Is this a good or bad upper jaw combination

[Kikokuryu]

Hello,

I am planning a Polypterus sp. tank and going for all upper jaw species. I was wondering if these species/subspecies would all work out together. The only bichir I had experience with is a P. ornatipinnis a few years ago that dropped dead one day, possibly choking on a plasic piece of a heater that was floating in the tank the same day.

I have 2 tanks, a 2'x2'x7' and a 2'x2'x9'. I will likely use the 2'x2'x7'. Sand used is #2-/16 Lapis Lustre. It's give or take 1mm, but I'm not sure if that might cause compaction, or if it can pass through easily. I know they sometimes eat sand. The only tank mates I'm currently thinking of is a couple of Geophagus megasema.

Temperature is currently set at around 77F without heaters. I know my tap is close to a pH of 8.0, but I've never had issue breeding things like Hypancistrus zebra plecos in it, so I figure that's not a huge issue unless a species is hyper sensitive.

Species:
P. mokelembembe
P. retropinnis
P. polli
P. palmas plamas
P. palmas buettikoferi
P. delhezi

I might add a platinum morph of P. senegalus if I run across one. I was also looking at P. teugelsi, but it seems to grow significantly larger than these other species, and possibly more aggressive? Aggression and size is the reason I'm not getting an ornate again. But if it isn't an issue, I do want to add a P. teugelsi. If there are also any undescribed upper jaws I should look out for as well, it would be much appreciated. Not sure about ropefish (Erpetoichthys calabaricus) since I've read mixed views on mixing with Polypterus whether they will get bullied or killed or not.

I'm not sure if there are any issues getting some of these, or if any are misidentified commonly.

Since I'm sure each species has it's own growth rates, is there a recommendation of which to get first, or which species might benefit being slightly larger at the start? I don't know at what size disparity things can get cannibalistic, 3"+?

I think if I read correctly, a decent number of bichir should be in the tank to diffuse aggression? As far as hides go, I should either have 2-3 caves per fish or none right? Not enough hides, I'm guessing they all kill each other for cave rights.

 

[tlindsey]

As far as hides go

You don't need any.
You should be fine with the Polypterus on your list if you get them around the same size. Just like with some other species of fish personality and temperament are a factor.

 

[Rocksor]

skip the teug since you didn't want to deal with aggression issues from an ornate.

Mokes are the slowest by far, so get that first and wait a few months for it to start eating well. Some dels are slower eaters too, so you could possibly get this at the same time as the mokes. I can't comment on the buets. But if I had to start I would do the following in the first few months: moke, buet, and dels.

However, bichirs are seasonal and in the US we see them available from late July - Dec, and it's better to get them available than wait until later to buy them.