Senegal Bichir Tank Requirements

[twentyleagues]

If it was me foot print wise I'd say a 50 is better then a 55 as it is wider, which the sen will enjoy more then the little more length a 55 will give. I dislike 55g tanks for most mid size fish its only 12" wide. Yes you will also be lucky if your sen hits 9". So an 18" wide tank would be perfect not so much a 12" as you want about 4 × the length and 1.5 to 2 × the width. You could keep 3 to 4 sens in a 50g with ease. Sorry but my favorite tank size is a 75g you really can do alot and weight wise it's still very managable. I can move them around myself no problems. I'm not little or weak though, I think your avarage person would find it managable also.

 

[twentyleagues]

I have about a dozen or so African butterfly fish with my bichirs which include all of what he has listed, a word on them, I find my African butterfly fish to be a bit aggressive when kept in to small of a group. I would either keep 1 by itself or around 6 or more.
Also, I can confirm you need lids. My tiny butt jumped out of the tank and by sheer luck I found it in time.

Oh! A dozen cool. I agree I had three and I'm down to 1 as he harassed the others to death.

 

[Gingern7]

If it was me foot print wise I'd say a 50 is better then a 55 as it is wider, which the sen will enjoy more then the little more length a 55 will give. I dislike 55g tanks for most mid size fish its only 12" wide. Yes you will also be lucky if your sen hits 9". So an 18" wide tank would be perfect not so much a 12" as you want about 4 × the length and 1.5 to 2 × the width. You could keep 3 to 4 sens in a 50g with ease. Sorry but my favorite tank size is a 75g you really can do alot and weight wise it's still very managable. I can move them around myself no problems. I'm not little or weak though, I think your avarage person would find it managable also.

Ok, that makes sense. I'll do a 50 then if I end up getting them. Thanks! I'll probably take a look at a 75 this week when I'm look at tanks in person, but I worry about just simply not having the room in my current situation or near ear future situation. Otherwise I'd honestly love to have a huge tank. I'm sure I could pay to get it transported, or a parent would help, but I dont think I'll have the physical space for it.

One last final question. Thanks again for all your help so far. I'm very happy to know I can keep this species., but can a 50 house any other Bichir species aside from a Senegal? I know an ornate would probably get way too big.

 

[fishhead0103666]

Oh! A dozen cool. I agree I had three and I'm down to 1 as he harassed the others to death.

African butterfly fish have always given me troubles. I have about a dozen at the moment but throughout the years I’ve had a total of about four dozen. Either they were in too small of numbers or they just didn’t do well. This group is doing well for me.

 

[twentyleagues]

Ok, that makes sense. I'll do a 50 then if I end up getting them. Thanks! I'll probably take a look at a 75 this week when I'm look at tanks in person, but I worry about just simply not having the room in my current situation or near ear future situation. Otherwise I'd honestly love to have a huge tank. I'm sure I could pay to get it transported, or a parent would help, but I dont think I'll have the physical space for it.

One last final question. Thanks again for all your help so far. I'm very happy to know I can keep this species., but can a 50 house any other Bichir species aside from a Senegal? I know an ornate would probably get way too big.

Polli that's about it probably. My polli is small like a sen so thats why I say that, max size is about the same. But I've heard people say their polli are quite large. The rest get to big at commonly 12" or so. The ornate is to big they hit 20s regularly.

 

[Gingern7]

Polli that's about it probably. My polli is small like a sen so thats why I say that, max size is about the same. But I've heard people say their polli are quite large. The rest get to big at commonly 12" or so. The ornate is to big they hit 20s regularly.

Ok awesome, ty. If some people say their's got quite large, I'm gonna stay away from it. Sens will be the best fit. And yeah, I saw a massive ornate on reddit while I was looking into bichirs. Incredible looking fish.

 

[fishhead0103666]

With senegal bichirs you have so many options, you can get,
A normal
An albino
A normal long fin
An albino long fin
A platinum
A short body albino

There are other combinations but I haven’t seen them for sale myself. My goal is to have a Senegal bichir in every way.