[LydiaGreen]

Originally Posted by flynngriff

I think you're also underestimating the size of these fish when they're fully grown, especially in a 375 gallon tank. My delhezi bichir is already over a foot long, and he's in a 125. I would guess you'll be look at an average of 16-18 inches for the bichirs, and the shovelnose will probably get closer to 24 inches. You should still have enough volume in your tank to hold them, though.

The XP-3's will pump 350 GPH, in ideal conditions. Which means you're lucky to get 200-250 on most tanks. I've seen most stores rate them for up to 175 gallon aquariums, not 250. Halving the number of gallons, which is usually wise... only gives you 88 gallons. And if you have a heavy bio-load like I do, you'll have to add even more filtration. I'd really recommend 4 filstar XP-3's or fluval 404's at the bare minimum.

-Flynn

The shovelnose species that I am looking at is supposed to stay at 12-14" not 24 -- I'm trying to end up with all of the fish in an ideal range between 12 and 16 inches. My species were selected by speaking with a zoologist who is writing a book on bichirs and been keeping them himself since the 1970's. Granted, there are some fish that grow larger than average, but I am going to gamble that the majority of my fish are average.

I'm not going to run 4 XP3's. I'm going to run 2 XP3's and a 2292 Eheim wet/dry... between all of that, I should have more than adequate filtration and the zoologist agrees. Remember, I am not going to overstock my tank, I am going to understock it to allow all of the fish plenty of territory all to themselves.