Bichir and a betta

I always pronounced it 'bih-sheer' or 'bih-cheer' myself...

They will only hunt a fish as large as a betta if they aren't getting enough at feeding time. Bichirs are only deadly to fish they can fit into their mouths, which at that age is probably anything roughly 1" and slender in build. A full grown male betta is bigger than that. Just make sure and keep the bichir well-fed so he doesn't get any stupid ideas... :P
 
Honestly, bichirs are big babies and not aggressive AT ALL unless hungry. I had a 2 inch cichlid that used to bully mine around the tank... when he was twice the size!! They are more likely to run away from provocation and don't bother anything they can't easily fit in their mouths... and they won't bother nipping at other fish as long as they are being fed well.

I kept mine in a tank with cories it could have eaten... he would nose up to them as it smelling or testing to see if they were small enough. They were juuuust a wee bit to big. He never tried to eat them. Just notice the motion, check to see what it was, oh! It's the cories again, and go back to minding his own business.

I've fed him carnivore pellets, shrimp pellets, live feeder fish, live ghost shrimp, chopped cocktail shrimp, chopped red worms, minced catfish fillet... he's never attacked a live fish in my tank unless it was definitely bite-sized... or he was starving and had no other option (which only happened when I left for a month to visit my fiance's family in Holland and left him in the care of my aunt and uncle).
 
Not every bichir is the same. One my have to be pretty hungry before it will go for a tankmate, others just need the opportunity.
 
I wouldn't risk it personally. Since we're talking about a betta, perhaps you could temporarily house it in one of those plastic "condo" things that hang on the side of an aquarium to keep it safe? Hope that you can find a home for that bichir soon.
 
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