dino Bichir
- Thread starter magafish18
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A 40 wide ('breeder') tank would be great, as would a 50 wide.
In one of my senegal bichir tanks, the bichirs have African knifefish(Xenomystus nigri) and leopard Ctenopoma (Ctenopoma acutirostre) as tankmates, and it works out beautifully, although in a 50, you would be somewhat more limited due to space....perhaps two African knives.
In one of my senegal bichir tanks, the bichirs have African knifefish(Xenomystus nigri) and leopard Ctenopoma (Ctenopoma acutirostre) as tankmates, and it works out beautifully, although in a 50, you would be somewhat more limited due to space....perhaps two African knives.
Bichir's Diet?
I think I just found both my long lost "Mom" (A week+ ago) and "Dad" (today) on this forum!
Joking aside and while we are on the subject of the dragon eel, I would like to know from experienced Bichir keepers what your dragon’s favorite food is, if you don’t mind sharing?
I have one myself. When I saw my dragon at the LFS a few months ago, I instantly fell in love with him; admired at him every time I went there (visited the store once or twice every week at the time). The store owner informed me that he (4” and thin at the time) would get big and aggressive. I came home and did search on him but did not see anything mentioning about any aggressive behavior other than the obvious in most fish (anything that would fit into his mouth and that he could catch). So, he came home with me a couple of weeks later….
: Absolutely love him!
So far, I’ve been feeding him what I feed the others – brine shrimp (live and frozen), blood worms (frozen and freeze-dried), beef heart, bio blend granules and shrimp pellet, etc. He doesn’t seem to be picky with food but rather slow at “chowing”…. I always try to distract other fish and drop food in front of him to ensure he gets some.
Besides food choices, if there's anything extra special about them that I may not have yet read about in general aquarium books or website references, I'd appreciate your taking the time to share their uniqueness.....
I think I just found both my long lost "Mom" (A week+ ago) and "Dad" (today) on this forum!
Joking aside and while we are on the subject of the dragon eel, I would like to know from experienced Bichir keepers what your dragon’s favorite food is, if you don’t mind sharing?
I have one myself. When I saw my dragon at the LFS a few months ago, I instantly fell in love with him; admired at him every time I went there (visited the store once or twice every week at the time). The store owner informed me that he (4” and thin at the time) would get big and aggressive. I came home and did search on him but did not see anything mentioning about any aggressive behavior other than the obvious in most fish (anything that would fit into his mouth and that he could catch). So, he came home with me a couple of weeks later….
: Absolutely love him! So far, I’ve been feeding him what I feed the others – brine shrimp (live and frozen), blood worms (frozen and freeze-dried), beef heart, bio blend granules and shrimp pellet, etc. He doesn’t seem to be picky with food but rather slow at “chowing”…. I always try to distract other fish and drop food in front of him to ensure he gets some.
Besides food choices, if there's anything extra special about them that I may not have yet read about in general aquarium books or website references, I'd appreciate your taking the time to share their uniqueness.....
mine love frozen beefheart and squid. and the best thing for them is hikari's sinking carnivore pellets, they are kind of expensive but more than worth it. they come in a white pouch and have a picture of a south american redtail cat on the front. if yours learns to go to the surface to eat you can also feed floating carnivore foods, the best in my opinion and experience being hikari's cichlid bio-gold+. make sure the top of your tank doesnt have any holes big enough for him to fit through. what other fish do you have him in with?
the shrimp pellets are a decent staple, but at least about 3 times a week should get the sinking carnivore pellets.
Thank you for your suggestions!
I do feed shrimp pellets to my bichir as a variety, but I will take your suggestion to get the hikari’s carnivore and cichlid bio-gold+ pellets. Thank you!
The tank top is covered snuggly for the most part, and I leave the water level 3-4” below the cover since I also have other jumpers in the tank as well. So far, all of them have been doing well in not committing suicide…..
