size question in mixing rope with bichirs

[rnocera]

My little Senegals are doing great for me. They're eating like mad (two to three times a day), and are feeding on bloodworms and red wriggler pieces, although I haven't been able to convince either to take pellets yet. My normal has also eaten several feeder guppies, and has a tendency to look like he's about to burst! But, these little guys are only about 3" long. In the tank I also have a Florida/spotted gar that is right around 6" (and has grown an inch in just a couple weeks! WOW is this thing a machine on guppies!), and a dwarf gourami to add some color in.

Would adding a 10" or so rope fish be OK? We just got a couple ropes in at work, and they look to be almost the same thickness as the bichirs (maybe a little bit thicker, but not a whole lot), but they're way longer. Would this be OK to mix, or would I have to worry about it picking on any of my other fish? The dwarf gourami I'll get rid of in a heartbeat, as he's just there to add a little color, and I know the gar will be big enough to eat him in a few months anyway.

Thanks!
Ronnie

 

[beblondie]

I'd be concerned about a 10'' rope eating a 3'' senegal.Some people say size doesn't matter but i'm of the school of thought that big fish eat smaller fish.Do you have another tank that you could move the senegals to so they can gorw out some-Anne

 

[rnocera]

Nope, no grow out tank- this IS the grow out tank! It's no big deal. I can get rope fish in almost any time I want. I just figured this would be a good time to get one, since I want to add one more fish to the grow out tank until they're big enough to move up to the 110, so I actually have a full setup to watch.

Now, a question would be- how big of a difference can I do between the bichir & rope fish? It seems like there will always be a big difference in size, because the ropes are so long and slender compared to the bichir. It seems like when my bichir are about the same thickness as a rope, the bichir will be about 4-4.5" and the rope will be about 10". Still a huge difference!

 

[davcheng]

I've had a 2.5" albino senegal with a 12" rope (and other larger bichirs) with no problems. I thought that they would mistaken the small albino senegal with rosey reds, but they didn't. Just depends on if you're willing to risk the senegal being eaten I guess.