Small Senegal Bichir - Tank Mates

D

DrDraake

Feeder Fish
Oct 2, 2018
3
6
3
40
Hey guys,

This is my first adventure into the world of MFK!

Have been in and out of the hobby for the better part of two decades.

I just picked up two Senegal bichirs about 5" each. In the process of getting their 75 gallon but in the meantime I have them in my 55 gallon community tank with fancy tail guppies, multiple kinds of platies, redeye tetras, American flag fish, and more.

I put them in there for for the time being to help with crowd control as I am overrun with live bears in the tank.

My Bichirs are actually the ones getting picked on! The red eye tetras & platies are having standoffs with the Bichir and them nipping at them to chase them away. EVEN THE SMALL FRY ARE DOING THIS!

There have not been many posts on here or around the internet in the past few years about the Bichir. Have they been captive-bred for so many years now they lost thir predatory instinct?

They are much happier eating the pellet food and earthworms I give them.

Thoughts?

15384889415506885927371033431673.jpg
 
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Rocksor

Rocksor

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2011
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There's a bichir section where most of the bichir folks hang out. What you see is natural, where the prey, in sufficient numbers, will try to get the predator to move out. I would be more concerned about having only 2 polys since they show more territoriality when there is only one other poly around. Wait until night time or near dusk. The polys will start to hunt the livebearers once they get used to their surroundings.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forums/polypterus.108/
 
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FishBeast

FishBeast

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Oct 26, 2016
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Northwest Washington
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DrDraake said:
Hey guys,

This is my first adventure into the world of MFK!

Have been in and out of the hobby for the better part of two decades.

I just picked up two Senegal bichirs about 5" each. In the process of getting their 75 gallon but in the meantime I have them in my 55 gallon community tank with fancy tail guppies, multiple kinds of platies, redeye tetras, American flag fish, and more.

I put them in there for for the time being to help with crowd control as I am overrun with live bears in the tank.

My Bichirs are actually the ones getting picked on! The red eye tetras & platies are having standoffs with the Bichir and them nipping at them to chase them away. EVEN THE SMALL FRY ARE DOING THIS!

There have not been many posts on here or around the internet in the past few years about the Bichir. Have they been captive-bred for so many years now they lost thir predatory instinct?

They are much happier eating the pellet food and earthworms I give them.

Thoughts?

View attachment 1337868
Click to expand...
Welcome! Bichirs are great fish! Give them time to settle. Fish will start disappearing.
 
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D

DrDraake

Feeder Fish
Oct 2, 2018
3
6
3
40
Rocksor said:
There's a bichir section where most of the bichir folks hang out. What you see is natural, where the prey, in sufficient numbers, will try to get the predator to move out. I would be more concerned about having only 2 polys since they show more territoriality when there is only one other poly around. Wait until night time or near dusk. The polys will start to hunt the livebearers once they get used to their surroundings.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forums/polypterus.108/
Click to expand...
Thanks for responding FishBeast and Rocksor. As well as the advice!

I will look into getting a 3rd when the 75 gallon is up and running. It has only been a few days but they can seem to care less about each other. Both Polys are still small with plenty of room to swim to not see each other. If they had less room I could see them fighting over a cave or a active hunting spot.

They are quite easy to tell when they are starting to get hungry. They stop swimming around and go into "hunting mode" They hide in the Hornwart to wait for a fish to swim by. Then they get picked on by the prey and move to another hiding spot. So I go out and find some earthworms in the yard and give them an easy meal.
 
L3CTR0N

L3CTR0N

Polypterus
MFK Member
May 14, 2017
623
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Singapore
Gouramies like the pearl gourami, blue gourami and snakeskin gourami can be good tankmates. Just don't add dwarf gouramies or pygmy gouramies or they'll just be snacks. There could be a possiblity that the platies are eating the bichir's slime coat, you'll need to watch out for that since the slime coat protects it from disease.
 
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