Couple of Poly Questions for the Bichir Guru's

[Hao]

Thank you again Hao . Last fish I had glass surf was my RTC/TSN hybrid but he cooled out and now I know it's because in his case he's perpetually looking for food. And I love a good photography subject.

I think I remember seeing that in the past, I believe the site was dedicated to Polys or Ancient fish where I saw that. So your big Congicus is from the Congo? Again, I'm a big fan of your big boi. Got me thinking of Wes and his Gisela that is if he still has them. Matter of fact I may hit him up today to ask. Unfortunately, as you said it'd be hard for him to pick out a nice one since he probably is keeping them in a bare bottom. Again, thanks Hao.

Which big congicus are you referring to?

 

[koltsixx]

Hao I saw your big Congicus on youtube?

 

[Hao]

Hao I saw your big Congicus on youtube?

Oh yes that one is from Congo. I have 15 (I think?) congicus in total (my favorite species actually haha). Some are from Congo and some are from Lake Tanganyika.

 

[koltsixx]

Oh yes that one is from Congo. I have 15 (I think?) congicus in total (my favorite species actually haha). Some are from Congo and some are from Lake Tanganyika.

Wow! I had no idea. Well, I seen one of those 15, Godzilla. I don't know if you are but I'm a big Godzilla fan boi.

 

[wednesday13]

Hoping to ask a couple of more questions.

One is my Bichir aren't very active, looking at wednesday13 thread his looked very energetic while mine have been fairly sedentary. They move, don't appear to be stressed but I don't see active swimming like I did in wednesday13 thread. I'm not sure if it's that they're still getting used to their surroundings. The tank has hides but they don't use them, preferring to stay toward the front of the tank and only occasionally moving. They're the largest fish in the tank but not by much. Tankmates are catfish who remain hidden unless feeding with the exception of a Albino Yarelli and Platinum RTC/TSN. The Yarrelli typically sits in front of a powerhead and the Hybrid is an off and on active swimmer and the tank is within my view most of the time and I haven't seen any aggression.

Two is I'm curious about sp. Kouloton, I haven't seen any pics of them online and a search here only netted some posts from J jaws7777 . Any info. would be appreciated as once I know my Polys are okay, I am interested in picking up more.

I'm also interested in Congicus. Are there different looking variants? I really wanted the WC Albino but it's out of my price range. Otherwise, I like patterns on Polys the more intricate the better.

I cant offer much advice or knowledge as im pretty green with polys… you can see in my thread tho they did not do well with other species of tank mates so i made them their own tank. As for the activity you see in my pics. I only feed 1-2 times a week. They come out and beg for food and thats when i usually get the camera. If i walk by, they do come up to greet me. Probably because they want fed tho lol… any time i get a new one i do feed daily until its bulked up. After a month or two its back to my regular schedule of mainly one heavy feeding once a week. As ive found with keeping catfish in solo tanks. They act alot different when housed alone. Become more personable and active. There is alot of truth in keeping polys in numbers also. My group is still small compared to most but they chilled out alot with 8 total now than opposed to even 5 or 6. They were flighty for a bit and scared before i added more. The more you have the more calm they are.
Your are still fresh, id just focus on bulking them up and letting them settle in before worrying. Add a few more also

 

[koltsixx]

I cant offer much advice or knowledge as im pretty green with polys… you can see in my thread tho they did not do well with other species of tank mates so i made them their own tank. As for the activity you see in my pics. I only feed 1-2 times a week. They come out and beg for food and thats when i usually get the camera. If i walk by, they do come up to greet me. Probably because they want fed tho lol… any time i get a new one i do feed daily until its bulked up. After a month or two its back to my regular schedule of mainly one heavy feeding once a week. As ive found with keeping catfish in solo tanks. They act alot different when housed alone. Become more personable and active. There is alot of truth in keeping polys in numbers also. My group is still small compared to most but they chilled out alot with 8 total now than opposed to even 5 or 6. They were flighty for a bit and scared before i added more. The more you have the more calm they are.
Your are still fresh, id just focus on bulking them up and letting them settle in before worrying. Add a few more also

Unfortunately I don't have a spare tank and I hate parting with fish. I used to cycle stock quite a bit but started trying to dedicate myself to keeping my fish long-term. My longest kept species are Trachycorystes which are 17 years old now. They're showing their age though, not as aggressive feeding and more intersex aggression. The female despite being less aggressive with pellets and shrimp, etc has taken more to trying to eat her tankmates.

