Couple of Poly Questions for the Bichir Guru's

[koltsixx]

Yeah. He doesn't let down when it comes to bichirs for sure. Definitely would recommend doing cargo shipping next time since its way more cost efficient and the fish are usually in the box for only like 6-10 hours. The PBB probably will take 1-2 months to do a full transformation (depending on your substrate too). Endlicheri maybe 1-2 weeks for a full transformation. Just a sidenote, there's endlicheri from Dabola (what you recevied) and a sp. "Dabola" so you might confuse other people when you start saying "Dabola" by itself.

I'm definitely going to do something different when ordering next time. The experience was not just expensive but bad. It came a day late, the first phone rep was rude and nasty from the start and the box was trashed. Worst experience I've ever had with them by far but the fish came in okay so it's all good.

My apologies, I didn't know there was sp. Dabola. I'll edit my post to avoid confusion. Thank you Hao .

 

[Hao]

I'm definitely going to do something different when ordering next time. The experience was not just expensive but bad. It came a day late, the first phone rep was rude and nasty from the start and the box was trashed. Worst experience I've ever had with them by far but the fish came in okay so it's all good.

My apologies, I didn't know there was sp. Dabola. I'll edit my post to avoid confusion. Thank you Hao .

Yeah. I always try to do cargo shipping whenever possible with any vendor, unless its a baby fish. I remember my first or second order from Toyin back in 2009/2010. It was via USPS and they lost my package too. I got the fish 4 days later but fortunately it arrived just fine. Bichirs are tanks as long as the water isn't freezing, they'll generally be ok. Heck I've even received a box (from another vendor) once where the bag/box was destroyed and no water left in the bag but bichir pulled through.

 

[koltsixx]

Yeah. I always try to do cargo shipping whenever possible with any vendor, unless its a baby fish. I remember my first or second order from Toyin back in 2009/2010. It was via USPS and they lost my package too. I got the fish 4 days later but fortunately it arrived just fine. Bichirs are tanks as long as the water isn't freezing, they'll generally be ok. Heck I've even received a box (from another vendor) once where the bag/box was destroyed and no water left in the bag but bichir pulled through.

I used to pick up at airport but it was a pain as I'd have to pay tolls and the traffic in NY getting to a airport is pretty horrendous. It wasn't even really an option this time as someone crashed into my car while it was parked over night and while I contemplated putting a claim in a tree fell on it.Squashed it good so now I'm looking for a new car.

Funny I had a similar issue with the post office and I think it was with a Toyin order too. I'd have to look back in my old posts here but I bought a Papyrocanus afer and I think it went missing for a week and to my surprise it was still alive when they found it. I went to the PO and opened it at the counter and he was fine. I hadn't order in a long time from Toyin after his site disappeared but when I placed the order for the Polys I found old texts from 2016.

 

[beau1990]

Hey koltsixx
I no longer have a Facebook could you hook me up with his email? I would like to order from him as well

 

[koltsixx]

Hey koltsixx
I no longer have a Facebook could you hook me up with his email? I would like to order from him as well

beau1990 No problem, his phone # is (713) 502-5620 and his email is Rehobothaquatics2000@gmail.com. I emailed, texted and spoke to him on the phone which is why I provided both email and phone # and both are listed on his FB.

 

[koltsixx]

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.

 

[Hao]

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.

Majority of my bichirs are not active at all. They just sit there. Pretty normal for bichirs. There are individuals that do cruise around the tank though.

Sp. Kouloton is what most of us consider a Polypterus bichir (lapradei). It's usually spelled as Koloton. There's also Koliba but for the most part koliba/koloton is used interchangeably. It's never been officially changed so their names are still sp. koloton/koliba but you'll often see people say "koliba/koloton lapradei" since they resemble lapradei but look quite different from other lapradeis from Guinea. Koloton/koliba are a beautiful variant when fully colored up/showing markings.

Congicus generally are just separated into Congo (widespread in river/lakes?) and Lake Tanganyika. As for variation, both can have diverse looking headshape, colors, and pattern. This is usually true among most bichirs, you can get 10 fish of the same species from the same location and they could potentially look different from one another (in terms of shape,color,pattern).

 

[koltsixx]

Majority of my bichirs are not active at all. They just sit there. Pretty normal for bichirs. There are individuals that do cruise around the tank though.