My “dragon” is about 5”. His roommates right now are: 4 marble angels (1½”), 3 dojo loaches (4-5”), 3 African butterflies (2¼”), 2 synodontis longirostris catfish (3¼”),1 black ghost knife (3½”), 2 clown plecos (1¼”), 1 spotted (1½”) and 1 striped (2”) Rafael catfish, 1 pimelodus pictus catfish (3½”) , & 4 cory catfish (1¼”). I am trying plants - added them in this tank a couple of weeks ago… not confident about plant growth at this time since I’m pretty new at it.
I do feed shrimp pellets to my bichir as a variety, but I will take your suggestion to get the hikari’s carnivore and cichlid bio-gold+ pellets. Thank you!
The tank top is covered snuggly for the most part, and I leave the water level 3-4” below the cover since I also have other jumpers in the tank as well. So far, all of them have been doing well in not committing suicide…..
My “dragon” is about 5”. His roommates right now are: 4 marble angels (1½”), 3 dojo loaches (4-5”), 3 African butterflies (2¼”), 2 synodontis longirostris catfish (3¼”),1 black ghost knife (3½”), 2 clown plecos (1¼”), 1 spotted (1½”) and 1 striped (2”) Rafael catfish, 1 pimelodus pictus catfish (3½”) , & 4 cory catfish (1¼”). I am trying plants - added them in this tank a couple of weeks ago… not confident about plant growth at this time since I’m pretty new at it.
Mine eat:
Live/fresh: Earthworms (their favourite), crayfish, feeder livebearers (mollies, etc), frogs, tadpoles, superworms, ghost shrimp, blackworms (for small juveniles).
Frozen: Krill, shrimp/prawns, scallops, silversides.
Prepared: New Life Spectrum XL fish formula (floating), NLS Thera-A large fish formula (sinking), NLS Large fish formula (sinking).
Probably one or two items that I have forgotten.
Live/fresh: Earthworms (their favourite), crayfish, feeder livebearers (mollies, etc), frogs, tadpoles, superworms, ghost shrimp, blackworms (for small juveniles).
Frozen: Krill, shrimp/prawns, scallops, silversides.
Prepared: New Life Spectrum XL fish formula (floating), NLS Thera-A large fish formula (sinking), NLS Large fish formula (sinking).
Probably one or two items that I have forgotten.
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Super!
Thank you Toirtis! I had wondered if you would see my post and offer me your expertise on bichirs as well....
I haven't tried much of what you've just mentioned....
My LFS carries live brine shrimp, feeder guppies, and feeder golfish. Once in awhile, I'd see crayfish and frogs (both are pretty large). It's somehow troublesome for me to feed my fish anything live other than brine shrimp - especially when I keep the "feeder fish" (crayfish, frogs, and guppies) as pets in my community tanks as well....
Do you mind sharing how/where you generally get your fish food such as live earth/super/black worms, and is there any preparation/cleaning required before feeding?
I had tried cooked/cocktail shrimp from the market a couple of times then hesitated after another fish store staff told me that such cocktail shrimp is not good to feed the fish because of cleaning process and nutrient value. True?
This is one of the instances that has proven that we could learn more from reading specialized threads from the experts than searching all the info available in the books or on-line....
Thank you Toirtis! I had wondered if you would see my post and offer me your expertise on bichirs as well....
I haven't tried much of what you've just mentioned....
My LFS carries live brine shrimp, feeder guppies, and feeder golfish. Once in awhile, I'd see crayfish and frogs (both are pretty large). It's somehow troublesome for me to feed my fish anything live other than brine shrimp - especially when I keep the "feeder fish" (crayfish, frogs, and guppies) as pets in my community tanks as well....
Do you mind sharing how/where you generally get your fish food such as live earth/super/black worms, and is there any preparation/cleaning required before feeding?
I had tried cooked/cocktail shrimp from the market a couple of times then hesitated after another fish store staff told me that such cocktail shrimp is not good to feed the fish because of cleaning process and nutrient value. True?
I also haven't paid attention to the above mentioned items in the past and am very thankful to learn such great varieties!Toirtis said:
This is one of the instances that has proven that we could learn more from reading specialized threads from the experts than searching all the info available in the books or on-line....
Resource websites!
Also, I will take some time soon to read the websites you included in your signature.Toirtis said:
