Going down the poly worm hole…

wednesday13

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The congicus is from lake “tanganyika”? Sure does have the pattern of it.
Correct 💀🤙… theres a 2nd smaller one also not as good a pattern yet.
 
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wednesday13

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Pile up… still anxious to get these guys bumped up in a bigger tank. There pretty flighty at times. Not much growth from anyone since ive had em aside from the endli.
15014E60-5C6E-49B5-BC9C-C27B0020C6FF.jpeg9B781887-16D5-4EA3-9827-8D4C3F63C9D9.jpeg
 

jjohnwm

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I like seeing this tank. To me, bichirs are sorta like fishing boats; I sure don't want one myself, but it's nice to periodically enjoy someone else's. :)

I'm curious, Russ: you have a mix of species in there, as do many other keepers, but...why no Ornates? That's the only poly species I have ever kept, and IMHO the most beautiful, but I seem to see it far less often than the others. You, and many other keepers, seem to concentrate more on...well, on all the others! Are Ornates hard to find, or do they perhaps present some special difficulties?

My Ornate spent the majority of his time actually swimming around, like...well, like a fish. He made for an impressive display when he got big. :) Most pics I see of poly tanks seem to show them piled up quietly in a corner like bunch of big spiny turds. :)
 

Hao

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Oct 17, 2008
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I like seeing this tank. To me, bichirs are sorta like fishing boats; I sure don't want one myself, but it's nice to periodically enjoy someone else's. :)

I'm curious, Russ: you have a mix of species in there, as do many other keepers, but...why no Ornates? That's the only poly species I have ever kept, and IMHO the most beautiful, but I seem to see it far less often than the others. You, and many other keepers, seem to concentrate more on...well, on all the others! Are Ornates hard to find, or do they perhaps present some special difficulties?

My Ornate spent the majority of his time actually swimming around, like...well, like a fish. He made for an impressive display when he got big. :) Most pics I see of poly tanks seem to show them piled up quietly in a corner like bunch of big spiny turds. :)
Ornates are probably the most commonly sold bichirs at LFS (besides senegal, delhezi, and endlicheri). They tend to be on the shy side when young (wild ones especially). They also tend to have a reputation of being aggressive (especially male ones). There are lot of people who do keep them still though. Even few individuals who keep multiple ornates in one tank.
 

wednesday13

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I like seeing this tank. To me, bichirs are sorta like fishing boats; I sure don't want one myself, but it's nice to periodically enjoy someone else's. :)

I'm curious, Russ: you have a mix of species in there, as do many other keepers, but...why no Ornates? That's the only poly species I have ever kept, and IMHO the most beautiful, but I seem to see it far less often than the others. You, and many other keepers, seem to concentrate more on...well, on all the others! Are Ornates hard to find, or do they perhaps present some special difficulties?

My Ornate spent the majority of his time actually swimming around, like...well, like a fish. He made for an impressive display when he got big. :) Most pics I see of poly tanks seem to show them piled up quietly in a corner like bunch of big spiny turds. :)
Had ornates in the past, im a fan of there look. I seem to fancy the lower jaw species much more these days tho 🤷🏻‍♂️. There all surprisingly active as well. They pile up like this and settle down after they eat. They also beg for food licking glass when im walking by much more than i thought they would.
Aside from the head shapes and stature of the lower jaws i prefer, i went for the largest growing species to keep as well. Only real bummer is the growth rate as others have noted. Hoping they stretch out a bit more in my 500. Plenty room in the 5’x3’ their in now, the 10’x3’ cant hurt tho lol… need to redo the filtration/plumbing for it a bit and its really killing me i have no time to tackle the job yet. Chasing my 2yr old son around after work wears me out 😂😂. Can’t stay up like i used too for my only free time of a cple hrs in the evenings. One of these days ill catch a break and get these guys moved across the room 😬🤞
 
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