The Poly Compatibility Thread

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BuffaloPolypteridae

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 5, 2013
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Buffalo
OK, I get so many questions from friends on whether or not polys will work with X fish, and myself and others post specific threads for certain fish, but it would be great if everyone just shared the good and bad combos they have tried w/ polypterus, why they were good and why they were bad should be included.

Back when I had my first tank in high school, my Senegal bichir and leopard ctenopoma got along great, hung out together and just cruised along all the time. That pair got me in love w/ fishkeeping

Also have had a rainbow/red/whateveryouwannacallit hi fin wolf fish, a lot of people advised me against this combo but enough encouraged that i tried, and its worked out great so far. The only one whos actually been nipped is the red wolf. He tries to push my ornate around like hes trying to play (because hes not biting it seems more of a curious action) and when the ornate is fed up he spins around and tries to nip. Which he rarely lunges, its seems like a GTFO move. (Measurements currently are Red wolf- 6 in. Ornate- 7 in.)

Adding a gold dust from JA later this week, hopefully he gets along just as well, if not the red is going into a bachelor tank for sure.

So other then obvious size difference conflicts, post whatever you may about keeping polys w/ other fish, good or bad. This should help a lot of people out once it lifts off



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I guess I'll start. I've kept mine with knives, cats, gars, etc and haven't had any problems except for once, a smaller senegal, the only fish that ever got attacked and eaten. I know you didn't want the obvious size difference statement but I honestly think that's the way to know if they'll get along. The sen was just too small, I thought it was large enough at 7" but obviously my 14" endli thought otherwise and slurped him up.

I've had a pretty mean jaguar cichlid with them that would push them around and try to bully them but they never cared and would just chill in his territory whenever so he eventually gave up.


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Good/decent combo: large top swimming fish of simalar size (arowana, mahseer, angelfish) etc
Predatory fish of similar size (payara*, african tigerfish*, tarpon, datnoids, dorados, pbass, gars)
Other bichirs, smaller knifefish, ctenopomas

*works for me and others


OK combos (few injuries to none): rays, red wolf fish (erythrinus), catfish of similar size



Risky combos: larger wolf fish (Larger Hoplias), large species of catfish (RTC, goonch), snakeheads, largemouth bass (no go), large cichlids



No go: smaller fish (tetras, danios), plecos, and piranhas.


As a disclaimer, this is my opinion. People will obviously disagree with me but this is my list in how I would keep my bichirs.
 
Only issue I had was with a BGK that was attacked by one of the sen's, or one of the ornates. BGK was removed and still surviving, but has a stub for a tail.
 
I had my bichirs with two largish oscars and a blood parrot, the parrot tried to bully the bichirs but he just couldnt seem to bother them at all. The oscars paid them no attention what so ever. Also had syno cats with no problems. Right now i have my bichirs with a green terror jd and 4 convicts. Still no problems for the bichirs, occasionally a cichlid will get its fin caught when trying to get food off the bottom.



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Aw3s0m3 said:
I guess I'll start. I've kept mine with knives, cats, gars, etc and haven't had any problems except for once, a smaller senegal, the only fish that ever got attacked and eaten. I know you didn't want the obvious size difference statement but I honestly think that's the way to know if they'll get along. The sen was just too small, I thought it was large enough at 7" but obviously my 14" endli thought otherwise and slurped him up.

I've had a pretty mean jaguar cichlid with them that would push them around and try to bully them but they never cared and would just chill in his territory whenever so he eventually gave up.


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Click to expand...

Oh yeah, issues like that so people know what sizes are safe is a good thing to add
 
I have successfully paired BGK with 4 polys Endli, sens, ornate.. They seem to ignore him even though he puts his tail in their noses
 
Ok I only have one full experience with polys. I had a sene in with gouramis a cae and a hi fin pleco. Pleco ignored him as did the gouramis. The cae on the other hand saw a Vegas style seafood buffet. Poor sene. Just got Senegal number two last night and am very excited to see what everyone posts here.
 
I recommend every poly tank have a ctenopoma! My big cteno and Senegal are best buds and I've heard many similar stories. Synodontis cats seem to do well; even when mine were tiny they were left alone. On the other hand I lost $40 of congo tetras (they were only avalible as juviniles in my area, perhaps if they were full grown they would have had a better chance) in one week. She also attacked an African brown knife that was 3 inches at 5 inches. I loved that knife, wish it had worked out. My local zoo has a tank with a handful of 6-8 inch African knives and it makes me so jelly!
 
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