My Synodontis and my poly share the same cave in my tank - I also have a 2 inch rapheal catfish that sometimes goes in there with them.
Why do bichirs lay together?
- Thread starter Mario1994
- Start date
I second this. If given places to hide they would and you would see them get more aggressive with each other. Its been my experience when given places to hide with driftwood they get territorial protecting there spots.
+1, I have lots of hiding spots and my 6 Polys always either swim away from each other or chase/nudge each other away and never pile.
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Most of my Poly's stay close to each other but my Delhezi has claimed a small cave that he only can fit 2/3rds of the way into. His tail is always sticking out, he has to back out to exit he has gotten to big to turn around inside the cave.
My laps pile. My ornates are definitely solitary. The dels sometimes lie near others, but mostly stick to themselves. Retros are the same. Any video I've ever seen in the wild is of individual bichirs. Someone seriously needs to research these guys in the wild.
i do think its a defensive mechanism. if i put myself in the middle of the pile, its my neighbor in the periphery who gets eaten and not me. the piling behavior becomes more pronounced when i do a sudden change in the tank (rearranging of driftwood) or if i remove their hiding places. I dont see bichirs piling when there are very many hiding places and each has their own territory.
My Senegal and ornate pile and my Weeksii is quite solitary 
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