Ideal tank for a Senegalus bichir?

[rhinecat]

I have a very small bichir; he's only about 3.5-4" long right now, and I'm thinking about what kind of tank I'll need to set up this year to keep him in permanently. Right now he's in one that's far too small-- I took him in as a rescue from some moron, and figured it was better to keep him in small clean quarters with no other fish, for a while, than where the moron had him: a cichlid tank that was disgustingly dirty and overcrowded.

So, if anyone who keeps these guys would like to design a bichir tank... I'd like to know the bare minimum to start with, and also the extras; just things that he would like to have in his tank. Maybe that sounds kind of silly, but I don't have too many fish, just a few very spoiled ones. I really don't know what my bichir would LIKE, I just know that he likes to eat pellets, clam meat, and nothing else.

Thanks.

 

[tdins_2]

i would say (i have no experience with these but have researched them) u should have a tank of aroud 150g and they like bogg wood and rocks and plants and sand but i think u should let the boggwood leech a litle to add a orange tint to the water to add a very nice effect

 

[drobbins27]

i would say (i have no experience with these but have researched them) u should have a tank of aroud 150g and they like bogg wood and rocks and plants and sand but i think u should let the boggwood leech a litle to add a orange tint to the water to add a very nice effect

I second that

 

[CFC]

Senegalus is one of the smallest species of polypterus and rarely reaches over 10 or 12 inches in captivity, you could comfortably house one in a 30 gallon tank. The most important thing with any bichir species is to have a tight fitting lid, they are great escape artists and will get out even the smallest holes, a tank with sliding cover glasses is recomended. Decorate the tank with bogwood and rocks with a sand substrate, the sand is very important as small bichirs have been known to choke to death on pieces of gravel. They preffer dim lighting so if you want to add live plants make sure they are ones with low light requirements.

 

[DiXoN]

definately add sand and bogwood, rocks are good as they like to hide and plants but if you like just add decent fake plants as bichirs are more active when its dark so low lighting is better.
they eat fish meat based foods so sinking pellet and prawns bits plus i feed mine whitebait bits.
they do only get to about @ 12'' and the tank size advised above will be fine but if you do want to keep other fish with it then go bigger like a 55g or bigger again depending on the fish.
anyway nice one i love bichirs i used to rescue piranha all the time.
dixon

 

[rhinecat]

Great, thank you all. I think I'll do a 75g with black sand, some bog wood, low-light plants, and fake rocks (since I have a whole bunch of them). Wish me luck, I'll try and post pics when I get everything together.

 

[DiXoN]

Great, thank you all. I think I'll do a 75g with black sand, some bog wood, low-light plants, and fake rocks (since I have a whole bunch of them). Wish me luck, I'll try and post pics when I get everything together.

nice one i look forward to seeing it
dixon