My bichir seems happy already. Is their any environmental-friendly things I could put in the tank so it can be happier and have more places to explore? (and it doesnt bother other fish??) A few times my bichir seems to get a little bored.
~Caroline~ ;)

I'd appreciate any help/tips thanks

lots of places to hide (driftwood, rock caves, piles of plants) with open areas for free swimming. other than that not much. what do you feed the bichir?

I feed the bichir frozen bloodworms. i thaw them first for a while. What else can it eat? does it ever get bored of the same food all the time? Mine doesnt eat fish flakes. I have an artificial rock in the center of the tank and some real-rock caves for it to hide in. When I feed it I drop the bloodworms into a rock cave or else the other fish will steal it more easily.
~Caroline~ :rolleyes:

the best food for them is hikari's sinking carnivore pellets. it is expensive (about $10 for a 2.61 oz bag) but it is worth it. and it will last for a while. you can feed that 2-3 times a week and the rest of the time feed shrimp pellets or something liek that to fill him up and save you money. if you can post a pic i can tell you what i think it is (male or femlae). you can also post a pic of that mystery "loach". other frozen foods would be good too. beefheart is supposed to be great for growth. frozen brine shrimp are good too. i feed about 5 pellets of sinking carnivore pellets every day. i dont thaw frozen before i feed, but he doesnt have much to compete with liek yours so you probably should still. one thing you could try is a small sinking bowl, like a small dog food bowl, to place the thawed food in on the bottom next to his cave. putting the food in the bowl will allow him to get it easier, without the food falling through the gravel, or him accidentally eating a piece of gravel which could cause an impaction and kill him.

thanks for the advice on sinking bowls and such. Thats a good idea. lots of ppl recommend hikari's I guess its a really good brand. I will try it sometime. they should have some at my local petstore. The problem with the sinking pellets alone is that the other fish are quick and will devour them before they reach the bottom. The bowl idea shold work. What exactly does it look like though where do you get mini-bowls that sink?
~Caroline~ <_<

some dense platic bowls sink, other than that a low rimmed ceramic bowl should work. whatever bowl it is shoudl be low rimmed (short). just check the dog and cat section at the pet store. one way to get the food to the bowl and the bichir without the others eating it is to feed everyone else at one end. a really good way to get it right in the bowl is have a riser tube for an undergravel filter (clear plastic tube 1" in diameter that is used on undergravel filters, you can usually buy them separate from the whoel undergravel filter setup) and put one end right in the bowl and just drop the food in the end sticking up out of the water. this is great for feeding rays too, thats where i got the idea.

okay thanks that is likely to solve the problem. Its such a pain to feed my bichir each day by hand. Thats what I have to do every time I feed the bloodworms and then the otoher fish start swarming around and nibble my hand even though i already fed them their flakes. hehe
~Caroline~ :P

lots of hiding places and fish that wont bother it will make it better! :D

okay thanks. :D :D
~Caroline~ :)

also i think different foods is good too. you should try the carnivour pellets with some other foods like bloodworms, your dojo should like it too.

I have an albino bichir and he eats the hikari sinking carnivore pellets very well and he also enjoys frozen beef heart.

do you feed yours bloodworms? can you hand feed them?

Thanks. I feed my bichir bloodworms and yes i handfeed them its possible. Where do you get albino bichirs i dont see them in the store I go to.
~Caroline~

i guess you can ask your lfs to order them for you. Are you thinking of getting another?

oh I'm not going to get another bichir for awhile. I want to get all the probs sorted out first-heal my betta and my tetra.
~Caroline~ :)

also you should get a 55 for the 2 bichirs and nothing else, you may want to add more tetras once you get a 55.

Okay...umm I don't know if I can get a 55 gal tank....not so sure bout that. So it isnt good to let them stay in the 16 gallon with no other fish? Is that alright? i hope i can get a bigger tank though..55 gal.
~Caroline~ :)

55 gallon is the minimum for these guys and your would get stunted and die if you left it in a 16 gallon. it gets longer than the width of the tank. if you cant get a 55 you may have to return the bichir. it doesnt matter to much if it doesnt have anyother fish. a full grown bichir will probably be too much for a 15 gallon filter and the poor thing wont have much room to swim around.

I heard that they get to about a foot, right? Hmm.......oh dear. I will have to make a plan then..
~Caroline~ :P

yes, 12" is a good senegal bichir, i think the biggest have been 15".

Thats cool. I hope mine doesn't grow too fast at least until I get a bigger tank
~caroline~

Would it be okay if I got a 30 gal tank or no? :D

that should be good. 30breeder is better than a regular 30, but 30 is minimum.

okay thanks. I have a better chance of getting that.
~Caroline~ :)

a 30 gallon breeder is probably the min. you probably cant breed it in there but you may be able to put some other fish in there. reptileguy, she has an angelfish in her 15 gallon, would that be okay long term?

no, angels are a decent sized, very tall cichlid and should be treated as such. i would say a 29 is minimum for one, but you would put 2 or 3 in there. anything smaller wont give tham adequate moving space.

i dont know why i asked that! i know they need a 29 gallon min and that seems small for me..

Okay thanks. I need some seriously bigger tanks!!
Caroline~

caroline all you need is a 30 gallon breeder at minimum for the senegal and the angel.

OK, got that. thanks for the help.
B)

maybe we can figure out another fish to put in there. but it sounds good to me.

oKay thanks yeah it'd be nice to have another fish in there. :lol:

actually a 30 gallon breeder is probably fullly stocked with an angel and the bichir.

oh really? You just mean when my bichir is an adult, right? Mine wont grow too fast. :D

it depends on the filtration and maintenance. i wouldnt consider a bichir and an angel as maxing it out. are you still planning on getting another bichir to possibly breed?

if she does, shes going to need some big filters. i think a 40 or 55 would be good for 2 bichirs, and an angel.

Well I'll need to get a 55 first if I want to breed right? I might breed later sometime not soon though. :D

minimum to breed the senegal bichirs is a 30 breeder.

Oh, cool! Thats good news i guess. Do the senegals have to reach their full length to breed?

not full length, about 8" minimum i think. they will have to be by themselves to breed, so you would still need somewhere else for the angel.

Okay, got that. So is there any chance that the bichirs will fight or no?