, having had a sturdy pleco that lived a little over 3 years through cycling and all, I never knew about tank cycling before I got these guys. The tank is currently going through it's cycle and I've been using the Seachem Stability to kick start the bio filter. I've been testing the water religiously and the only issue is ammonia level of under .25 ppm according to my test kit (I also have the ammo-alert in the tank which seems to be a greenish tint slightly lighter than the alert state.) What should I do to make the cycling process less stressful on them? I have a bottle of Ammo Lock but haven't used any since I didn't know if it would affect the cycle, I just started adding Prime as recommended (every other day) and will be doing a 25% water change tonight.

Any other tips on how to care for them will also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kash​

 

[jclyde13]

1. Yes, they can be kept together; a 40 gallon breeder would be ideal, imo.

2. With frozen foods, you have to thaw them out in warm water before giving them to the fish, and they should sink after that. The best frozen foods I've used are krill and shrimp, but it's good to add in some variety (I give my fish mostly shrimp, tilapia, and pellets).

3. The best way would technically be to avoid overfeeding them, but when there is uneaten food, I just use a net (or my hand, occasionally).

4. Both fish are nocturnal feeders, so assuming you're feeding once per day, just feed them before the light go off for the night.

5. You'll have to make that judgement based on the size of the fish and how much you think it will eat, then go by trial and error. If there's no food left in the morning, but the fish still seem to have empty stomachs, feed more; if there is food left over in the morning, feed less.

6. I've never done a cycle with fish, other than feeder fish that I didn't expect to survive anyway, but in your situation, I would probably be doing ~25% water changes daily to avoid causing any permanent damage to the fishes' health.

Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Kash]

Thanks a lot for the fast response. I will start doing daily water changes right away (was doing them every other day.)

Do you think I should use Ammo-lock to make sure the ammonia levels don't affect the fish or should I just do the water changes and let the tank cycle naturally?

Thanks again,

Kash

 

[jclyde13]

Thanks a lot for the fast response. I will start doing daily water changes right away (was doing them every other day.)

Do you think I should use Ammo-lock to make sure the ammonia levels don't affect the fish or should I just do the water changes and let the tank cycle naturally?

Thanks again,

Kash

From what I've read about it, Ammo-Lock would probably inhibit the cycle. I would just stick with Prime and keep doing the water changes.


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Kash]

Thanks again!

 

[Kash]

Well, just wanted to post a quick update. I'm not sure if the tank has finished it's cycle or not, I never did get a spike in the nitrites, it was always zero. But the ammonia is at zero now and the nitrate is at about 5 to 10 ppm. I've been doing 25-30% water changes every day and the fish seem to be happy and active. I guess I'll continue the water changes for a while longer and see if I get any spikes in the levels.

 

[mistahoo]

You could try a bottom dweller like catfish or loaches to clean up leftover food from overfeeding

 

[Kash]

I thought about that, but I'm not sure if I want anymore fish in there! And from what I've read about the growth rate of bichir's, he'll eat or kill anything else I put in there once he's big enough!

 

[mistahoo]

I thought about that, but I'm not sure if I want anymore fish in there! And from what I've read about the growth rate of bichir's, he'll eat or kill anything else I put in there once he's big enough!

That's why you add them to the tank before he gets big! And I've read that they usually leave Cory cats alone


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Kash]

I'm not a huge fan of catfishes! Now that the tank is fully cycled with zero ammonia and Nitrite and low to medium levels of nitrates, I'm thinking of my next project. I am now trying to figure out what else I can put in the tank with them, since I've decided to build my own 180 gallon tank and I think it'll look rather empty with just the two of them in there! I'll be hitting up the other parts of the forum to read up on sump pumps and stuff! So, I'm open to suggestions on other fish I can put in a 26 gallon tank till the big one is complete which will most likely be a few months.