senegal bichir

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Yaboysilk

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 18, 2006
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yo i was wonderin how big is a senegal gonna get?some peeps told me it would only get like 10-12 inches and somone else said that muthas gonna get huge!!i was also wondering on minimum tank requirements and some homies for him to kick it wit.i have a 29 gallon with a couple tanganyikan fish a jewel cichlid and an african butterfly fish.would that be cool for now if i changed it to a 55 in a couple months(fo real im planning to anyway).
the senegals at my pet store are like 6".
i little off subject but i was also wondering about substrate for african cichlids.does it have to be sand or can i use gravel?

also i was wonderin how you pronounce bichir cuz i be talkin at the lfs guys like "i wanna bichir" an they be like "whad you say bout my girl,yo?!"
 
yo i was wonderin how big is a senegal gonna get? 10-12 inches is the general size

When Europeans (French) discovered the genus Polypterus in 1809 it had already been known along the Nile since the time of the pharoahs. The local peoples referred to them as bichirs (unknown pronunciation and spelling). While unable to come up with an exact meaning for the word it was most likely a descriptive term (''whip'' has been suggested) for this type of fish.

The French most likely pronounced it as phonetically as possible to the orginal native word and came up with bee-sheer as a pronunciation and spelled 'bichir'. Since this would be the name of these fish for
several years until they were scientifically described and put into the proper family it became an accepted common name.

However the correct English pronunciation is up for grabs. Several dictionaries all have their own pronunciation including the below:
bee cher
beech er
biker
bercheer
bi cher
bir chir is common in England
Also known by the common name lobed fin pike,dinosaur eel.
The name Polypterus : poly=many + pterus=fins and is pronounced po-lyp'-terus.
 
ok 10 inches is cool.ill use "biker".can i keep it,some lake cichlids,and my butterfly fish all together in a 29 gallon till i get my 55 in september?
tank size requirements wise and compatibility wise?
 
:woot: :thumbsup: man you should at least have a 6ft long by 4-5ft wide bottom, so any tank over a 100g will be straight for your sene, mines in a 125g at 7-9" long and very thick and still growing, 10-12" is the hobby norm but they can live for so long U WILL GET ADDICTED AND WANT MORE THEN ONE TYPE OF BICHIR. PEACE OUT :WHOA: :naughty: :grinno: :grinyes: :headbang2 :clap
 
oh for real?i cant put a little bichir in my lake cichlid tank till i can upgrade it to a 55??senegals need 100 gallons or more?thats friggen crazy,im never gonna have that.i dont have the space or the bread,ya know?even if i just got one senegal and a couple more africans the 55 woule be too small?why do senegals need so much room man?cant a 10 inch oscer go in a 55....and senegals can turn better too ya know....im not tryin ta argue,im the g askin fer some help out here,im juss tryin too understand,ya know?
i thought the jewel is from africa,the lake cichlids from africa,the butterfly fish is from africa,and the senegal is from africa so i figured theyd be good together.thas not the story huh?
 
you don't need a 100gal or more for a senegal (but theres no down side of having a tank that size)....something at least 18" wide would be enough....so a 55 breeder or something. don't know about the cichlids cause i'm much of a cichlid guy. but i know people have kept senegal with butterfly fish and they do ok together, but it does depend on the individual fish.
 
I don't know about putting a full grown senegal with small tanganyikan cichlids. The bichir might eat them if they're small enough to eat. Get a 50 gallon long tank from glasscages.com. It should work pretty nicely with a senegal.
 
what kind of tanganyikans do you have? and how many other fish are you gonna have in a 55? also you should take into account that the bichir will grow larger while some of your tanganyikans will stay smaller.
 
i aint fo sho cuz i got them from a tank that said "assorted lake cihlids".one is albino and one looks like another fish i seen called a peacock,and a yellow one and an orange one with black stripes.
 
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