New To The Hobby And Bichirs.

[Duy]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and new to raising fish. I want to start out with raising a Bichir, I don't know which type but I saw it a few times at the fish store when I visited. I'm looking at getting a 50+ gallon tank so the Bichir can roam around and grow big. I was wondering what are some good fishmates that the Bichir can live with. I was thinking on getting 2 or 3 Bala Sharks to live with my Bichir, but the only problem is that I heard the Bichir are slow eaters and the other fish might end up eating it's food.

I've also read that the Bichirs are mainly nocturnal and that they would eat at night. I was thinking if I were to feed during the day the Bala Sharks will get it's fill and at night I will place food again so that the Bichir can come out and eat. I was just afraid that the Bala Sharks will end up eating at night too. I'm planning on starting out by feeding the Bichir's bloodworms but I read that the Bala Sharks do as well, so you can see where my question is going.

Also if you guys know a list of certains things I should get when starting out would be of great help.

Any kind of help or tips would help a lot really.

Thank you in advance.

 

[yvez9]

i've kept one senegal bichir. kept it with an oscar in a 4 foot, 90 gallon tank

it would eat the pellets that dropped to the ground. since the oscar was so big, it didn't care for blood worms so the bichir had an easy them getting to them. he came out alot during the day but i think the senegal is the species that is most active during daytime. bichirs will not starve as long as they get some food. just feed enough so some drops and your bichir will soon get the hang of grabing whatever falls to the bottom.

as far as bala sharks, they would be ok but the balas require at least 6 foot tanks as they grow to more than 12 inches and are very active swimmers.

other tankmates would be pretty much anything bigger than 3 inches or any thick-bodied fish. bichirs aren't very accurate swimmers so catching fish is not that easy if the fish are big enough.

 

[indigoj]

What type of bichir can make a difference - my senegal is super active and visible, my lapradei is much more placid and shy.

Can you post a pic?

I've kept bichir with several different fish but wouldn't go for Bala's, climbing perch (ctenopoma) are interesting fun fish, a lot depends on the type of bichir though.

 

[Liam50]

i would advise having a senegal, probably not the best looking but i love my lil fella he's always out during the day or just chilling in the java moss, they can also compete for food fairly well in my experience. i feed mine catfish sinking pellets and prawn. i would advise keeping them with some sort of SA or CA cichlids, eg firemouths, blue acara, geopahgus.

 

[Berber King]

As already said,get a senegal.My albinos active day and night,and takes floating cichlid gold pellets,and prawns etc.

 

[always4lora]

I have a senegal and i really like it , however if you want something really active go for a palmas species, theres a few subspecies that don;t grow to big and are very active. Something i want at some point. As for nocturnal bichir's don';t wurry its generally the bigger ones that are nocturnal. As for tank mates bala's are not good as they would outgrow the tank . Bichir's are relativly peacefull too so as long as the tank mate is 2/3rd's of the size of the bichir theyre safe