What poly species did I buy today..?

[Vancouver_98683]

Just because this lower jaw lap headshape is short and similar to an upperjaw. That's indicative to one of many captive bred abnormalities. The measy looking patterns is one of them too. This is what most of the hobbyist refer as "Indo". Meaning the ones coming out of Indonesia.

 

[Mighty Wizard]

Here are pictures of my old CB lap back in 2010. Headshape might not look the same but you get the idea.
When I first got it (Looks like your typical lapradei)
View attachment 1285003
few months later
View attachment 1285004
View attachment 1285005
View attachment 1285006

Those are quite beautiful! There are however still quite obvious deviations. Most obvious difference is, again, head shape. Further these fish have big, bulgy eyes, typical for lower-jaw species. OP's fish do not. The head of OP's fish, and indeed P. Delhezi, is longer, with eyes positioned further towards the nose, or tip of the head.

Now count the rays present in the dorsal finlets. Your Lapradei has about 3-4 rays in each finlet, which is unsurprisingly typical for the P. bichir bichir group. OP's fish on the other hand has 6-7, as many as 8 rays in each finlet.

This means that it definitely cannot be a Lapradei, or indeed a lower-jaw species at all.

 

[clm08k]

at first I thought it was a washed out ornate. But I have no idea on second glance.

 

[Dragon2]

Whatever he is, he isn't eating... Getting a bit worried now

So far I've tried:
squid
mussels
frozen bloodworm
frozen mysis
dried gammarus
cichlid sinking sticks
cichlid sinking pellets
tablet for meat-eaters

All no go. He seemed interested in the smell of the squid and mussels, but he still wouldn't eat any. I turned off the lights, otherwise he will hardly move. Right now I tried mussels and squid for the 2nd time, tank lights off, he is sniffing it but no bite so far.

Any tips? My other polys were all easy, they ate just about any food after only a day

 

[kno4te]

Wait it out and eventually it’ll eat. If worried try some chopped up tilapia or earthworms(live) and it’ll eat.

 

[clm08k]

Whatever he is, he isn't eating... Getting a bit worried now

So far I've tried:
squid
mussels
frozen bloodworm
frozen mysis
dried gammarus
cichlid sinking sticks
cichlid sinking pellets
tablet for meat-eaters

All no go. He seemed interested in the smell of the squid and mussels, but he still wouldn't eat any. I turned off the lights, otherwise he will hardly move. Right now I tried mussels and squid for the 2nd time, tank lights off, he is sniffing it but no bite so far.

Any tips? My other polys were all easy, they ate just about any food after only a day

have you tried tilapia?

 

[Dragon2]

Have never fed tilapia, because when I was a teenager I used to own a >40cm tilapia (species unknown, maybe Oreochromis aureus), which I absolutely adored. I went out and got live food for him often, from ditches, earthworms, pillbugs etc. Loved that fish.
Up until it got eaten by a red tail cat, when I had to temporarily rehome it due to moving. I TOLD them, don't put it in the same tank as that cat, it had eaten pacus before... We won't... Next week, ehm, your tilapia, we put it in with the cat, and...

So I got a bit of a trauma from that, snif.

Also, the tilapia in the store here has some gas added to the packaging, as does the salmon which I bought sometimes but could taste the gas myself... Don't really know where to get tilapia elsewhere, have to go look.

Earthworms are difficult to get here. Might have to go dig up some myself somewhere


How long would he be okay to not eat?

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Have never fed tilapia, because when I was a teenager I used to own a >40cm tilapia (species unknown, maybe Oreochromis aureus), which I absolutely adored. I went out and got live food for him often, from ditches, earthworms, pillbugs etc. Loved that fish.
Up until it got eaten by a red tail cat, when I had to temporarily rehome it due to moving. I TOLD them, don't put it in the same tank as that cat, it had eaten pacus before... We won't... Next week, ehm, your tilapia, we put it in with the cat, and...

So I got a bit of a trauma from that, snif.

Also, the tilapia in the store here has some gas added to the packaging, as does the salmon which I bought sometimes but could taste the gas myself... Don't really know where to get tilapia elsewhere, have to go look.

Earthworms are difficult to get here. Might have to go dig up some myself somewhere


How long would he be okay to not eat?

They can go for weeks without eating. It can occur with newly acquired polypterids. I wouldn't stress.

As for the gas in the fz tilapia. It's CO treated. That is why it looks fresh and bloodline is bright red. Common practice in the seafood industry. I took a screenshot below. If the frozen tilapia fillet is natural. Then the middle bloodline will always be brown. They are salt dipped as a natural preservative.

By the way. Take more pics of your captive bred Lapradei. It's gorgeous! We'd all like to see this Lapradei progression.

 

[Mighty Wizard]

Clever folks, introducing a new fish to established catfish territory...

You'd be surprised how ridiculously long bichirs can go without food. Try focusing on creating a healthy environment for it first, and treat for any potential ailments with salt.

 

[thefredpit]

another thing you could try is cod I did this for a week and I have never seen my bichirs go as crazy as they did for this. Even the ones that normally wouldn't come out if the lights were on decided that cod was worth it. However it is VERY messy and oily so this should not be a regular food but might jump start him eating