BGK

[WookiellMonster]

My BGK it died, it died so fast i couldnt even treat it with the Melafix i got for it. What happen was my senegal bichir bit its tail thinkin it was food i guess.

Ok so right now im in a lil dilemma i have a 75 gallon tank that im put payments on every week but now i have nothing to put in it except a bichir. I was thinkin about replacing the BGK but if it happened once its probably goin to happen again.

Are there any alternatives instead of BGK? I was plannin on a clown knife since it doesnt have a luring tail like the BGK at least i dont think but i saw a full grown one i mean it was HUGE i dont think i can handle that.

 

[mellowserra]

So sorry to hear about your knife

Your birchir may try a bite of anything you might want to add to your tank, are there many hiding places for fish? Also, does your birchir readily take non-live foods? You may be able to add extra decorations/plants, and once you get an eye for how the birchir is feeding add some inexpensive fish (too large to be considered food) to see how they get along.

 

[Fishy411]

yeah clowns get WAYYYY too big. i would scrap teh knife fish idea all together if your bichir is that aggressive. maybe take a look at an african brown knife if you realy want one

 

[WookiellMonster]

Well my bichir eats alot of different things.. i feed it bloodworms daily, and maybe every once a week ill add 5 feeder guppies or ghost shrimp. OOh and my bichir eats flake food. What ive noticed is that when my bichir cant catch the shrimp or guppies it just gives up and tries again later.

Yea i have a couple real plants and a couple fake plants. Also i have 2 pieces of driftwood/bogwood (can't tell the difference). My BGK would usually stay under the pieces of wood with its tail moving around outside kinda looks like food cant blame the bichir.

Sooo what are some other oddballs or other fish you guys keep with a bichir. I have a 75 gallon tank that im about to own with lots of space to add more fish i think.

 

[Mondego]

Sooo what are some other oddballs or other fish you guys keep with a bichir. I have a 75 gallon tank that im about to own with lots of space to add more fish i think.

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i keep German Blue Rams with my bichir in my 75 gallon tank. they've been tank mates for a few months. i've been keeping my bichir away from live food for awhile to dampen his hunting instinct. i also keep it fed so he won't attack them. if you don't know what you're doing i don't recommend keeping these two kinds of fish together. German Blue Rams are smaller (shorter, but taller) than feeders.

for a safer fish, you might want to keep a redtail shark. i don't even have to feed mine. he seems to enjoy "living off the land". he's grown quite a bit and has nice angles; he looks quite muscular. they don't bother each other in the least.

i also have an algae eater and 4 otos in the tank as well. they are kept in a tank with only real rocks, read driftwood, and lots of real plants to hide in.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

err... i'd hold off on the rams since they're expensive as feeders. might i suggest Buenos Aires Tetras? i just got rid of mine because they were picking on the guppies, eating my plants if they felt underfed, digging up my plants by pulling on the leaves, fighting with Mr. Krib and and going to get even bigger!!

but they were fairly cheap, robust, very attractively colored, fast-swimming and at least 2 inches long (they'll hit a little over 3"). Buenos Aires Tetras also inhabit the mid-regions of the tank and are excellent schoolers, even when just chilling. if they hadn't been driving me and the rest of the tank crazy, i'd have gotten more.

you could also check out tiger barbs and giant danios. (i just got home from drooling over the giants at my LFS; their full color has just a luscious dark blue.) the cheapie red-bellied pacu available at most chain LFS only reach 8"; 3 larger specimens would probably be ok. ditto for silver dollars (who are worse plant eaters than BATs).

ONE paradise fish would probably do okay too; they're almost total top-dwellers and very hardy. i recently put up a picture of mine if you'd like to see a (somewhat shoddy) example of an adult male. they come in several color variants including an albino one (that strongly resembles the albino kribensis). but paradise fish are slightly worse than bettas when it comes to beating each other up; you can only have a single male per tank and no other anabantoids (bettas, gouramis, etc).

right now, i'd skip out on any expensive fish until you can be sure your birchir won't kill them.

