dinosaur bichir

[pullins125]

i got mine. he is in with a leporinus 5", buffalohead 3", and ctenopia 4". no problems at all. getting another to put with some peac0cks, firemouths, and convicts. should worj good. but a little advice frogman, move tetras before the bichir gets big, just my opinion. i put in 5 rosy minnows and the bichir ate 3 of the 5 and mine is still young. i can tell they get aggresive.

[sidneymysnake]

I had a senegal birchir in with 2 dempsys and he did very well just gave him plenty places to hide and comet goldfish.

[frogman5]

yeh i kno im moving him he is still small tho that is why i trust did feed him a danio the other week tho...he will be goin to the 120 in about 3 weeks

[Satyr]

my first post! hi! .... ya, so on to bichirs. i have 2 senegals (dinasour eels) and have pretty much researched the hell out of how to responsibly keep them. ill be glad to help you out and ill highlight important points for ya as im sure this will be a good yet long read.

Eating: a diet of something like hikari sinking carnivore pellets or massivore pellets will be a nice staple diet. you can supplement every few weeks with some fresh diced fish fillets from your grocers freezer if you like. just dont get salmon, its too oily. whiting and cod are good. they are "opportunistic predators" so they wolnt deliberately be mean and try to eat tank mates, it just sort of happens. they have bad eye sight and hunt by smell, so if they get a scent they will take a "test bite" to see if it might be food, whether the other fish is actually too big to eat or not. its not uncommon to find a cory cat or something with a missing tail fin due to being kept with a senegal bichir. ~ and i dont suggest keeping them with cichlids since i have heard of cichlids relentlessly tearing at the bichir's tail, its so big and feathery they cant resist. then again i have heard of bichirs being mean to cichlids.

feeding regimen: they may be fed as little as every other day or up to 3 times a day depending on how fast you want it to grow. power feeding (3 times a day) combined with 50% water changes on a weekly or bi-weekly basis will encourage massive amounts of growth very quickly.

Tank conditions: tank size for one senegal by itself should be at a bare minimum (and still be responsible) 36" long and 12" wide (senegals do not actually get 12" long, 10" a safe bet in the home aquarium. remember those max growth lengths are from the largest ones ever caught in the wild, fish dont get that big in captivity). a 55 gallon or 40 breeder can hold 2, maybe even 3. they are messy eaters and poopers so a good filter, or two, is needed. ***** must have a sand or dirt bottom ***** senegals do not always bite what they intend to bite. i have heard of even 7" senegals dieing because they accidentally swallowed a peice of gravel and it couldnt pass through their system. its a horrible feeling to have a fish and grow it up to that size only to lose it to something and simple as a single piece of gravel. sand is a good way to go.

yes i realize im writing a book here

they dont like bright lights so make sure there is low lighting in the tank. leave the water level a couple of inches short of the top of the tank so they hae room to breath... they will occasionally go to the surface and take a breath. they have special lungs that allow for use of gills like a regular fish and temporary surface breathing. for this reason they can withstand water conditions that are less than perfect making them harder to kill by accident than normal fish. though i do not recommend letting the water become dirty. water flow- make sure the tank is relatively calm. this will aid in them finding their food since they hunt by smell.

tank mates: dont not keep with: plecos, sorry, i know you have one but they are commonly known amongst bichir owners that plecos will suck on the senegals scale and cause open wounds. other bad tank mates include but are not limited to: any fish small enough to fit into its mouth, cichlids ( i have seen a picture of a senegal with half of a cichlid hanging out of its mouth, the cichlid lived cause it was to big to swallow but the senegal tryd anyway), any thing that has a mouth big enough for a senegal to fit into and has a predatory nature. good tank mates: other senegals and a few other bichirs including the delhezi. there is a long list of "good tank mates" but it is all in theory. they may work out, they may not.

water conditions: no specific pH is needed. they adapt. just cycle your tank and keep nitrate levels low and you'll be fine. so long as the ph doesnt swing outside the range of 6 - 8.

thats about all the really important things i can think of right now. if you have any more questions right now just ask. oh, and one last thing.

THE END

lol good novel huh?

[Suess00]

good information, I have been interested in getting one but am still doing the proper research before I do the purchase

[Satyr]

ya, if i had planned better i probably wouldnt have gotten any of these cause iv got to upgrade my tanks for growing fish and its just too much money to take care of these monsters plus others, i also have another species of bichir called a delhezi. they get to about 12" (14" is the "max"). however just one wouldnt be too bad since all thats required is a 30 gallon. and a delhezi and a senegal can be kept together in a 40 breeder since it has extra width.

