Vieja Bifasciatus

[hangstout]

So I am writing this as my first post, and I know you all are going to yell at me for it.

I recently SAVED a Bifa from living in a 5 gallon bucket. it was in a bucket for the entire summer and my buddy felt superad so he gave it to me (with pressure of course) Anyways, she (i believe) is now doing great in my 30 gal tank solo. Is this tank too small? and anybody have any opinions on possible tankmates? "She" is about 1.5 years old and about 5.5 inches as of now. Let me know!

 

[Matt724]

definitely too small, but much better than a 5 gallon bucket so kudos to you for that. They are beautiful fish, but require tanks at least 80 and up. Probably like 100 would be better.

Oh, and WELCOME to MFK! Great place. I've never dealt with these personally so you'll probably want to wait for some better advice from a pro.

 

[Gruff Master]

Welcome to MFK. You definitely did a good thing by taking the Bifa out of the 5gal bucket. The only thing that is cause for concern now is its current size, a year and half old and its only 5.5". It should be much bigger than that after that amount of time. Your friend must have kept it in tight quarters for a very long time. Normally a 30gal would impossible for a 1.5yr. old Bifa especially with tankmates. They would need at least a 75 as a minimum. Yours may be stunted though.

 

[buddha1200]

its definnantly stunted,bifas get at least 10 inches in a yearand a half,and as far as tank mates they will never make it in that tank(bifa's are very mean to tank mates if they dont have enough room) you did a good thing by taking it but now you need to get a bigger tank or rehome it where it can have the proper room. good luck with it and keep us posted.

 

[R0B]

First of all you rock for getting it out of that bucket. Like everyone has said, you will need a larger tank then a 30G but its definitely an upgrade already. I'd go with a standard 150 and get a few tank mates. One other thing to think about is your enjoyment with the fish. Once you have the larger tank and the months go by you might notice that he hasn't grown. This is because the fish is most likely stunted at this point. If your cool with the size it is now, then awesome. You have a nice fish on your hands

 

[hangstout]

Thanks to you all for the input. I believe that it is most deffinately stunted, but i am not sure it forever. I know the guy had it in a ten all last year, and then the 5 all summer, so it was in some tight quarters, but in the month that i have had it, it has grown about 1/2 in. I hope it will continue to grow, and I am working on a source for it in a larger tank.