Hello fellow MFKs. I just wanted to tell you all about something I noticed about my senegalus bichir's growth. About a month ago, on May 24, I bought a 1.5 inch bichir that looked like a worm. After 1 month, however, he/she (believe it's a he) is now around 6 inches and is thicker than my middle finger! I feed (him) live earthworms from compost, frozen flounder fillet, shrimp pellets, chicken and beef liver, and even fish flakes! Basically (he) eats anything I put in the tank. Has anyone else noticed such spuratic growth from their bichirs? I also would like some advice on a feeder guppy system where the guppies live and breed in the same tank as the bichir, and the bichir eats the guppies whenever he is hungry. I know I want the system to be densely planted, so that the guppies can have a chance to escape and so that the bichir can hunt unnoticed. Any ideas? Thanks!
Senegalus Polypterus Growth
- Thread starter Sha tha Aquarist
- Start date
I'm not quite sure, it would be nice if the bichir could just hunt on its on and I just feed the feeders veggies. Should I vary the prey? Like add swordtails and mollies into the mixture(are they too big?)
From 1.5" to 6 in a month is fast, but not too much out of the norm. It should definitely slow down now or at least not grow nearly as fast length wise. As far as the guppy feeding deal. It really depends on how big of a tank you are going to try this with.
I wouldn't just feed guppies. I also don't like using feeders as food. U need a big tank with lots of fish for sure to replicate and rexover ur loses. Takes time for fry to become the size a sub adult sen may look at as food.
+1 I would say a 125 or 120 would be about the size you would need. And there are a lot of factors that make this a very hard thing to accomplish. First off how many of the fry will actually survive? Getting eaten by the bichir won't be the first problem when these little guys are born, it'll be being eaten by other guppies or live bearers. And even the ones that make it would take a while to get to a size that would actually fill the bichir up.
For right now it's an idea. I'm looking at upgrading to a 100 or 115 gallon but right now I have about 2 chocolate cichlids, the bichir, 3 buenos aires tetra, and one giant Colombian tetra. In another tank I have about 10-15 convicts. I plan on adding all the fish into a 100g or 115g but I may get the bichir its on tank so it can be a South American 100g. I still need a bit of help confirming the sex of the bichir so I can plan what kind of tank upgrade I'll need for the bichir. Males are typically 8inch average in a average size tank. They can reach 10-12inch in a giant tank. Females get around 10in-12inch in an average tank. And around 14-16inch in a giant tank. (Need confirmation on those numbers too). I would really like to make a biotope aquarium where the bichir could feed as it does in the wild.
Since feeder guppies are quite cheap, I plan on stocking 20-40 (depending on size of tank) and it will be planted so fry getting eaten shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Also my take on feeders is that, if the feeder fish have places to hide and escape and survive, it is perfectly fine imo. Throwing a goldfish in a bare bottom tank full of piranhas is wrong