 

[Mondego]

err... i'd hold off on the rams since they're expensive as feeders.

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no no. my German Blue Rams are not feeders. i'm keeping them "as fish" not as food, in my bichir tank.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

that's kinda my point. which fish you keep as food and which fish you keep as pets are more or less up to the predators in your tank. so if you have a potential killer in there... don't put in anything you wouldn't want eaten!

 

[Mondego]

that's kinda my point.  which fish you keep as food and which fish you keep as pets are more or less up to the predators in your tank.  so if you have a potential killer in there... don't put in anything you wouldn't want eaten!

[snapback]846826[/snapback]​

they've been tank mates for a few months. i don't just put any fish in there and expect him not to eat it.

through careful study, i've noticed he doesn't attack during the day, ever. so right before the lights go out, i feed him. this keeps him full during times when he's used to hunting. he used to attack anything at any time. this was when i fed him live feeders a lot. i've taken him off of that quite awhile ago and his hunting instint has decreased quite a bit. i also put in lots of plants with big leaves and other plants that can easily hide small fish. i have crowded areas with rocks and driftwood that can make any fish invisible with plants all around those areas. i've also noticed that he doesn't visit certain locations of the tank, and stays confined mostly to the others. i have no reason to believe those Rams won't last many years in that tank with the bichir.

this is what i mean when i say i don't recommend it "if you don't know what you're doing". if i were to get a new bichir, i'd start over and monitor his personality individually.

there is nothing wrong with putting small peaceful fish in a predatory tank, especially if your predator is sedentary. you just have to be careful and make sure the great mean one leaves you with some outs (so not all large attacking fish might work for this).

 

[WookiellMonster]

sharks r just not my thing the last one i had was really territorial so i returned it. And i already have a ram with 2 guppies in a 10 gal. They pretty. hehe. Some one mentions brown ghost knife which i dont knoe the difference yet im goin to go research that. (if you think brown ghost knife is a bad idea tell me now)

Buenos Aires Tetras sounds like a good idea but do they completely destroy plants cuz im plannin my 75 gal. to have alot of plant well not alot alot but a good portion. But besides the point....

You think i should lay off the live foods so that my bichir's predatory instincts lighten up.. but I like watching him hunt tho. For sum reason i find that entertainin. Thats why im gettin this semi-big tank so i can get sum a sum more predatory fish that get along with each other but just like to hunt. Yea... im pretty wierd... like that lol.

 

[Mondego]

sharks r just not my thing the last one i had was really territorial so i returned it. And i already have a ram with 2 guppies in a 10 gal. They pretty. hehe. Some one mentions brown ghost knife which i dont knoe the difference yet im goin to go research that. (if you think brown ghost knife is a bad idea tell me now)

Buenos Aires Tetras sounds like a good idea but do they completely destroy plants cuz im plannin my 75 gal. to have alot of plant well not alot alot but a good portion. But besides the point....

You think i should lay off the live foods so that my bichir's predatory instincts lighten up.. but I like watching him hunt tho. For sum reason i find that entertainin. Thats why im gettin this semi-big tank so i can get sum a sum more predatory fish that get along with each other but just like to hunt. Yea... im pretty wierd... like that lol.

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i miss watching my bichir on the hunt! you're right it is very fun to watch. i'm only doing it because of my Rams. If i had more than one tank i'd move the Rams out. Live fish comes with some risks, but they are more healthy than prepared foods, especially when caring for sick fish.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

the Buenos Aires Tetras should pretty well leave the plants alone so long as they feel well-fed. i was told that Vallis is safe as is Java Fern. mine only really tore into the Apongetons--they seem to just like bright green leaves. dark-leaved plants pretty well got left alone.

you may want to start another topic asking about whether you should use feeders in a community setting. it seems counter-productive to me, but i don't own birchirs.

