Do Ornate Bichirs Grow Slowly?

[simonas]

I have a Bichir who I have had probably about 8 months now. I bought a fire eel at the same time and the fire eel has grown quite a fair bit but the Bichir justseems to have thickened out.

The fire eel is quite active now and takes prawn from my hand and comes out when forzen foods put in however I never see the Bichir eat although I know he does due to his thicker body shape

He isn't very active and tends to stay in his pipe. I notice from peoples pics on here there Birchirs seem to come out to feed etc.

Is my Bichir displaying normal behaviour or am i perhaps letting him down in the way I keep him

His tank mates are the fire eel which is prob 7 iches long, the bichir is prob 5 inches long there s a red tailed shark in there and a BGK

 

[cane76]

what are you feeding it?
it took my 3"ornate 18 months to reach 17"

 

[Straydum]

i'm not too sure about oranates but most of the smaller bichirs i've seen are quite active. my senegal almost never stays at the bottom. it swims all the way up to the surface when it sees someone coming

 

[simonas]

I wonder if the conditions aren't right then for my bichir. I'm probably exagerating with growth but its still only an inch or two thats hes grown since i GOT HIM HOWEVER HE HAS THICKENED A LOT... however he is very inactive sharing his pipe with the fire eel and just poking his head out and not going after food unlike the eel

 

[shroob]

My ornates arn't active at all, I've heard their growth slows down as they get older.

 

[simonas]

just measured him he's 7 inches long
I feed him prawns and frozen blood worm frozen brine shrimp

 

[invader]

What size tank is it in?

 

[simonas]

he's in a 4ft by 2ft by 18 inch with ony 2 firemouths 1 fire eel and a BGK

 

[Straydum]

but for just a 7" he shouldnt be settling down that quickly. is it because you feed him too much and now he's all fat and all and doesnt feel like moving?

 

[The-Wolf]

I feed him prawns and frozen blood worm frozen brine shrimp

so the prawns are the only source of high protein then?
I suggest that you add to the diet something like JMC catfish pellets, JMC growth pellets and/or mysis,
all of which are very high in protein.
you may also wish to add something like frozen lancefish or whitebait when it is a size to be able to eat them.

I've also heard of people using sturgeon/sterlet pellets (aka Halibut pellets)
but when I tried this on my bichirs it left an oily film on the surface, however they went made for them.

as with us, too much protein is not good so all the above should only be used once or twice a week,
keep it on it's base diet but consider adding a higher protein content.

to sumise
more protein = faster growth rate

 

[simonas]

cheers for that

I've just ordered some jmc catfish tablets. i haven't had them for about 8 years!!