Decent Info On Senagals

[foley69]

i hear senagals grow to 14" on one sight and that they rarely get bigger than 8-10" on another sight does anybody have any good info on them as i have just got one for my 32" tank

 

[nmonks]

Just like any other animal, maximum size is determined by a variety of factors: diet, health, genetics, among others. Fish grow continuously, but not at the same rate throughout their life, so a fish that was starved as a juvenile will not reach the maximum size for its species, even if well fed the rest of its life. In other words, it's complicated.

Polypterus senegalus generally gets to at least 30 cm in aquaria, though supposedly much larger in the wild. Although not especially active, it will need a tank upwards of 150 litres in size (I'd argue 180 litres or more). When choosing tanks, the breadth and length are much more important than depth.

Cheers, Neale

i hear senagals grow to 14" on one sight and that they rarely get bigger than 8-10" on another sight does anybody have any good info on them as i have just got one for my 32" tank

 

[foley69]

well my tank is more length and width rather than depth and its 100 litres so i will just have to upgrade if needs be

 

[DarkEntity]

well my tank is more length and width rather than depth and its 100 litres so i will just have to upgrade if needs be

100 litres is substantially too small for a Senegal for life. From experience mine was always very active and even when it was in a 65gall tank used every inch of its length, width and depth for swimming.

 

[nmonks]

Quite right. I could have phrased things better above. What I meant was that these fish aren't constantly and rapidly swimming, like, say giant danios or South American puffers. But they are moderately active fish that do expect space to explore. I agree with Dark Entity above, a 100-litre tank is too small for this species, certainly in the long term.

Cheers, Neale

100 litres is substantially too small for a Senegal for life. From experience mine was always very active and even when it was in a 65gall tank used every inch of its length, width and depth for swimming.

 

[foley69]

looks like a upgrade then some time cheers its only a nipper now about 2.5" now so when i get enough money i will upgrade or i might put it in with my tex

 

[foley69]

well i added my sengal to my 55 with my tex and all seems well so i will hope for the best cheers

foley

 

[invader]

well i added my sengal to my 55 with my tex and all seems well so i will hope for the best cheers

foley

Just make sure the texas isn't too big to eat it!

 

[foley69]

well they are both the same size a about 2.5 - 3" so they are both fairly young so hopefully they will take a liking of each other and share the tank nicely

 

[8inary]

i have 2 birchirs (senegalos) at circa 8" which is about their full size, but others can grow quite big, heres my tank with two of them

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGa8d9L1SY...re=channel_page

 

[foley69]

how big your tank and how long did it take for them to reach that size they a stunners

 

[8inary]

i got two of them when they were about 3" - now, they are around 7/8"

the tank is 6ft x 2.1/5 x 2ft

i feed once a day at around 4.30 with a hand full of prawns, and flake

they are great to have, i would always have these guys

 

[foley69]

i like how they arent skittish when i added it before i was cleaning a bit of algea off and it was in the tank for what 5 mins max and it was swimming around my hand think i will teach it to eat from my hand they seem very interactive

 

[8inary]

well to be honest, with most fish, you can train them to eat from you hand - you just have to show them food and they will remember, not like how people thought that fish had a 5 second memory - not true!

 

[foley69]

thats rubbish that theory...well i have been after some type of predatory fish for a while i was after channa pulchra but nowhere had them but my LFS had a couple of these bad boys in so i had some store cred think it was £6 so i got myself a bichir for £9.50 they were goin for well worth it