Senegal bichirs with Congo tetras

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Hendre

Hendre

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Jan 14, 2016
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Hey everyone.

My two senegal bichirs, toothless and nibblet, are still going strong and have grown quite a bit! Hanging between 6-7" at the moment since feeding is fairly sparse due to crazy commitments at school and all that nonsense. I have a barrel to set up to alleviate that stress soon.

Anyway, an unfortunate set of events has lead to the loss of 3 of my prized African knifefish. One died for unknown reasons, then bullying started and resulted in the outright death of one and the second died of dropsy in a QT tank. Now the tank just feels rather empty, and more knifefish might not be welcome following this hierarchy collapse.. Along with that the lights are starting to fizzle out (one blown, one fading) so the plants are not looking too lush either.

To solve all of this I am planning on building a new lighting unit, add more hardscape and potentially more plants but I'll see about that. But I would also like to add some upper-level (Preferably African) fish to the tank to create some activity again. Congo tetras seem like a firm favourite since they are fairly available at about 2" and will get big and deep enough to avoid being poly snacks.

What do you guys think? Will senegals eventually be able to eat congo tetras or would they be a good addition? Looking forward to hearing your input.
 
Well I put 14 congos in with my group. 12 made it out about an hour later. Now the two that actually got a Congo down were the teugs at about 18" each. The congos were large but not full grown around 3" id say. The other went after the congos too but suprisingly my albino was the most aggressive grabbing one by the back and taking more then half of the tail off another. Those two have mad a full recovery. So it may work depending on size I think later you'll be fine. If you can seperate them from each other in the tank to allow the congos time to settle in it might work better. Seems the fear pheromone is a real deal....lol.
I still have 1 black skirt in my tank no one pays any attention to and it doesnt gear them at all.
 
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twentyleagues said:
Well I put 14 congos in with my group. 12 made it out about an hour later. Now the two that actually got a Congo down were the teugs at about 18" each. The congos were large but not full grown around 3" id say. The other went after the congos too but suprisingly my albino was the most aggressive grabbing one by the back and taking more then half of the tail off another. Those two have mad a full recovery. So it may work depending on size I think later you'll be fine. If you can seperate them from each other in the tank to allow the congos time to settle in it might work better. Seems the fear pheromone is a real deal....lol.
I still have 1 black skirt in my tank no one pays any attention to and it doesnt gear them at all.
Click to expand...

I have one black skirt (about 5 years old), and it avoids every single predator I have with it. Polys, catfish, and cichlids are all unable to catch it (I used to keep a school of them as dithers and they all disappeared except for that one). It is now leading a school of other black skirts in a 20. Hendre Hendre I think you should use either them or congos.
 
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Hendre said:
Hey everyone.

My two senegal bichirs, toothless and nibblet, are still going strong and have grown quite a bit! Hanging between 6-7" at the moment since feeding is fairly sparse due to crazy commitments at school and all that nonsense. I have a barrel to set up to alleviate that stress soon.

Anyway, an unfortunate set of events has lead to the loss of 3 of my prized African knifefish. One died for unknown reasons, then bullying started and resulted in the outright death of one and the second died of dropsy in a QT tank. Now the tank just feels rather empty, and more knifefish might not be welcome following this hierarchy collapse.. Along with that the lights are starting to fizzle out (one blown, one fading) so the plants are not looking too lush either.

To solve all of this I am planning on building a new lighting unit, add more hardscape and potentially more plants but I'll see about that. But I would also like to add some upper-level (Preferably African) fish to the tank to create some activity again. Congo tetras seem like a firm favourite since they are fairly available at about 2" and will get big and deep enough to avoid being poly snacks.

What do you guys think? Will senegals eventually be able to eat congo tetras or would they be a good addition? Looking forward to hearing your input.
Click to expand...
Best chance is with Senegalus. If you keep enough cover and feed enough it may just work out.
 
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Polyaddict86 said:
I would try it, just remember that poly will out grow the congo tetra unless you can get a full grown already.
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Polys are growing quite slowly at the moment. I can get them at around 2.5"+
 
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twentyleagues said:
Well I put 14 congos in with my group. 12 made it out about an hour later. Now the two that actually got a Congo down were the teugs at about 18" each. The congos were large but not full grown around 3" id say. The other went after the congos too but suprisingly my albino was the most aggressive grabbing one by the back and taking more then half of the tail off another. Those two have mad a full recovery. So it may work depending on size I think later you'll be fine. If you can seperate them from each other in the tank to allow the congos time to settle in it might work better. Seems the fear pheromone is a real deal....lol.
I still have 1 black skirt in my tank no one pays any attention to and it doesnt gear them at all.
Click to expand...
Wow I should stop replying at 5am i cant spell or spell check my spell check. Lol
magpie magpie had congos even with Udon being 12". I think she was the only one to not chase the congos I tried. Like I said try putting them in but dividing the tank to separate them for a short period. Just a week or so.
 
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I think it could work, especially if you get them a bit larger like you mention at 2.5+. But as you know, it can be a crap shoot.

Have your two ever eaten live fish in the past?
 
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