Sp. Kouloton is what most of us consider a Polypterus bichir (lapradei). It's usually spelled as Koloton. There's also Koliba but for the most part koliba/koloton is used interchangeably. It's never been officially changed so their names are still sp. koloton/koliba but you'll often see people say "koliba/koloton lapradei" since they resemble lapradei but look quite different from other lapradeis from Guinea. Koloton/koliba are a beautiful variant when fully colored up/showing markings.

Congicus generally are just separated into Congo (widespread in river/lakes?) and Lake Tanganyika. As for variation, both can have diverse looking headshape, colors, and pattern. This is usually true among most bichirs, you can get 10 fish of the same species from the same location and they could potentially look different from one another (in terms of shape,color,pattern).

Thank you Hao I was honestly very worried. As I said they move but not much and wedneday13 thread and some of the vids I've seen had some active Bichir.

I had a feeling Sp. Kouloton/Koloton and Koliba were the same Bichir but I didn't want to assume. Toyin had them listed as Kouloton and I appreciate the clarification and I appreciate you telling me that they resemble lapradei but look different when colored up. I'll go look over some pics online to get an idea.
thing

Thank you for the answer on Congicus as well. I wasn't sure as I don't recall ever seeing Congicus labeled as anything but Congicus and wasn't sure of their pattern. The Endlicheri Dabola for instance looks vastly different then the one CB Endli I did have in the past and was wondering if the same was true for Congicus. The Endlicheri Dabola I just got has colored up real nice IMO and I'm very happy.

 

[Hao]

Thank you Hao I was honestly very worried. As I said they move but not much and wedneday13 thread and some of the vids I've seen had some active Bichir.

I had a feeling Sp. Kouloton/Koloton and Koliba were the same Bichir but I didn't want to assume. Toyin had them listed as Kouloton and I appreciate the clarification and I appreciate you telling me that they resemble lapradei but look different when colored up. I'll go look over some pics online to get an idea.
thing

Thank you for the answer on Congicus as well. I wasn't sure as I don't recall ever seeing Congicus labeled as anything but Congicus and wasn't sure of their pattern. The Endlicheri Dabola for instance looks vastly different then the one CB Endli I did have in the past and was wondering if the same was true for Congicus. The Endlicheri Dabola I just got has colored up real nice IMO and I'm very happy.

Yeah. It's more of a concern if you see your bichir swimming up and down the glass nonstop (glass surfing usually a sign of stress, might lead to abrasion of the lips). I think that's also why people shy away from bichirs because they generally don't move but that makes them the perfect photography subject haha.

Random fact, Congicus used to be part of endlicheri group but they got separated several years ago (old scientific name: Polypterus endlicheri congicus). The reason why you don't see Congicus being labeled as anything is because for the past 20+ years, they've only been importing Congicus from Congo. It wasn't until like 2021 that Lake Tanganyika specimens were imported into the aquarium trade. I also believe that they started called them "sp. Giselas"/ "Gisela's bichir" as a marketing ploy. If they were to advertise them as Congicus, probably people would not be as interested. But yeah, since those Lake Tanganyika ones are newer, their price tag is also much higher. As for captive bred, CB congicus do exist in the aquarium trade but you don't see them that often at all even in Asia. I don't think there's ever been a CB congicus import into US (but I could be wrong). But generally, their head shape does not look as good as their wild caught counterpart (pretty much true for all bichirs, main reason why wild caught ones are highly desired).

 

[koltsixx]

Yeah. It's more of a concern if you see your bichir swimming up and down the glass nonstop (glass surfing usually a sign of stress, might lead to abrasion of the lips). I think that's also why people shy away from bichirs because they generally don't move but that makes them the perfect photography subject haha.

Random fact, Congicus used to be part of endlicheri group but they got separated several years ago (old scientific name: Polypterus endlicheri congicus). The reason why you don't see Congicus being labeled as anything is because for the past 20+ years, they've only been importing Congicus from Congo. It wasn't until like 2021 that Lake Tanganyika specimens were imported into the aquarium trade. I also believe that they started called them "sp. Giselas"/ "Gisela's bichir" as a marketing ploy. If they were to advertise them as Congicus, probably people would not be as interested. But yeah, since those Lake Tanganyika ones are newer, their price tag is also much higher. As for captive bred, CB congicus do exist in the aquarium trade but you don't see them that often at all even in Asia. I don't think there's ever been a CB congicus import into US (but I could be wrong). But generally, their head shape does not look as good as their wild caught counterpart (pretty much true for all bichirs, main reason why wild caught ones are highly desired).

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.