I feed similar to you, semi-adult and adult fish get fed depending on species every 2-3 days. For instance, as you were responding here, I was feeding the Polys for the first time. The Endlicheri Dabola unfortunately got spooked by the cats so didn't eat so I may try again tomorrow. The PBB couldn't care less, all the activity and headbutts didn't faze him/her in the slightest. He/She didn't get the pellet stuffed shrimp I made considering them and my Albino Yarrelli but the PBB did get a bunch of meat wafer pellets. The shrimp was snatched up by the Yarrelli and RTC/TSN hybrid oh and the Pied Florida Gar. The Gar though was because I tong fed him to make sure he got his share. The Yarrelli is hella aggressive when eating, I love it. I've had bad luck with Yarrelli but this one has been doing great(knock on wood) and is an absolute machine when it comes to eating. The lid gets touched and he's tripping the light fantastic speeding around the surface twisting and turning with incredible agility snapping at everything. I try to drop some shrimp behind him, but he turns on a dime and snatches it up. Sorry for getting off the Polys a bit but hey it's my thread and I can derail it if I want to, derail it if I want to, derail it if I want to, you would derail to if it happened to you. Sorry again old and dorky. lol

That's what my focus is going to be on, pumping them up. The Endli Dabola came in decent but the PBB was skinny enough for me to be slightly concerned. So the PBB eating and well was a happy surprise but now I'm worried the Endli Dabola may not have the chops for this tank. And adding more or also sounds like a sweet plan. As I told Hao I was going to message Wes about his Gisela/Tanganyika Congicus he's got and I did this morning.

 

[wednesday13]

Unfortunately I don't have a spare tank and I hate parting with fish. I used to cycle stock quite a bit but started trying to dedicate myself to keeping my fish long-term. My longest kept species are Trachycorystes which are 17 years old now. They're showing their age though, not as aggressive feeding and more intersex aggression. The female despite being less aggressive with pellets and shrimp, etc has taken more to trying to eat her tankmates.

I feed similar to you, semi-adult and adult fish get fed depending on species every 2-3 days. For instance, as you were responding here, I was feeding the Polys for the first time. The Endlicheri Dabola unfortunately got spooked by the cats so didn't eat so I may try again tomorrow. The PBB couldn't care less, all the activity and headbutts didn't faze him/her in the slightest. He/She didn't get the pellet stuffed shrimp I made considering them and my Albino Yarrelli but the PBB did get a bunch of meat wafer pellets. The shrimp was snatched up by the Yarrelli and RTC/TSN hybrid oh and the Pied Florida Gar. The Gar though was because I tong fed him to make sure he got his share. The Yarrelli is hella aggressive when eating, I love it. I've had bad luck with Yarrelli but this one has been doing great(knock on wood) and is an absolute machine when it comes to eating. The lid gets touched and he's tripping the light fantastic speeding around the surface twisting and turning with incredible agility snapping at everything. I try to drop some shrimp behind him, but he turns on a dime and snatches it up. Sorry for getting off the Polys a bit but hey it's my thread and I can derail it if I want to, derail it if I want to, derail it if I want to, you would derail to if it happened to you. Sorry again old and dorky. lol

That's what my focus is going to be on, pumping them up. The Endli Dabola came in decent but the PBB was skinny enough for me to be slightly concerned. So the PBB eating and well was a happy surprise but now I'm worried the Endli Dabola may not have the chops for this tank. And adding more or also sounds like a sweet plan. As I told Hao I was going to message Wes about his Gisela/Tanganyika Congicus he's got and I did this morning.

