Should I Be Concerned About My P.palmas

[mark7616]

My palmas birchir is starting to act real funny he as always been the more timid out of him and the senegal but now he is acting funny. As of last night he kept trying to bury his self in the substrate and is not very active. He did go to feed this morning but straight after is trying to bury hisself again. Is this cause for concern???

 

[Fruitbat]

There are a couple of possibilities at play here. First of all...are you sure your bichir is actually trying to bury itself or does it seem to be making scratching movements on the substrate? It isn't unheard of for a bichir to burrow into the substrate but in all the years I've kept bichirs I've never had one do it. If the fish is scratching itself rather than trying to burrow then you may have a problem with parasites.

-Joe

 

[§tudz]

I have never seen polypterus bury them selves, until I got my P. endlicheri endlicheri (from Paul_MTS) and it buries itself from time to time.
Although some times it the other fish tipping sand on it and not the fish itself burying. I think its coz its has grown up with no substrate, it had a time adjusting to obsticles in the tank as it didnt have anything in its old tank.

as said parasites are a problem with bichirs I had an infestation a while back with my senegalus' and my delhezi's, look for small little hair like creatures on the fishes skin. I finally got rid of it using POND parasite stuff, cant remember itrs name from the top of my head.

and after all polypterus are bottom dwellers so lying in substrate is normal, imo.