Polypterus Personalities
- Thread starter Sarahmander
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- bichir polypterid polypterus
Food! lmao I have been wanting to use them as a treat(every now and then) for Loki and Gucci as they are part of the natural diet in the wild
I got them with the idea that they would be food eventually. I was testing my water when I was cycling the tank, but I wanted something to be alive in there for a while before I got my bichirs. I also have a rainbow shark and a killifish that are essentially doomed.
In my limited experience the Pollis are more Sen-like in that mine swam around a lot and actually begged at me for food - a nicely interactive fish. Mine was (now belongs to
clm08k
) CB and I'm not sure if that makes a difference.
My Moke was (also now with
clm08k
) gorgeous - so green and in the middle ground for hiding and activity - would do both. I had a really densely planted tank, though. If you have hiding spots, they will hide sometimes. That's just polys in general.
But if I were you, with that stock, I would go with 3-5 ropes. They are similar, yet different in shape and they way they swim, which is so graceful and soothing. They're active when there's enough cover, they 'snuggle' with each other and the other polys, and for wild caught fish they can get super hand tame with patience. Mine (now
twentyleagues
) would eat out of my fingers and swim through my fingers / hands. Plus they look like they're smiling all the time. 
I'm a big fan.
How do you plan on decorating your 100? I am really into planted, natual looking tanks. That being said, I now always say that if I were to do it over again with polys of any type, I'd find a balance between having plants and driftwood or other natural cover that provided cover up in the top / middle of the tank height but leave more floor space open. For example, lotus plants (foliage mostly at the top), floating plants, some wood with anubias tied on but not many rooted plants. Maybe even have the wood suspended so it was more like the edge of a river/lake, coming down into the water. Some rocks for the bottom but not any caves.
I think it'd be a nice way to still have the natural look and the benefit of the plants, but see the polys more often as they hang out on the floor. I do think that most fish find comfort in cover, and they could still get that without as many hides below in a setup like that. When I was tearing down my 65 I pulled all of my rooted plants and let them float for a while. It was cool to see all of the polys all of the time but still not have a more bare tank - that spawned the idea.
So that's my long opinionated post. LOL
clm08k
) CB and I'm not sure if that makes a difference.My Moke was (also now with
clm08k
) gorgeous - so green and in the middle ground for hiding and activity - would do both. I had a really densely planted tank, though. If you have hiding spots, they will hide sometimes. That's just polys in general.But if I were you, with that stock, I would go with 3-5 ropes. They are similar, yet different in shape and they way they swim, which is so graceful and soothing. They're active when there's enough cover, they 'snuggle' with each other and the other polys, and for wild caught fish they can get super hand tame with patience. Mine (now
twentyleagues
) would eat out of my fingers and swim through my fingers / hands. Plus they look like they're smiling all the time. I'm a big fan.How do you plan on decorating your 100? I am really into planted, natual looking tanks. That being said, I now always say that if I were to do it over again with polys of any type, I'd find a balance between having plants and driftwood or other natural cover that provided cover up in the top / middle of the tank height but leave more floor space open. For example, lotus plants (foliage mostly at the top), floating plants, some wood with anubias tied on but not many rooted plants. Maybe even have the wood suspended so it was more like the edge of a river/lake, coming down into the water. Some rocks for the bottom but not any caves.
I think it'd be a nice way to still have the natural look and the benefit of the plants, but see the polys more often as they hang out on the floor. I do think that most fish find comfort in cover, and they could still get that without as many hides below in a setup like that. When I was tearing down my 65 I pulled all of my rooted plants and let them float for a while. It was cool to see all of the polys all of the time but still not have a more bare tank - that spawned the idea.
So that's my long opinionated post. LOL
excellent idea I may try that with Loki and Gucci's big tankIn my limited experience the Pollis are more Sen-like in that mine swam around a lot and actually begged at me for food - a nicely interactive fish. Mine was (now belongs to
My Moke was (also now with
But if I were you, with that stock, I would go with 3-5 ropes. They are similar, yet different in shape and they way they swim, which is so graceful and soothing. They're active when there's enough cover, they 'snuggle' with each other and the other polys, and for wild caught fish they can get super hand tame with patience. Mine (now
How do you plan on decorating your 100? I am really into planted, natual looking tanks. That being said, I now always say that if I were to do it over again with polys of any type, I'd find a balance between having plants and driftwood or other natural cover that provided cover up in the top / middle of the tank height but leave more floor space open. For example, lotus plants (foliage mostly at the top), floating plants, some wood with anubias tied on but not many rooted plants. Maybe even have the wood suspended so it was more like the edge of a river/lake, coming down into the water. Some rocks for the bottom but not any caves.
I think it'd be a nice way to still have the natural look and the benefit of the plants, but see the polys more often as they hang out on the floor. I do think that most fish find comfort in cover, and they could still get that without as many hides below in a setup like that. When I was tearing down my 65 I pulled all of my rooted plants and let them float for a while. It was cool to see all of the polys all of the time but still not have a more bare tank - that spawned the idea.
So that's my long opinionated post. LOL
Cool! I'm waiting for someone else to do my idea so I can live vicariously through that. LOL
