Please Help

[TonicViper]

ok so i got this fish about a month ago, there was no lable on the fish tank i got it from, the shop worker said it was a communal fish so i thought i would get it as it look diffrent(cost £30)
now its been fine so far i have lost a few guppies but put it down to my cat fish? then last night i see it swimming around with one of my knife fish in its mouth( my knife fish are only a little bit smaller than it) then it started doing a death roll and ripping the knife fish to bits this morning i got up and its killed almost all my fish apart from my plec and catfish that are alot bigger than him

can any one tell me what it is sorry photos not that great but hes very fast lol

thanks in advance. Daniel

ps the last pic is whats left of one of my knife fish

 

[nmonks]

It looks like a Senegal bichir, a generally excellent community fish when kept with fish of its own side. In the wild this species feeds almost entirely on insects and other small invertebrates, and it isn't very predatory. I'd put money on this bichir eating a dead or at least dying knifefish rather than actually killing it directly. Obviously small guppies will be viewed as live food by any substantially larger fish, bichir, knifefish, or even angelfish for that matter.

Because bichirs breathe air, they're able to tolerate conditions that are much harsher than other fish will put up with. South American Knifefish are rather delicate because they come from fast-water streams rather than swamps, so unlike bichirs, they have little tolerance for poor conditions. So I'd step back from the apparent carnage, and review the aquarium more broadly. How big is the tank? What else is in the tank? What sort of food have you offered your fish? What's the water turnover rate? What's the water temperature? What's the water chemistry? Are nitrite and ammonia consistently at zero?

Cheers, Neale

 

[TonicViper]

ok i had 3 Black Ghost Knife Fish all dead
2 Butterfly Fish dead
about 10 guppies 3 left
4 Steel Blue Killifish 1 left
1 Striped Raphael Catfish alive
1 red tail catfish alive
2 Red Tail Black Shark alive
1 Snowball Pleco alive

my tank is 5 foot by 2 by 2
and i have a external filter that does 1000 lph
just taken water up to local fish shop and they said my ph is a bit high but not enough to kill my fish?
i think your right in its not him hes just feeding on the dead but not sure what else it can be?

food i feed catfish pellets bloodworm and flakes and the temps about 79-81

 

[nmonks]

1 red tail catfish

Are you kidding me?

Cheers, Neale

 

[TonicViper]

1 red tail catfish

Are you kidding me?

Cheers, Neale

nope? first fish i got and hes been fine?

do you think its him then?

 

[juliedavis]

sorry for your losses but i can tell you that 2 rfb sharks is gonna be a problem they will probably fight! and the red tailed cat fish is gonna grow huge! i don't know what the "mystery" fish is as i haven't come across one before, but knife fish can be a little tricky specially to feed!

 

[TonicViper]

sorry for your losses but i can tell you that 2 rfb sharks is gonna be a problem they will probably fight! and the red tailed cat fish is gonna grow huge! i don't know what the "mystery" fish is as i haven't come across one before, but knife fish can be a little tricky specially to feed!

i know hes going to get big we are currently digging a pond for him, hes only about 4" ant the mo

 

[nmonks]

Red-tail catfish, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, are territorial and predatory. They will eat anything they can swallow, and everything else is simply killed. They are complete loners as far as home aquaria go, and even then, they're notoriously difficult to maintain properly.

Cheers, Neale

1 red tail catfish

Are you kidding me?
Cheers, Neale

nope? first fish i got and hes been fine?
do you think its him then?

 

[TonicViper]

Red-tail catfish, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, are territorial and predatory. They will eat anything they can swallow, and everything else is simply killed. They are complete loners as far as home aquaria go, and even then, they're notoriously difficult to maintain properly.

Cheers, Neale

1 red tail catfish

Are you kidding me?
Cheers, Neale

nope? first fish i got and hes been fine?
do you think its him then?

was told t the shop that he will be ok as long as you dont put really small fish in

will move him into spair tank then

thanks for your help

 

[nmonks]

I hate being the one to say this, but the shop took complete advantage of you. Red-tail catfish are very, VERY difficult to maintain and they almost NEVER accept tankmates.

Rehoming red-tail catfish is virtually impossible because public aquaria already have plenty of unwanted specimens. Here in the UK the better retailers simply don't carry them, and you hardly ever see them in the trade any more. But twenty years ago they were quite common, and magazines like PFK ran plenty of horror stories about them. Now most aquarium books carry warnings about red-tail catfish, and the hobby has largely moved on. They are practically the "poster boy" for fish that should be banned, simply because they're such unbelievably bad choices for the hobbyist.

Cheers, Neale

was told t the shop that he will be ok as long as you dont put really small fish in

 

[TonicViper]

think i should have read up instead of just asking at the shop? as you can probley tell this was my first tank and looks like i should start again
whats good to keep i dont like the norm and i have the time to spend

thanks

daniel

 

[nmonks]

There are some excellent predators for people who want something a bit different. A particular favourite of mine is the hujeta gar, Ctenolucius hujeta. It gets to 15-20 cm long, is happiest in groups, so you can keep a few, and is easy to feed. My specimens are hand-tame, and I use forceps to give them little bits of fish fillet, seafood, and even the odd bit of minced beef. They're very peaceful and easily kept with species too large to swallow, including rainbowfish, large tetras, catfish and loaches.

Among predatory catfish, you can get some really nice species like Pimelodus ornatus and Chrysichthys ornatus that are big but not huge. I have a real soft spot for Sorubim lima, a superb species that is big enough to be impressive, but still manageable in a 150-200 gallon aquarium. It's a lovely looking beast as well. If you go brackish, then you can keep the Colombian shark catfish Sciades seemanni, easily the most shark-like fish in the hobby apart from actual sharks! Sciades seemanni is a gentle, schooling fish even though it looks every inch the predator and is indeed armed to the teeth, literally, with a venomous bite alongside its poisonous fins.

Cheers, Neale

 

[TonicViper]

There are some excellent predators for people who want something a bit different. A particular favourite of mine is the hujeta gar, Ctenolucius hujeta. It gets to 15-20 cm long, is happiest in groups, so you can keep a few, and is easy to feed. My specimens are hand-tame, and I use forceps to give them little bits of fish fillet, seafood, and even the odd bit of minced beef. They're very peaceful and easily kept with species too large to swallow, including rainbowfish, large tetras, catfish and loaches.

Among predatory catfish, you can get some really nice species like Pimelodus ornatus and Chrysichthys ornatus that are big but not huge. I have a real soft spot for Sorubim lima, a superb species that is big enough to be impressive, but still manageable in a 150-200 gallon aquarium. It's a lovely looking beast as well. If you go brackish, then you can keep the Colombian shark catfish Sciades seemanni, easily the most shark-like fish in the hobby apart from actual sharks! Sciades seemanni is a gentle, schooling fish even though it looks every inch the predator and is indeed armed to the teeth, literally, with a venomous bite alongside its poisonous fins.

Cheers, Neale

thanks for your time

will look into them then figure my next move

Daniel

 

[TonicViper]

ok just found some one selling 3 Hujeta Gar about 4" long for £30
will do a bit of reading take the few remaning small fish out
and hopfuly will be all good

 

[Squidward]

You also don't say what you have been feeding the Bichir.
You say you have had it for a month. But if you haven't been feeding it the appropriate food (bloodworms, shrimp etc), it's probably starving, and in desperation attacking your other fish.