New fish, new problems?

[Matteus]

Btw- I know what you mean when you say you fell for the albino bichir. They have been on my must have list for a long time now but haven’t had a great setup to make it happen yet.

In terms of fish, size matters, so does individual fish temperament That’s why I was asking size difference. To echo what tlindsey was saying, the Senegal’s don’t get extremely large and being albino there is a good chance of it growing a bit slower than your typical baby sen. so it may work out for a good long time as long as the barbs don’t chew it up.

All in all each fish is different just like us humans. We can give you typical behaviours but there can always be an exception to the rule so always keep an eye out even if coached by very knowledgeable people here. For instance what Hendre said is absolutely true, but I have a friend who has a 2.5” albino senegal bichir that he put in with his baby ray pups and walked in on the bichir with a pup in its mouth thrashing about. The Ray was 4-5” diameter so much larger than the bichir and would never have a chance to fit in its mouth. The Ray pup later died from the trauma. This is an exception to the rule, so not all baby Senegal’s are voracious beasts like this one in particular.

I hope all goes well in tank. Not sure if you know about the poly section here but there are lots of great people on here who have bichirs. If you go to forums, ancient fish, polypterus you can find all sorts of great info in the stickies about your new bichir.GL

 

[beau1990]

Matteus thanks for the heads up. I actually used to have tiger barbs in with my bichirs and everything was fine but like e others said make sure everyone eats I eventually had to rehire the barbs because they were just eating all the food that went in there Senegal’s are fine with tiger barbs now my delhezi wasn’t about it and took one down before they were rehomed because Gucci didn’t play like that

 

[Wyvlen]

My senegal has eaten atleast 3 adult tiger barbs in my tank. I really dont think you have anything to worry about with the tiger barbs bulling the bichir. Make sure the bichir is getting his fair share of food though cuz they are a little slow to the party sometimes.

Thank you! That makes me feel a lot better, haha. I bought some frozen Cichlid Delight that I thought I could maybe chop into smaller cubes and it'd sink to the bottom for him.

 

[Wyvlen]

Btw- I know what you mean when you say you fell for the albino bichir. They have been on my must have list for a long time now but haven’t had a great setup to make it happen yet.

In terms of fish, size matters, so does individual fish temperament That’s why I was asking size difference. To echo what tlindsey was saying, the Senegal’s don’t get extremely large and being albino there is a good chance of it growing a bit slower than your typical baby sen. so it may work out for a good long time as long as the barbs don’t chew it up.

All in all each fish is different just like us humans. We can give you typical behaviours but there can always be an exception to the rule so always keep an eye out even if coached by very knowledgeable people here. For instance what Hendre said is absolutely true, but I have a friend who has a 2.5” albino senegal bichir that he put in with his baby ray pups and walked in on the bichir with a pup in its mouth thrashing about. The Ray was 4-5” diameter so much larger than the bichir and would never have a chance to fit in its mouth. The Ray pup later died from the trauma. This is an exception to the rule, so not all baby Senegal’s are voracious beasts like this one in particular.

I hope all goes well in tank. Not sure if you know about the poly section here but there are lots of great people on here who have bichirs. If you go to forums, ancient fish, polypterus you can find all sorts of great info in the stickies about your new bichir.GL

Thank you so much! And yeah, I try to base it on individual personality of each fish, though I do stay away from things that typically don't work out in the first place. I'll go check out the polypterus section of the forum, haha. I didn't see it when I was looking earlier.

The bichir seems super playful (he may be trying his darndest to escape the tank, too). I lowered the water level so its about 3 inches from the top of the tank, and he's still able to reach if he jumps enough. I have a hood on the tank, but I'm starting to think I might need to cover the open part where the filter enters through the hood?

 

[Matteus]

They are a neat fish and can be addictive once you get a taste for them. Some say duct tape is a bichir owners friend. I think you can get a mesh tape that can go around filters and allow water to flow freely through it. I have used it to fill holes in my canopies previously. I haven’t used it in the capacity of water flowing through personally but have been told by some of my breeder friends that’s what they use around filters. Might want to check and make sure there aren’t any chemicals treating it before running tank water through tho.

The poly section is at the bottom of ancient fish just below lungfish.

 

[Supergeorge123]

Tiger Barbs are not sure what the Senegal Bichir is hopefully they will ignore it. I honestly don't see even a full grown captive bred Senegalus Bichir eating a full grown Tiger Barb.

I am going to disagree with you on that. I think once that bichir gets big the hunters will become the hunted.

 

[beau1990]

I am going to disagree with you on that. I think once that bichir gets big the hunters will become the hunted.

View attachment 1359268

that second pic is a lower jaw type of bichir(endli?) and they can open their mouths much wider and they can and will take down anything that fits plus they grow much larger than the Senegal ever will; and also that’s a decently sized Senegal in that picture, think about the size of feeder goldfish; it’s not that surprising to see them used as food for larger polys

 

[jaws7777]

Yup beau thats an endli.

You guys better be careful one is never enough...sens are like gateway drugs.

I dont think a sen would be able to take down a full grown tb either its more of a high bodied fish different than a feeder. Anything is possible though. All depends on genetics. I had one that never passed 6 inches.

I also think its a misconception that bichirs are hider. Sens and dels are some of the most active fish ive kept. Even big lower jaws can be active. I have a congicus that keeps pace with cichlids

 

[Matteus]

Yup beau thats an endli.

You guys better be careful one is never enough...sens are like gateway drugs.

I dont think a sen would be able to take down a full grown tb either its more of a high bodied fish different than a feeder. Anything is possible though. All depends on genetics. I had one that never passed 6 inches.

I also think its a misconception that bichirs are hider. Sens and dels are some of the most active fish ive kept. Even big lower jaws can be active. I have a congicus that keeps pace with cichlids

It all starts with a cute little albino sen. then it’s a nice endli, before you know it your selling ornates To your lfs to pay for your lower jaw addiction.

The struggle is real mang.