Small fish as tankmates and food source?

[CitizenSnips]

Is there anything wrong about this? I had a bunch of long finned, albino and spotted danios that i added to the tank to survive as long as they can until my ornate bichir got hungry. Needless to say he ate 80% of them but is swimming through the remainder when hes out of his log passively because hes so full.

My question is, can I continue to buy small fish like this to live among my bichir as a food source or will the bichir eat himself to death?

 

[GarNiac]

we call it feeders fish, they may contain parasites and bacteria, and they're not as healthy as prepare food or pellets. But it is ok if you quarantine them prior feeding.

 

[ancientfins]

thats good for the ornate, it makes use of its predatory instinct and its fun to watch, but then as what garniac said it has risk making feeders as staple food. just be sure to quarintine first the feeders.

 

[szymon328]

if u feed danios then theres not much to worry about in terms of parasites. once u start using dirty and grimmy feeders your fish might get sick. stick with danios, fancy guppies, neon tetras, and w/e else is clean

 

[thewaterboy]

try giant danios. they are super fast and it might make the bichir work harder for his food and go longer periods without eating.

 

[CitizenSnips]

great thanks guys

 

[JamesF]

I love live feeders for bichirs. Even better than fish though are shrimp. Buy a couple dozen ghostshrimp. Very fun to watch. I'm also going to try and get some insect larvae this year. Dragon and damselfly etc. Tadpoles and frogs are also fun. Just make sure they aren't toxic.

 

[Ambervikings91]

feeders are fun, mine love em

 

[sadatru]

neon tetras are great as feeders, they look good in a school and let fish exhibit some of their predatory behaviour.