I have 3 ornate bichirs all under 5" in a 100 gallon long tank. We have/had intentions of building a 450 in about a year. I already have my glass quote in to the company... But this morning i woke up and the smallest of the 3 seems to be having dificulty swimming correctly as if maybe her dorsal fin got damaged. She wont stand it up when she swims like she normally would. I have 2 females and a male and i believe my male is starting to beat up on the females. I know that they need more space but i was told they shouldve been fine until they got to be around a foot... I was wondering how i would go about rehoming one or two of them? Also any info on how to maybe help make them happier in the grow out tank? Or are they just already too big to share the tank? I also have a 75 gallon planted with a black ghost knife fish and a golden nugget pleco. I had previously had an ornate bichir kill a diffrent BGK on me so i was curious if you think i could put the smaller bichir in with a 6" BGK safely? I want her to get better and not continue to get beat up on but i also dont wantto lose another BGK... Any help/i fo would be GREATY appreciated.
Ornate Bichirs
- Thread starter monicatheriault218
- Start date
First off, how did you sex the bichir? From everything I've seen they are almost impossible to sex accurately. Second, bichir can be nippy and territorial, even at a small size. I had my ornate decimate a small school of Siamese algae eaters when he was only 3.5". Their nippyness is sometime aggression, but it mostly comes down to the fact that they are predators who happen to be mostly blind. To them, anything they nudge might be food so why not try a bite? If they are under 5", they should be fine to share a tank so long as there is enough clearly defined territory for each of them to claim. A full tank shot along with a shot of the affected bichir would help. With all the time I've kept bichir, I've learned that they are tough as nails. Yours will be fine. If you are intent on moving them, they should do fine with the bgk. Bgk are very similar to bichir in a few ways. Both are mostly blind predators who will taste anything that comes near them. The key is territory. They have to have a multitude of available hiding spots. If you can nail that down, you will be fine. Hope this helps.
Forgot one thing, there is a sub forum dedicated to bichir under "Ancient Fish". You would probably have the best luck posting there.
We have about 8 Bichirs in a 4x4 tank with very little fighting. Give them some hiding places and they will be happy. Also they eat quite a bit so keep them well fed might help slow down fighting. They will eat any fish that will fit in their mouth bit most fish will do that. Personally I would call them a very mellow fish and your 100 should be fine. They are not to hard to sex but need to be larger that yours best of luck.
How often are you feeding ? Could be a trapped air bubble. Repost this in the polypterus section
My two that are 5-6" i can tell one is male and one is female because of the huge difference in their anal fins i am guessing with the smaller one because of how i remember the others looked when they were the same size. I feed once daily and fast one day a week. I feed blood worms, brine shrimp and shrimp pellets. I tried shrimp from the delu and they all turned away as well as beef heart, none would touch it. This is my tank, i will try to get a picture of the way my smaller one is swimming when its out and about.
Also the reason why im saying i think its aggression is because it will stalk the other two around the tank and when it gets a good shot bites their tails and will not let go.
** I keep the lights off, I only turn them on when im cleaning the tank or to take a picture 
I know they are happier with them off.
I know they are happier with them off.
I am not sure you can treat an air bubble in a Bichir like one in other fish. Is the aggresive one getting enough to eat. Our Bichirs range in size from 1 foot to 2 feet and I have neve seen that kind of behavior. May try leaving the lights on longer to simulate a normal day. Yor tank looks like there are plenty of places to hide may be you just got a cranky Ornate. Some fish are just jerks and there is nothing you can do about it. Also try some of the fish foods made for carnivore fish might fill them up better.
