I'm looking into building a plywood tank in a few months, but I am wanting to get info first. I've read on preferred tank size for bichirs, which is what I have now, is average 2 foot high. The reason stated for this is so the surface isn't to far away from the bichir fish, making it easier to get gulps of air as they please. I think my bichirs would be fine in a 72X36X36 tank but I wanted your opinions before I start the build.
Tank height for bichir fish
- Thread starter RicardoLopez567
- Start date
Which bichirs are you interested in?
I'm curious to hear what others say. My upper jaws were in a 2' tall tank and had zero problems. I can't imagine that they'd have an issue, esp. larger polys... it's not like they go to the top constantly.
I'm curious to hear what others say. My upper jaws were in a 2' tall tank and had zero problems. I can't imagine that they'd have an issue, esp. larger polys... it's not like they go to the top constantly.
I agree with
magpie
some just don't do research on Polypterus and fill aquarium all the way up with glass lid and their Bichir drowned. 
magpie
some just don't do research on Polypterus and fill aquarium all the way up with glass lid and their Bichir drowned. I currently have a senegal and an endlicheri. I plan on getting an ornate as well for sure, and am still looking into other bichir fish so if you guys know of any other cool ones I'm all ears. I like size or color, because both are eye catchers. I'm keeping my 75 as a grow out tank.
Give them some driftwood or rocks to sit on, and a variety of caves at different depths so they can decide how far from the surface they want to be.
That's an awesome idea. I was wanting to put some big pieces of driftwood in there, but I never thought about having caves at different depths. I really like that idea. You've given me another idea for a DIY background with built in caves they can swim through.
My polys are in a 2 foot tall tank right now as well, and I've always kept them in this depth. When I read that statement though about the 2 foot depth being max it made me a bit nervous. I don't want them to stress every time they need a gulp of air and have to really push themselves to reach the surface. I really like the different depth idea stated here though. Making a background with built in caves would be awesome for my bichirs and still provide plenty of open water for my other fish that'll be in the tank.
Should be fine, in the wild they most likely to dive deeper than 36”, just make sure they van get to the top to breath air like what they mentioned on top.
Why not put it in the fore ground instead, so they can feel secure and be viewed at the same time
2 - 2.5ft is considered shallow for polys, considering that the rivers they inhabit are way deeper. I would say 2.5ft is optimal for the poly hobbyist.