Live fish ... are more healthy than prepared foods, especially when caring for sick fish.

this is only true if you are raising them yourself. most LFS feeder fish are malnourished (insufficient vitamins) and feeder goldfish have too high of a fat content for tropicals to readily handle. store-bought feeders also really elevate your chances of introducing disease; imagine bringing home 3-6 new pet fish every week and putting them in your tank with no quarantine. to top off all these disadvantages, the cost really adds up!

there are two relatively simple ways to fix the feeder risks: quarantine them for 2 weeks or raise your own. if you have space, i'd recommend you set up a 30g and add a pair of Convict Cichlids. they are interesting but highly aggressive fish that produce 50-100 fry every couple of months. breeding them for feeders is a great excuse to keep Convicts; there have been several threads in Oddballs discussing this idea. (several are due to my own interest in one day owning both Convicts and piscavorus fish. )

 

[WookiellMonster]

yea ive seen sum convicts at the my lfs all the time they always seem to be fighting. what i could also do is get maybe like 3 female guppies and add them to my 10 gallon and catch the fry out. ill research convicts too. I read sum other post that sum1 had a bichir, ABF, and a brown ghost knife together i mite go for that.

Can feeder ghost shrimp carry diseases?

 

[Fishy411]

that's kinda my point.  which fish you keep as food and which fish you keep as pets are more or less up to the predators in your tank.  so if you have a potential killer in there... don't put in anything you wouldn't want eaten!

[snapback]846826[/snapback]​

they've been tank mates for a few months. i don't just put any fish in there and expect him not to eat it.

through careful study, i've noticed he doesn't attack during the day, ever. so right before the lights go out, i feed him. this keeps him full during times when he's used to hunting. he used to attack anything at any time. this was when i fed him live feeders a lot. i've taken him off of that quite awhile ago and his hunting instint has decreased quite a bit. i also put in lots of plants with big leaves and other plants that can easily hide small fish. i have crowded areas with rocks and driftwood that can make any fish invisible with plants all around those areas. i've also noticed that he doesn't visit certain locations of the tank, and stays confined mostly to the others. i have no reason to believe those Rams won't last many years in that tank with the bichir.

this is what i mean when i say i don't recommend it "if you don't know what you're doing". if i were to get a new bichir, i'd start over and monitor his personality individually.

there is nothing wrong with putting small peaceful fish in a predatory tank, especially if your predator is sedentary. you just have to be careful and make sure the great mean one leaves you with some outs (so not all large attacking fish might work for this).

[snapback]846847[/snapback]​

ok theyve been tankmates for months. will they still be so friendly when the bichir is a 12" and the rams are 2". sorry to say but theyre history when the bichir gets big enough to swallow them.

 

[Mondego]

that's kinda my point. which fish you keep as food and which fish you keep as pets are more or less up to the predators in your tank. so if you have a potential killer in there... don't put in anything you wouldn't want eaten!

[snapback]846826[/snapback]​

they've been tank mates for a few months. i don't just put any fish in there and expect him not to eat it.

through careful study, i've noticed he doesn't attack during the day, ever. so right before the lights go out, i feed him. this keeps him full during times when he's used to hunting. he used to attack anything at any time. this was when i fed him live feeders a lot. i've taken him off of that quite awhile ago and his hunting instint has decreased quite a bit. i also put in lots of plants with big leaves and other plants that can easily hide small fish. i have crowded areas with rocks and driftwood that can make any fish invisible with plants all around those areas. i've also noticed that he doesn't visit certain locations of the tank, and stays confined mostly to the others. i have no reason to believe those Rams won't last many years in that tank with the bichir.

this is what i mean when i say i don't recommend it "if you don't know what you're doing". if i were to get a new bichir, i'd start over and monitor his personality individually.

there is nothing wrong with putting small peaceful fish in a predatory tank, especially if your predator is sedentary. you just have to be careful and make sure the great mean one leaves you with some outs (so not all large attacking fish might work for this).

[snapback]846847[/snapback]​

ok theyve been tankmates for months. will they still be so friendly when the bichir is a 12" and the rams are 2". sorry to say but theyre history when the bichir gets big enough to swallow them.

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my bichir is 9 inches long, and my Rams 1.5 inches.