in my short experience so far… polys are pretty timid with tank mates, atleast they were for me… my albino ck’s lit mine up. Alot of people co hab them tho, im sure theyll settle in in time. My PBB were the most bold until i added congicus. Easy to see why people like them so much. Im on the hunt for some affordable “classic congi” now. The tanganyika quickly became my favorites but come with a hefty price tag.
Sounds like u gotta b careful with that goonch and hybrid… as expected tho. Theyll both turn into garbage disposals in time. More so the hybrid. Should have around 3-5yrs before he starts trying to eat everyone. What size tanks everyone in?

 

[Hao]

I think not too many people realize that Congo Congicus can also show head markings too (one feature people point out on Lake Tanganyika). Congo ones are definitely more sensitive to substrate/background when it comes to coloring up while the Lake Tanganyika generally will color up very easily on any substrate (that’s their pro).
Also it also comes down to personal preference whether or not you care about little details like the facial/head markings.

Congo ones are still my favorite since they seem to have a thicker/better headshape and for me, headshape is the number 1 thing I look at when buying my Polypterus. (Goes back to preference).

anyway I just wanted to show examples of Congo ones with nice head/facial marking since generally we always see washed out Congo congicus all over the internet. Doesn’t do them any justice.

 

[koltsixx]

in my short experience so far… polys are pretty timid with tank mates, atleast they were for me… my albino ck’s lit mine up. Alot of people co hab them tho, im sure theyll settle in in time. My PBB were the most bold until i added congicus. Easy to see why people like them so much. Im on the hunt for some affordable “classic congi” now. The tanganyika quickly became my favorites but come with a hefty price tag.
Sounds like u gotta b careful with that goonch and hybrid… as expected tho. Theyll both turn into garbage disposals in time. More so the hybrid. Should have around 3-5yrs before he starts trying to eat everyone. What size tanks everyone in?

They were doing pretty good; the Hybrid is the only cat that's anywhere near active. Both didn't seem to mind the cats checking them out. It wasn't until feeding that the Endli Dabola got spooked. Didn't take well to the Trachys headbutts and snapping mouths, the Yarelli was a non-issue because he snatched everything before it got 4-5 inches past the surface. The Endli Dabola didn't run but did take off behind some decor, he's out and about again but late to party.

The Hybrid I was eventually going to try to force on thebiggerthebetter down the line.

Right now, a 275? 96x30x24. Distribution of stock will hopefully change and new tanks in the near future. After work on my basement in my house in Georgia. Going to have to do a risky move with the fish and try to drive them down in a rented truck but it'll be a new adventure as I want to change up a lot of stuff, filtration wise etc.

Edit: Toyin has some Congicus right now but on the small size 7-9"

 

[koltsixx]

I think not too many people realize that Congo Congicus can also show head markings too (one feature people point out on Lake Tanganyika). Congo ones are definitely more sensitive to substrate/background when it comes to coloring up while the Lake Tanganyika generally will color up very easily on any substrate (that’s their pro).
Also it also comes down to personal preference whether or not you care about little details like the facial/head markings.

Congo ones are still my favorite since they seem to have a thicker/better headshape and for me, headshape is the number 1 thing I look at when buying my Polypterus. (Goes back to preference).

anyway I just wanted to show examples of Congo ones with nice head/facial marking since generally we always see washed out Congo congicus all over the internet. Doesn’t do them any justice.
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Wow! I had no idea the Congo Congicus could have such amazing patterns and you're right the head pattern is pretty sick. So Gisela/Tanganyika don't get those head patterns? Hard to describe it's almost like a starburst pattern? And you're right I've never seen Congos with so much pattern. Those poor Congicus, people doing them dirty. Man, my slang is atrocious. Every time I try to type unfiltered I cringe. And that substrate in the last pic, what is it a mix of black and tan sand?