[frogman5]

no one would be bad in a 30 gallon a 12-14 inch fish in a 30 gallon and ive seen a few that past the 14 inch mark i wouldnt put a senegal or delhezi in a 30 or 2 in a 40 these guys like the extra space

12-14 inch fish in a with a tank that is 12 inches wide
2 10 inch plus fish in 3 feet tank no way
i have one of these guys in a grow out 30 gallon until it gets bigger then goes into the 120 but i couldnt imagine keeping one of these guys in there for life i fill bad for it already

[Satyr]

i meant 1 senegal -and 1 senegal alone- in a 30 gallon... it is a minimum tank size. yes a delhezi gets too big for a 30. and if youve got pics of a 12" or 14" senegal id like to see that.

[frogman5]

no way would i ever put a senegal in a 30 but i guess that is just my opinion and as for as a picture of a 12-14 inch senegal i was talking about a delhezi not a senegal but i think someone on monsterfishkeepers.com has a big senegal tho....but my opinion i say no 30's for any bichirs

[trashion]

I agree w/ frogman, just doesn't sound like a good idea.

[pullins125]

good idea to do research before you buy any fish or any pet in general. great call

[Satyr]

i tend to agree that 30 is a bit small for one. im going by the sticky guidelines set up by one of the mods on MFK. i think what the reference meant was minimum tank size without causing any health problems. so in a way your right. senegals do swim around alot and personaly if i had the room and money right now i probably wouldnt put one in anything less than a 8' long tank just so they could get some REAL exercise. but then again an 8' tank is a bit excessive. all that was meant by minimum tank size was minimum to keep alive. and by the way, i relocated my bichirs to a new place in hopes that they would find a more adequate home since i didnt feel that i could get them a big enough tank as they needed it.

[luke109]

Originally Posted by frogman5 dinosaur bichir great choice have 1 myself and prolly getting others....when it gets big it may try to eat the smaller species of guoramis but it shouldnt eat the larger ones i dont think....it needs a minimum of a 55 gallon tank...and no it is not a brackish fish....it wont be big enough to eat angelfish i kno that

So can i get a Polypterus senegalus And a peacock eel together?
Will the Polypterus senegalus eat elephant fish?

[luke109]

So Can I Get a Polypterus senegalus(dino bichir) And a peacock eel together?
Will the Polypterus senegalus eat elephant fish?

[Anaughtybear]

I posted this in another thread where bichir were discussed, but I'll paste it in here as well, since this seems a more appropriate area. Also, thanks to Satyr, your post was very informative.

I have noticed that there is a lot of differing opinions about the temperament of these fish. Keep in mind that individuals of all animal species differ in personality, depending on various factors such as how they were raised. I have seen individuals of many "aggressive" breeds of fish that are almost affectionate, and the opposite is true as well.

As for my albino Senegal bichir, I've only had him for a few days now, but he seems quite comfortable with me at any time I do anything with his tank. He even watches the cats watching him. The issue I have is that he is small. He was in a very small tank at a pet store for about a year before I bought him, and is about 6" long. I'm sure he was underfed as well, considering their healthy appetites. I am hoping that he decides to continue growing, now that he has the space and abundance of food. He already has a prominent anal fin, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't achieve near max size.

I simply bought him because I thought he looked cool, and I love albinos of any species. Also, I had recently watched a TV show about snakehead fish, and these guys remind me of them. The more I researched these fish, the more I realized how unique and interesting they are.

My bichir's tank set up is pretty simple at the moment, and he is the only occupant. Since they don't seem to be picky about their living conditions, I just have a filter, heater, decorations, and no light. I figured that since albinos generally have sensitive eyes, he might appreciate a dimmer environment. I just gave him an opaque food container to hide in, and he seems to like that just fine.

I plan on feeding him a variety of foods, whatever looks tasty that week. Some animals become bored with one type of food, I'm not sure if that is the case with bichirs or not. So far, he has eaten a couple types of sinking pellets and guppies, and I just bought a few types of frozen food. I have fed other fish crickets and other non-traditional foods with good luck, and it sounds like bichir don't refuse much of anything.

If you have other bichir tips or suggestions for me, I'd appreciate hearing about it. I think that given a little time, these fish will gain more popularity and their will be a more mainstream market for them.