my new bichir

[Windex]

i got him 2 days ago from petsmart. hes only 2 inches and skinny as a pencil. ive been feeding him convict fry and need to go get some shrimp and shrimp pellets. ill put a picture up when i can get some good ones. he loves his 70 home all to himself =P

[FishHead]

can't wait to see pics. I really like the dinosaur bichirs. They get like a foot long which is pretty wild. I would love to have a tank of needlefish and bichirs.

[Scuba Kid]

What species of bichir is it?

[Clerk]

P-mart only sells dinosaur Bichers to my knowledge, once he adjusts they can grow up to a mm per day (or something like that.)

If memory serves a 70 will be okay for awhile, but I think a larger tank may be needed for adult size.

[Windex]

yeah its a dino

im gonna get a way bigger tank when i get some extra money so its cool =)

he just swims and swims

pics soon

[reefman5]

i've had some experience with bichirs i have 2 dinosaurs and would like to get an ornate but i'd need a bigger tank

[Gump]

Just so you all know a "dino" bichir is a polypterus senegalus and a 70 should be just fine for life.

[bass man]

as gump said, polypterus senegalus, 70 gallons will be plenty for life.

[ikermalli]

never heard of a birchir but it has the word dino before it so I hope you get some pics up soon!

[Scuba Kid]

Look at the date on the thread. It was posted in August.

Let dead threads rest in peace.

[SoBe_fish]

Sooo I've had this same bichir for ...2 1/2 years and he/she doesnt seem to have grown at all in my 20 gallon tank (getting a bigger one once I can afford it) is there something wrong with her/him?


p.s. how can you tell if its male or female?

[The Tick]

Hey there, SoBe_fish! Welcome on board! For future reference, you probably will want to start a new thread with a question like this. If you go into a particular section of the forum, right about all the threads you will find a "new topic" button. Press that and BAM! Away you go!

But to your question, usually fish won't grow because of infrequent water changes and/or insufficient nutrition. Both real bummers for the fish! Of course a 20 gallon isn't big enough for such a fish long-term, but it should still grow. How often are you changing the water in there? Nobody likes to swim in their own poop, man! Also, how big is your little guy and what are you feeding?

As to sex, I can't help you. That kinda came out wrong, but you know what I mean...Sorry, chum!

[SoBe_fish]

I do monthly cleaning and as of today i bought a brand new filter and i feed him freeze-dried bloodworms, shrimp pellets, brine shrimp and regular fish flakes (i dont give him all that at once but his favorite is the brine shrimp)

My bichirs' name is (SoBe, teehee) and he's about 4 inches in length... *i'll see if i can find the new thread, im so technically challenged @.@*

[The Tick]

No problem, SoBe_fish! I'm right there with you on the technically challenged issue. Technology is a breeding ground for EVIL! That is a puzzle that your bichir hasn't grown more. Monthly water changes are fairly infrequent for my taste; I usually prefer weekly. Some people do daily water changes to get those finned wonders to grow quickly, but I think in two-and-a-half years SoBe ought to be a bit bigger. Hopefully someone will be able to answer this for you, 'cause I'm just plain STUMPED!

[flamingo]

Sobe, to help (sorry about running off in chat ), your bichir should be close to full grown, if not already there, by now. I would switch up it's diet- mainly towards freeze-dried krill, market shrimp, fish, etc. If you look in the profile section, I wrote a quick piece of info on them.
And btw, you won't be able to tell the sex until they reach about 6-8 inches or so. Even so, it's not the easiest. The anal fin (the larger, "fleshy" fin on a bichir) differs in thickness and size between the sexes, and males will "flip their cup" IE: curling that certain fin upwards.