Aggressive Senegal Bichir

[Angelspatience]

First sorry for making this my first post but in kind of a tight spot.
 
Have a 30 gal aquarium that I've had set up and running smoothly since Sept.
 
It currently contains 
 
 
2 x Bala Sharks
1 x Upside Down Catfish
1 x Senegal Bichir
1 x Pictus Catfish
1 x Leopard Ctenopoma
 
I had not noticed any obvious aggression or wounds on any body until very recently.
 
I noticed the Pictus long whiskers were short and was unsue of who or what the culprit could of been.
 
I original had some apple snails but have had some bad luck keeping them alive.  So today I decided to just go the old standard route of a pleco.
 
I had added him to the aquarium after letting the required time pass and had left the room to put some grocery's away.  I came back into the room to check and found the Bichir with the pleco in his mouth.  Well I thumped the aquarium and he let him go.  The pleco is really to big for the Bichir to be trying to eat and I can't figured out why he's attempting to other than the pleco is slower than all the other fish in the aquarium and the Bichir is figuring he might as well try and eat him.
 
My 6 year old is rather upset and has had me take the Bichir out of the aquarium, I think he's afraid the Bichir might attack the other fish as well.
 
Currently, though it isn't what I want, the bichir is in a bucket.  I always keep settled water on hand so was lucky to have that.  I've spoke to my local pet store and they are willing to let me trade him for something less aggressive, but seeing as how tommorow is Good Friday I have a couple of days before I can do this.
 
Is it possible if I keep the water warm and cycled that I can keep him in the bucket for a couple of days? If not does anyone have any ideas of what I could do.  I would hate to have him die and I really don't want to have him going after the other fish or my son upset because he is.

 

[sadguppy]

Bichirs are predators and shouldn't have been put in a 30gal community tank. Hopefully this will be a lesson for you to research more carefully before buying fish - you have a few that will get too big or too boisterous for your tank including the bala sharks and possibly the pleco if it is a common, sailfin or gibbiceps.

You will need to change the water in the bucket, 75%, at least twice a day. There is no such thing as cycled water; it is the filter that removes the toxins so they will build up in a bucket with no filter.

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm sorry to say it, but my first reaction when reading your stocking was an OMG. Fishkeeping is so much more complex than buying some fish and chucking them in some water.
 
What you've got there is the fishy equivalent of 2 hyenas, an antelope, a lion, a zebra and a wildebeest, all in a 6m x 2m field. Obviously, you know enough about mammals to know that this scenario is a disaster-in-waiting.
 
You have to research, research and research some more before buying a fish, any fish, to know whether it's small enough to live in your tank, and whether it's going to damage, or be damaged by the fish that are already there. Take anything that is said by an LFS staff member with a pinch of salt, research online and in books. There is a very good reference library of fish species on this site, and I also use the Knowledge Base at seriouslyfish.com. If you want any type of catfish, then planetcatfish.com is excellent.
 
If you have a look in the Tropical Discussion section, you'll notice that I posted a topic a couple of days ago, checking about a proposed stocking for my tank. I was 99% certain I was fine to do what I wanted to do, but it's always worth checking, especially as I had never kept anything from that genus before.
 
I suspect it tried to have a go at the plec because of the stress of being in a tank that's too small for it. It's adult size is about 50cm, which I'm guessing is about half the length and double the width of your tank.
 
Sorry, but you really need to rethink your stocking.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'm afraid to say the only fish suitable for your 30gal (especially if the is US gallons) are the Leopard Bushfish; Upside Down Catfish (depending upon what it is, singleton fiesty Synodontis nigrita need a good volume {~240l} 4-footer, very social and much smaller Synodontis nigriventris {~7cm SL tops} need a group and would be fine; the young/small Plec (but its identity needs sorting, some common hobby plecs reach 45-60cm and need monster sized tanks).
 
I'm a big fan of African oddballs, but I'm not sure if I would ever buy a bichir, even the "small" B. delhezi that reach ~30cm. Some of the other species reach ~90cm over time which need at least a 6x2x2 (but I'd rather these were in a 12x3x3 like a group of 30-40cm adult Bala Sharks), but there is also the issue of their predatory nature and that huge mouth and what tankmates will definitely not fit in it!
 
A mate of mine has a ~500l 5-footer with 2x African Butterfly Fish; 3(?)x Leopard Bushfish; 11x Synodontis nigriventris; 12(?)x Congo Tetra; 3(?)x Reedfish; 1x Delhezi Bichir; 1x Synodontis angelica. It is a lovely African oddball tank, but although the bichir was the last fish to be added (giving the others some time to grow and settle in), we are both getting a little nervous at how quick the bichir is growing! Delhezi are normally quite unaggressive as bichirs go, but the worry is that he is going to reach a size where he can eat the slow growing Upside Down Catfish before they reach anything like the safe adult size.
 
I think you have a big decision to make...
Rehome the bichir; Bala Sharks; Pictus (again these need a large 4-footer minimum and a group)
Buy a 6x2x2 ASAP for these (second hand bargains to be had, I won a 72x17x17 for £62, but buy something this size and know you don't need another upgrade in a few years time)