Dinosaur eels at the Superstore

You are talking about polypterus senegalus? They rarely eat other fish. More of a bottom dwelling scavenger than anything. I have seen mine catch a few feeders but that was pure luck. They have very poor eyesight so I wouldn't guess it would be all that big of a problem. However if you but one in a very small tank it would eventually become stunted and die from that, and also if they didn't have a lid it might become a carpet pet but they usually bounce back rather easily from being out of the water a few hours or less.

Ya I was surprised when I saw them at Petco and Petsmart. I got my first one at my LFS, but I got my second one at Petsmart lol. Sometimes those big chain stores have deals to good to be true. I got my 48" Hagen GLO T5 HO light fixture, a Day GLO bulb, a Life GLO bulb, and a dog bed for under $100! Can't beat clearance lol. Btw, check out my gallery, maybe see if that's the little guy you were talking about. They are actually really cool fish for a community tank, and they are super forgiving fish to take care of being that they can survive in literally stagnant mud puddles in the wild. They can breath atmospheric air.

Most petcos and petsmarts here have carried senegal bichirs for years. When I first got into the hobby (6 years ago) they carried them all the time and they still do. They are always sold as dinosaur eels at those places, and that's how they're listed by suppliers for most fish stores also.

Even though they get too large for many people's tanks (though they are on the small side compared to other bichirs), they are actually a fairly good starter fish since they tend to take to varying foods better than other bichirs and they're very very hardy, tolerating water conditions that many other fish won't. (Not that I advocate keeping them in poor water conditions).

Absolutely not, just because a fish is capable of being kept in poor conditions, doesn't mean they should. But as every beginner hobbyist is guilty of making some mistakes, they will find that with this family of fish, their mistakes don't necessarily have to end with stress to the fish, or mortality. A good fish to ease a new hobbyist into the more exotic than your average carnival fair game goldfish prize. Lol

Ive never seen them in the Petsmart out here. Havent been to petco in awhile so wouldnt know bout them but in the past they didnt carry them either. I was actually amazed to see a pair at my LFS they were a trip to look at. They were both bout 5-6". I was tempted on buy them but with me being over stocked as it is I convinced myself not to.... that and I was near broke. lol

GEV83 said:

I was tempted on buy them but with me being over stocked as it is I convinced myself not to.... that and I was near broke. lol

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Haha I feel that for sure! There has been so many times where I take a "just to look" trip to one of the really big LFS and end up finding a fish that I just had to have, and dropped $80-$100 lol. Then I was broke! Lol, bills will have to wait haha

ExPeNsIvE HoBbY said:

Haha I feel that for sure! There has been so many times where I take a "just to look" trip to one of the really big LFS and end up finding a fish that I just had to have, and dropped $80-$100 lol. Then I was broke! Lol, bills will have to wait haha

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Yeaahhhh.

We had that issue when my husband was working down in Houston around a whole ton of fish stores with some oddball stuff. He ended up bringing home a bunch of fish that he just couldn't pass up lol.

Ya I would keep telling my girlfriend, this is the last one ok? And shed get mad and let me buy it anyway lol. Now I got her a 135 gallon tank and she's got the same problem, she's like OMG I've gotta have it! But I always let her cause I know how it is lol.