Ornate Bichir......polypterus Ornatipinnis

[england]

ok in one of my lfs they have a bichir about 5 inches long so sweet
i have a 3ft tank with a pair of keyholes/2 clown loaches/1 albino redtail shark/1 koi angel will it be possible to keep it with these fish till it grows large enough to go into my oscar tank

2nd would catfish pellets be fine as food?

 

[The-Wolf]

a 3ft tank is ok for a growout tank.
how big is you oscar tank?

avoid the ornate as he has the potential to reach 2 foot
but consider some of the other bichirs like ansorgii, delhezi , palmas polli or palmas palmas

 

[england]

tanks 5ft by 2ft by 2ft.....aiming to upgrade sooooon

 

[mark7616]

Are you just trying to cram as much as you can into your big tank?

 

[england]

well looking at yours you have a fair few secondly read the bit where i said iam upgrading and want to grow him up in my other tank 1st to give him a fighting chance

iam upgrading to a 7ft/2ft/2ft by the end of this year tank from a friend so i dont think itll be a problem.....and anyhow my tank now should cope with what i currently have

 

[cane76]

cmon guys play nice
a 5x2x2 will do a 5 incher for well over a year,plenty of time to upgrade
it taking pellets seems unlikely to me but you never know,if you soak them in something tasty like bloodworm at first then slowly stop doing it might work.but i would definately put meat on its diet too

 

[england]

well ive been thinking and iam prob gonna leave it for a while.....if its to be itll be....
get tank fisrt then prob find one somewhere
not fightin just defending my corner his tanks a couple more gallons than mine and has a similar stocking to mine + more different ones so i cant understand why hes jumped down my throat when i have sufficent space coming and anyhow 3ft tank would do for a while.... B)

 

[Fruitbat]

Nelly,

In response to your initial question, depending on the size of the tank inhabitants then I'd say yes, you can keep a 5 inch P. ornatipinnis with the fish you have mentioned. Bear in mind that polypterids, in general, are predatory but not particularly aggressive so fighting won't be a problem. The only issue would be whether or not the fish you already have are small enough to become bichir snacks. If not then you should be fine.

-Joe

 

[Esfa]

I would say no to the pellets. They need more meaty foods like bloodworm or muscles.

 

[rixy]

the ornate is one(if not the best) looking of all bichirs,but the main problem with ornates is that they are very shy.they like to hide all the time if possible so while they are a stunning looking bichir,you'll have to take a photo of the ornate in the bag when you buy it as you'll rarely see it again.mine is pretty active but this is unusual.all fish have different personalities but an active ornate is the exception not the norm.

 

[beblondie]

They will acept pellets just be sure to use a good quailty pellet-Anne

 

[rixy]

my senegal and ornate eat pellets/lance fish,prawns.

 

[Esfa]

my delhezi wont eat pellets lol

just bloodworm and muscles.

 

[Fruitbat]

Actually, as beblondie has already said, high-quality pellet food is excellent for bichirs. I use Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets as the staple food for all of my bichirs and have only found a few that won't eat them. I use other 'meaty' foods as frequent supplements. A varied diet is important for most fish.

-Joe

 

[england]

ok thanks so much for your input guys certainly helps......and thanks for the critisim as well