Lapradei Bichir Problem

[Polyaddict86]

+1 with J jaws7777 , maybe the O is the problem, polys dont fight back when getting bullied by other fish.

On the other hand your lap looks like a cb, some polys get stunned and just slow down on growing especially if the fish is not a big eater, giving the poly some feeders moght be a bad decision since to can introduce some parasite to the fish. I would try to starve the poly to about two days and give it some food, i would try to feed it silversides since the smell is stronger than tilapia, i will also feed it at night so the O wont take most of the food.

 

[jaws7777]

I don't think my oscar has with because he is eating fine, and I also treated the tank with general cure several times. I added a cave and now my lap doesn't really jump anymore ( last least I haven't seen her jump lately). I was thinking maybe adding a red/darker slate tile on the very bottom, or use construction paper because i don't really want to add anything that will make there be more maintenance. I will consider it tho.

The cave will definitely help the poly feel more secure. The sand isnt a must so no need to add it if you want to keep maintenance low if the poly wasnt jumping you would have gotten away with the bare tank but sometimes these fish spook for whacky reasons. Polyaddict mames some great points in his post as well. No feeders

 

[rayoddballfish]

+1 with J jaws7777 , maybe the O is the problem, polys dont fight back when getting bullied by other fish.

On the other hand your lap looks like a cb, some polys get stunned and just slow down on growing especially if the fish is not a big eater, giving the poly some feeders moght be a bad decision since to can introduce some parasite to the fish. I would try to starve the poly to about two days and give it some food, i would try to feed it silversides since the smell is stronger than tilapia, i will also feed it at night so the O wont take most of the food.

okay I will monitor the oscar more closely, but I don't seem to see too much aggression, only a little flaring here and there. In my supermarket, I saw smelt (3 inch) fish whole. Would that work? Would you cut them into chunks or whole? Thanks! Also how do you determine if a fish is cb? I don't really care too much but I'm just curious.

 

[rayoddballfish]

The cave will definitely help the poly feel more secure. The sand isnt a must so no need to add it if you want to keep maintenance low if the poly wasnt jumping you would have gotten away with the bare tank but sometimes these fish spook for whacky reasons. Polyaddict mames some great points in his post as well. No feeders

Yeah I am not going to feed the feeders, I tried once, but the oscar ate all of the ones I put it. Also after I did the water change my poly ate 2 pieces of tilapia but afterwards has eaten nothing. I will buy smelt and try it, give me your feedback on feeding? Thanks!

 

[Polyaddict86]

okay I will monitor the oscar more closely, but I don't seem to see too much aggression, only a little flaring here and there. In my supermarket, I saw smelt (3 inch) fish whole. Would that work? Would you cut them into chunks or whole? Thanks! Also how do you determine if a fish is cb? I don't really care too much but I'm just curious.

Smelt is good, i also ised that for my bichers, i would not cut it into chunks, your lap is already big enough to eat the whole smelt, i would poke the belly part of the smelt and remove the air from the it so it wont float around, i would also try to drop it close to its cave.

 

[Polyaddict86]

Also how do you determine if a fish is cb? I don't really care too much but I'm just curious.

Im not really sure if yours is a CB lap, i was judging it by the first picture cause it had a short snout and kinda froggy eyes, and also the finlets looks to be short and round.
Maybe if you can show is a better full body shot then we can tell you if its a CB or WC.

 

[rayoddballfish]

Im not really sure if yours is a CB lap, i was judging it by the first picture cause it had a short snout and kinda froggy eyes, and also the finlets looks to be short and round.
Maybe if you can show is a better full body shot then we can tell you if its a CB or WC.

okay i will buy it today and post pic in a moment. Thanks!

 

[rayoddballfish]

pics from before (at petstore) and other full body pics

because the petstore had red gravel, he was really green. I might add some red stones or paint the bottom red.

Also he seemed to have a sharper head shape then after he got home?

 

[Polyaddict86]

pics from before (at petstore) and other full body pics

because the petstore had red gravel, he was really green. I might add some red stones or paint the bottom red.

Also he seemed to have a sharper head shape then after he got home?

View attachment 1342558 View attachment 1342559 View attachment 1342560

Im 100% yours is a WC nigerian lap, but still even a WC can slow down on growth if its not a big eater.

 

[magpie]

Or if the water quality isn't great...

So - how did your water test out? You must have gotten the kit already.