Just got a Bichir...

[Yuki]

So, today, after a long morning of church and checking out the Senegal, I decided to go for it. They're only about seven bucks at Petsmart, and they looked healthy and pretty happy, swimming around the top of the tank.
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Right now mine needs prozac. I've installed him in the 30 gallon (it's well cycled, trust me. That thing's been up for a year, but since we moved....it's about three months now. I don't know the parameters, seeing as my dad is stingy about everything...) What I do know is the water is about 7.0 ph, perhaps a little harder, I just changed perhaps 15-20 %, the filter is an Aquaclear, there are plants and sand substrate, a pvc pipe, driftwood, and shells. All the fish are healthy.
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He...she....it's floating around the top right now, looking really depressed. I'd think it'd hide in one of the darker nooks, but evidently not. It's alive and well, from what I know of fish, and I'm kinda wondering if I should give it a few days before I panic. I don't think the other fish were beating up on it (the dojo's apathetic to any other fish, and the botia only goes after the guppies), and I haven't fed it.
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Could there be something wrong, or am I overreacting? Oh, and could someone direct me to a good site where they show pictures of male and female bichirs? I would like to know what it is.
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Sankyu!

 

[beblondie]

Congrats P.senegalus senegalus is a great first bichir.I ca make an assumption its about 2-3 inches so sexing it is almost impossible since sexual dimorphism really only becomes obvious at 7-8 inches.
The tank setup sounds great for it just remember it should reach 10-12 inches when its an adult and you should see as much as an inch to an inch and a half
gorwth per month till it reaches 7-8 inches then the growth rate will slow.
Its common for juviniles to stay close to the surface easier to get air.Yes they breathe air as well as use their gills. Also it takes many bichirs a couple of days to settle in.
Feed it when small under 7 inches bichirs go thru the biggest growth and can be eating machines
Feeding
Live foods : guppies and guppy fry ,rosey red minnows, ghost shrimp, earthworms
frozen: bloodworms, mysis shrimp,brine shrimp , krill, squid and frozen silversides
some will take pellets, lean meaty foods such as beefheart are good too
but you need to balance their diet for nutrition so vary the diet, not just one
thing.How much to feed them ? Feed them until their belly bows slightly.
and skipping a meal will not hurt them once they are
past 7-8 inches remember in the wild food is not
always available.A nice round bichir is a happy bichir-Anne

 

[Yuki]

Yeah, it's pretty small...I'd say perhaps more or less three inches.

So, basically it'll grow something like an inch or so per month until it gets to 7-8 inches. Okay. And it'll take a day or two for it to settle, so good thing I rigged a cover for the tank (the 30 gal was a yardsale thing, with a wierd airtight glass top that allows no filter whatsoever)

It ate just now (dried plankton. looks and smells like shrimp), so I'm happy. I'll keep in mind the frozen foods - I wish I was old enough to work, my parents give zilch for allowance. Is it okay to feed it thin strips of freshly caught fish from a wild pond? I'm a little iffy, since most ponds are horribly polluted...

Well, good luck to the little fish - thanks.