senegal tank mates

[Xcric]

so i recently saw these at the lfs and instantly fell in love with them, but i'm wondering how they'd get along with the fish in my tank at the moment, if they'd eat them, be harassed by them, or what

right now theres a bunch of cories, tiger barbs, serpae tetras and a bristlenose pleco in there

everywhere i see people say to make sure its tank mates are bigger than its mouth, but i'm wondering if what i've got in there will be big enough not to fit, or fast enough to get away, or what

its a 170 gallon btw

 

[Fruitbat]

Xcric....

The question you're asking has a two-part answer (because it is a two-part question).

1)

wondering how they'd get along with the fish in my tank at the moment

The answer depends on the size of the P. senegalus you're considering. Eventually the Senegal Bichir will get large enough to eat practically all of the fish that you've listed. I've kept small P. senegalus with Tiger Barbs and loaches before without any problems but the other fish were considerably larger than the bichir's mouth. This is what can happen if you misjudge the bichir's capacity a bit:

That's a 5 inch Polypterus delhezi taking a 1 1/2 inch Yellow-tailed Congo Tetra.

Polypterus senegalus will eventually reach a foot in length and none of the fish in your list will be safe.

2) Suitable tank-mates for bichirs, as you've already stated, are fish that are too big to be swallowed. Don't rely on the speed of the fish that you put with the bichirs because Polypterus species are outstanding nocturnal hunters and will nail even the fastest little fish when that fish is asleep. Avoid excessively aggressive fish like large cichlids or piranhas. While bichirs are predatory, they're generally not overly aggressive and won't do a very good job of defending themselves. Right now I'm keeping some of my smaller bichirs with large Congo Tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus) and a few medium-sized Synodontis cats. My moderately-sized (up to 9 inch) bichirs have an African Knife Fish (Xenomystus nigri), a number of Bush Fish (Ctenopoma species) and some moderately-sized Synodontis cats as tank-mates.

Hope this helps a bit.

-Joe

 

[Xcric]

sweet, thanks

thats actually pretty much exactly the type of answer i was looking for

of course it makes me sad that i won't be able to keep one with my current fish...
but at least now i know that for sure