Hi all, first post in the group, so bear with my over-explanation. What would be the minimum tank size for a saxatilis pike and red bay snook? The largest tank I have is a 135g, home to a few small bichir and a couple silver dollars (I can move the SDs back to my Malawi tank if they need to be moved). Filtration is an fx2 75g canister and a diy trickle sump that does about 1100gph, amounting to roughy 130-140g of filtration. When the bichir get bigger and summer comes around (I'm 17 so I can go back to my summer job) I will be able to buy something large and powerful like an fx4 or fx6. I will also be installing a drip water change system this summer, so water parameters won't be an issue, but what tank size would be required territory-wise? I've read that both are fairly good with tankmates that they cannot fit in their mouths, and most reports for snook give them getting about 13 inches in a tank +/- 2 inches, and the pike getting 8 inches +/- 1 inch. Will be adding a fair amount of hardy plants, lava rock, and driftwood to give bichirs hiding spots, so this can double as a break in line of sight and a separation of territory. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Crenicichla Saxatilis & Petinia Splendina
- Thread starter Ethan108
- Start date
It might work, my concern would be the splendida eating the bichirs or pike or pike eating the bichirs. They've been known to eat almost 75% of their length. Just keep an eye out for aggression, ripped fins, tails, staying at a weird angle in the corner, etc. Flaring isn't a concern.
Are you saying both would work? My bichir are ranging from 4-6 inches, a total of 4 of them. By time I did find a snook and a pike and they grew to size to be larger than the bichir, the bichir would be 8+ inches are the smaller species like my Senegal and delhezi would start getting fat so they wouldnt be skinny enough to be eaten. The other two I have are an ornate and a teugelsi, both species when captive bred will get to about 16”, and grow fast compared to most bichir. I can also always build a divider in to let the bichir heal up for a few days before going back in to general population
The saxatilis and the splendida might tolerate each other
Your senegal and delhezi will grow considerably slower than the other fish, and can be food for any of the fish, even the other 2 bichirs. I had a pretty ravenous senegal, which may have grown 0.5" in 3 months and a Delhezi that's probably grown 1" in 5 months, much slower than a splendida.
Both the ornate and teug are pretty aggressive and may get into fights with the saxatilis.
Just be prepared to play musical fish tanks
Your senegal and delhezi will grow considerably slower than the other fish, and can be food for any of the fish, even the other 2 bichirs. I had a pretty ravenous senegal, which may have grown 0.5" in 3 months and a Delhezi that's probably grown 1" in 5 months, much slower than a splendida.
Both the ornate and teug are pretty aggressive and may get into fights with the saxatilis.
Just be prepared to play musical fish tanks
So if I were to wait until the bichir get to about 7-8 inches, maybe even more, then get the fish (which would be about 2-3 inches, then grow them out with a divider in the tank until they’re not small enough to be eaten, in the span of 3ish months the cichlids would be roughly 5-6 inches and the bichir would be 9, ornate might even hit 10 with how quickly they grow. I’d assume the cichlids wouldn’t see the bichir as much of a threat and would focus on each other when it came to territory, so as long as the bichir weren’t half the size of them or less, I would think they’d be pretty safe.
It's going to take some time to grow out a senegal and delhezi to 7-8". I don't see that happening in 3 months, maybe more like 1 year or more from 4-5". Confining the splendida and pike to 2-3 feet can cause major territorial issues between the 2.
The ornate, teug, sax, and splendida should have relatively close growing rates. If they don't hate each other and will be fine in a 135g for awhile. However, bichirs are best kept in numbers of at least 3.
The ornate, teug, sax, and splendida should have relatively close growing rates. If they don't hate each other and will be fine in a 135g for awhile. However, bichirs are best kept in numbers of at least 3.
Those larger types of bichir don’t need to be in groups, that applies mainly to the Senegals. I plan on getting an endlicheri and a weeksi, the wild ones would be too large but the farmed ones do not get nearly as big as wild caughts and would be perfectly fine in my tank
Keeping 2 bichirs, regardless of being upper jaw or lower jaw, poses aggression/territorial risk between themselves. You can keep 1 or keep in numbers of 3 or more to avoid aggression/territorial risk. The more the better.
I thought you were referring to their social behavior where they enjoy being in groups, because that is strictly with senegals. I plan on doing the 4 listed and maybe 1-2 more, depending on how quickly they grow because that can gauge how large they will get
