Dumb Question About Polyps

[the_evil_duboisi]

Yeah, dumb question, but I was curious.

If you had a large tank and mixed up all species of polyps, including ropes, would there be issues? Like the smaller senegals not getting enough to eat? Or to the extreme; The larger ones(Ornatis, endlicheri congensis) eating their smaller senegalus cousins and the thin ropefish?

To me it's a scary thought But I was just curious. But the chances seem to be lower than with other fish, because I have seen quite differently sized polyps live together.......On occasion though(Especially when there's a large ornati in the tank) I have seen the smaller ones with bite marks and torn fins.

 

[Straydum]

smaller sized polyps definately risk being eaten be the larger ones. same for other species of fish. big eats small. just to be safe, make sure the smallest one cant fit into the mouth of the largest

 

[DarkEntity]

You really cant mix the upper jaw species with the lower jaw species..its basically size difference. The uppers are like Senegals, Delhezi, Retropinnis, Teugelsi etc..the Lowers are you Ansorgii, Bichir, Endli etc..the size difference when grown is rather vast...I think that a Bichir or Ansorgii would be able to eat a Senegal whole at full growth.

 

[fry_lover]

I've got x4 Senegals currently at about 6" and x4 Reed Fish (Rope Fish) at about 7".

They are in a 48x20x24 300 litre (81 US Gallons). Not ideal, a bigger tank will be required no doubt at some point.

I've had the 8 of these for pushing 4-months, or maybe longer i guess so far all is good. They hang out together, often a Senegal and a Reed Fish will share the same plastic tubing for hours on end lying side by side etc...

I've never noticed a mark on any of them (i.e. a bite)

The only time there is a minor issue is at feeding and it's rare. I might see the odd cloud of sand in the tank, like its kicked off, but when i watch closely i am more convinced this is not aggression, merely their lack of eyesight playing a part at feeding time. One Bichir or Reed Fish may attempt to grab a prawn out of another's mouth and the one with the prawn will shoot off, creating the cloud of sand lol I think this is lack of eye sight rather than attempted theft of food. As peeps will probably be aware, these fish rely heavily on their sense of smell. I often see both types of fish completey swim past a big block of prawn, mussel or bloodworm only to come back a few secs later from the smell of it

No actual aggressive behaviour has been observed by me in the 4-months or so and i love these fish. watch them daily, can easily watch this tank for an hour non-stop.

All them are very active too. I read once that Senegals and Reed Fish are mostly active at night, well mine are active whatever time of day and level of lighting in the tank.

Brilliant, some of the best and most rewarding purchases i have made in fish keeping to date.

My Bichirs even come to the top for feeding when i use pellets or floating food for the other fish (Barbs), i was suprised at this.

I aim to keep them for their life-time if i can, upgrading when required.

Any aggro i would split them, hopefully not.

How do these experiences fit in with other Sengal or Rope Fish owners?

Thanks

 

[severum boy]

You could keep species of about the same size together, but ropefish may well be on the menu for anything over 1'.

The uppers are like Senegals, Delhezi, Retropinnis, Teugelsi etc..the Lowers are you Ansorgii, Bichir, Endli etc..the size difference when grown is rather vast...I think that a Bichir or Ansorgii would be able to eat a Senegal whole at full growth.

I thought Ansorgii were quite a small species, or have I got this mixed up with another?

 

[Mr._Fishy]

You could keep species of about the same size together, but ropefish may well be on the menu for anything over 1'.

I thought Ansorgii were quite a small species, or have I got this mixed up with another?

I though Ansorgii were small too, around the size of a senegal.

I think that ropefish might get eaten by anything over 1.5 feet, considering they can grow to 1.5-2 feet but stay skinny.

My senegal and ropefish live quite peacefully together, I have never seen any aggression between the two.


Ryan

 

[DarkEntity]

Species and sizes
maximum known sizes often smaller in captivity
Upper Jaw Species-Upper jaw protrudes past lower jaw
P. palmas palmas ('palmas' bichir)- 13"
(subspecies)P. palmas polli ('marbled bichir)- 14"
(subspecies) P. palmas buettikoferi ('buettikoferi' bichir)- 13"
P. ornatipinnis ('ornate' bichir)- 27"
P. delhezi ('armoured' or 'delhez's' bichir)- 14"
P. senegalus senegalus ('Senegal' or 'Cuiver's' bichir)- 12"
(possible subspecies)P. senegalus meridionalis- 12"+
There is, Also the possibility of a third member of the Polypterus senegalus
group that is found in the Nile River
P. retropinnis ('retropinnis' bichir)- 14"
P .mokelembembe
P. weeksi ('week's' bichir)- 20"
P.teugelsi (found only in the Cross river)-16.75''
E. calabaricus ('Ropefish')- 15"-30" (Closer to 15''-20'' in captivity)

Lower Jaw Species-Lower protrudes past upper jaw
P. endlicheri endlicheri ('saddled' or 'red' bichir)- 32", possibly more
(subspecies)P. endlicheri congicus ('giant' or 'congo' bichir)- 39"
P. Bichir lapradei ('Lapradei' bichir)- 24"
P. bichir bichir-30+ ''
P.ansorgii

Edit adding credit that seemed to have gone walkies during the copy and paste.
Info taken from MFK forums, no idea where they got it from

 

[the_evil_duboisi]

Scary. So you could say a full grown senegal and a full grown(Or maybe even half-grown) endli isn't a good mix?

 

[Straydum]

think 30" v.s. 15". not something you'd want to see in your tank

 

[the_evil_duboisi]

Thanks for the answers! The thought is rather scary.

And DarkEnity, I think the endli's have one more charasteristic; they have bulging cute froggy eyes! SO cute...... Of course you knew that, didn't you? Just saying it's rather funny, such a cool fish with such funny eyes!

 

[severum boy]

Species and sizes
maximum known sizes often smaller in captivity
Upper Jaw Species-Upper jaw protrudes past lower jaw
P. palmas palmas ('palmas' bichir)- 13"
(subspecies)P. palmas polli ('marbled bichir)- 14"
(subspecies) P. palmas buettikoferi ('buettikoferi' bichir)- 13"
P. ornatipinnis ('ornate' bichir)- 27"
P. delhezi ('armoured' or 'delhez's' bichir)- 14"
P. senegalus senegalus ('Senegal' or 'Cuiver's' bichir)- 12"
(possible subspecies)P. senegalus meridionalis- 12"+
There is, Also the possibility of a third member of the Polypterus senegalus
group that is found in the Nile River
P. retropinnis ('retropinnis' bichir)- 14"
P .mokelembembe
P. weeksi ('week's' bichir)- 20"
P.teugelsi (found only in the Cross river)-16.75''
E. calabaricus ('Ropefish')- 15"-30" (Closer to 15''-20'' in captivity)

Lower Jaw Species-Lower protrudes past upper jaw
P. endlicheri endlicheri ('saddled' or 'red' bichir)- 32", possibly more
(subspecies)P. endlicheri congicus ('giant' or 'congo' bichir)- 39"
P. Bichir lapradei ('Lapradei' bichir)- 24"
P. bichir bichir-30+ ''
P.ansorgii

Thanks Dark Entity, great bit of information.

 

[DarkEntity]

Cant take credit for that, i borrowed that from another site, but now i look it hasnt pasted across where i got it from..