What to expect when bichirs meet?

[Illbuyourcatfish]

I just bought another ornate to accompany the one that i rescued and i'm curious what kind of behavior to expect? The rescue is a solid 7-8 inches while the new one is only 4-5. The larger one has already nudged the little one all over the tank and i just recently saw her snap at the face of the smaller one. Small one already has a massive appetite eating an entire night crawler intended for someone else.

So is normal behavior amongst bichirs?

 

[Deep Blue Sea]

theyll either swim together or ignore each other

 

[tyndall72]

ya it can go either way

 

[GarNiac]

sniffing each other then they'll decide what to do next.

 

[Cholly]

Might be some snapping to establish dominance, but they should be okay.

 

[iloveoscars702]

the ornate in the tank will size up the new one, just to check out the new comer. my ornate is around 8 inches and my lap is 13" and my ornate pushed the lap around when i first brought him home. now my ornate, sen and lap lay right next to eachother

 

[moonchild1970]

Yup alot of sniffing and following each other about. Maybe some snapping. That is what my new Ornate did with my other Poly's last week when I intro'd them all.

 

[msjinkzd]

sometimes if you notice they are next to each other, head to tail, with the dorsals rigid, you can expect a little scrapping. Most likely there will be minor chasing and investigation. I have had endlis try to eat smaller polys upon introduction, usually it works out ok. I just added a 12" ornate to my 18+" endlis and they didn't even take note. I think alot of it has to do with tank size/floor space as well.

 

[Madding]

Ornate's can be pretty nasty - in my opinion, they're the most aggressive bichir. I would keep my eye on them.

 

[iloveoscars702]

Ornate's can be pretty nasty - in my opinion, they're the most aggressive bichir. I would keep my eye on them.

i wouldnt say most aggressive because thats only through your experience.