Training Bichir to move from Sinking Pellets to Floating Pellets?

[Sidrock]

Hi guys,

I had kept my bichirs in various grow-outs which did not have any substrate (basically bare-bottom).

Now, the 1'+ Endli is in a 200 Gal.. and the <=7" ones (one Endli and 2 Dels) are in a 4', 70 Gal tank.

Both have sand as substrate.

Question 1: Is it possible to train these bichir to move from sinking food to floating pellets? If yes, how?

Question 2: Can I feed them Hikari Sinking Cichlid pellets without having to worry about them swallowing sand with the pellets?

Thank you,
Sid

 

[lix.ma14]

answer one: yes, but it' might be pretty hard to do so. bichirs are bottom feeders ya know. patience will do it.

answer 2: occasionnally they will but if the sand you are talking about is silaca sand, i won't worry too much. The silaca sand is very fine and tiny. the bichir will eventally will poop it out. if you have gravel or gritty sand, my advice would be to replace it with silica sand (the sand used to make glass).

 

[Sidrock]

answer one: yes, but it' might be pretty hard to do so. bichirs are bottom feeders ya know. patience will do it.

answer 2: occasionnally they will but if the sand you are talking about is silaca sand, i won't worry too much. The silaca sand is very fine and tiny. the bichir will eventally will poop it out. if you have gravel or gritty sand, my advice would be to replace it with silica sand (the sand used to make glass).

Hmm.. I will try to post a picture of the sand to allow you and others to confirm what type it is...