New Bichir Owner

[rsandelius]

Hey guys! First post here, have been checking out the site and am very impressed! Tons of great, knowledgable owners in here! Kudos to all!

I've had aquariums for a long time, with predatory fish for the majority of it with piranhas. However, I saw these fish at Wal-Mart (which, in hindsight, blows my mind) that I instantly fell in love with.

I ended up buying a 3" Cuviers Bichir (I know that the correct other part of the latin name starts with an "S", but I haven't memorized all of my fish details yet. Anyways, for about $5, I was geeked to get one.

I have a 30 gallon tank to start out with (moving up to a 55 when needed), one half of the tank heavily covered with plants & lava rock, and the other half mostly open from top to bottom, save a single lava rock and a fake anenome (which so far, it looks like the bichir likes to play in). The substrate is black sand (new to using sand instead of gravel, too).In addition to the bichir, I picked up five 1" danios that love to jet and dart around just below the surface.

So now, for the questions:

1. I know these guys are jumpers and escape artists. The only exposed sections on the top of the tank are gaps in the hood template around the heater/filter that are about 1/2" on the sides and about 1" where the water comes out of the filter (biowheel area). Is this going to be a problem? Or do I really need to cover this as well? I just worry about covering it because I want there to be SOME oxygen to get into the tank for when he comes up for air (though I'm thinking about dropping the water level in the tank a bit to aid in this).

2. This morning when I woke up, I turned on the light and looked for him everywhere on the bottom. Then, I looked up and saw him floating at the surface on one of the tank sides. He appeared to be breathing normally and was fully upright. About 10 minutes later, he kinda shook himself a little bit and darted back down the bottom and was acting like normal (or at least, what I have observed to be "normal" so far). I'm thinking he was sleeping. However, the floating thing kinda disconcerted me.

3. I bought those sinking carnivore pellets by some highly-recommended company (I want to say it was Harin or something) upon the recommendation of a posting on another forum. Within an hour of being introduced into the tank, I dropped 3 pellets in. Within 5 minutes of that, he was trying to wolf that bad boy down, even though it was the size of his head. Now, he has trouble eating the whole things or breaking them down into smaller pieces. Is it ok for me to leave the pellets in there? Or should I break them into halves/quarters before I drop them in the tank from now on so he can ingest them easier?


Thanks to anybody who replies to this. This fish, so far, has been amazing! I swear you can make out expressions on it's face and body language... sometimes it'll just sit there and look at me, with this seemingly little impish grin... maybe it's just "new fish euphoria", who knows. But I'm diggin' it!

 

[wwildcats04]

First off congrats on your purchase you wont be disapointed. Next its good that you have a small tank to start your polypterus in they do a lot beter. I have used HOB filters for them and had the gap there and have not had any problems but I could just be lucky, in their current tank they are in there is a few gaps where I had cut holes in the plastic but I have the water down about 5" so its not a problem. bichirs dont really use breating air as their primary sourse of O2 but are able to if needed and sometimes do. Bichirs are also not very active and either spend a lot of time laying around or a lot of time looking like a floater (use your imagination) those pellets will be great I use those for mine as well in the morning. night time I feed a variety of things ranging from spirulina disks, more pellets, frozen silversides, frozen shrimp, frozen beef heart and I have not tried it but have heard amazing reviews about it fresh shrimp from your grocery store. I recomend you checking out aquaticpredators.com they have a ton of info on bichirs there good luck and if you have any questions just ask

 

[rsandelius]

That's interesting... it must be because this guy is young... he's constantly exploring the tank and fluttering from the bottom to the top... gulping air... then rocketing back down to the bottom again.

So you're saying that him floating at the top and apparently taking a siesta is normal, then?

 

[patoloco]

I currently own rwo cuvier's bichirs (senegalus). They behave just like yours. Sometimes they drift for a while and them dath back towrards thier hideout.
Make sure give them some cave to hide when they are sleeping.

Bichirs are primitive fish, and just like the ropefish, they like to gasp for air at the surface from time to time. Dropping the water level will not be necesary. About the holes in the hood, I keep mine really tight, so they can not escape. For ventilation, I drillled some holes in the top part of the hood, so they can nort reach. However, they are not that agile to escape as the ropefish.

Feeding? I feed mine fresh shrimp, tropical flakes and tubifex worms. They like it a lot, and the firsttime I dropped a shrimp I didn't chop it small enough and the bichir ate the big chunk (about head size )

Good luck and congrats on your bichirs. By the way, those danios will become a snack in a matter of days.

 

[jason2894]

well i have had an albino polypterus for about 6 months now and i just love watching him swim around hes so active doesnt really hide unless he/she is eating on a shrimp pellet which he loves right along with cichlid pellets and anything else he can get his mouth around. but to answer your question about the floating mine albino likes to swim up and he will position himself right under the discharge from my filter and ride the current to the tank wall and repeat this over and over its just one of those quirky things he does so i wouldnt worry even if he doesnt make it wal mart has a 90 day return policy on all fish .

 

[rsandelius]

Wow. Amazingly fast replies! You guys rock. You've also really eased my mind about what I thought would become alot of pressing issues. A couple more questions....

1. I have the stock bulb that came with the hood. However, it makes the tank very, very blue looking. Maybe it's a daylight bulb, maybe it's just too bright, I don't know. however, I WAS interested in if there's any better lamps to shop for that would both make daylight viewing easier and not so blinding? Also, what do you do for viewing at night? And does this screw with the fish, having a light on at night?

2. I notice that since my danios chill right below the surface, and the bichir stays mostly on the bottom, excess flakes are showing up everywhere on the black sand. is this something that the bichir will clean up? Or should I think about adding a bottom-feeder like a cory or pleco or something to keep that clean, since the bichir isn't showing ANY interest in the flakes? I'm sure this is a common problem for owners of these goofy fish...

 

[patoloco]

1. If you don't have plants, get some common compact fluorecent bulbs. they give you a white light and your view is more enjoyable. Fluorescent tubes are good too. There are some specializaed tubes you canget at any fish store that give a pinky light, that enhances fish colors and favours plants. Make sure you give the bichir a cave or anyother dark place to hide.

2. Give less food to the danios. Exccess food wil end up in decomposing food. give your fish the food they will eat in 2-3 minutes 2 times a day. Don't rely on bottom feeders to clean up your mess. Also, adding a cory is like adding food to the bichir. Trust me.

Another thing. I don't know how new you are to the fishkeeping hobby. I hope you are familiar with tank mainteinance, tank cycling and stuff. If not, please read the sticky thread that appear at the top of the forum.

 

[rsandelius]

For the danios... I can try to give them less food... though the flakes sink within about 15 seconds of hitting the water and those little punks almost have a feeding frenzy when I do drop the food, causing the flakes to sink faster from the turbulence. I saw a feeding ring at the pet shop (floating, keeps the flakes in one spot), would that be an option?

Oh yeah... I'm all over cycling, vaccuming, etc, etc. Would the addition of a powerhead cause too much current in a 30 gallon tank? Keep in mind, half the tank is covered very thickly with plants and the bicher has two big lava rocks with big holes in them to hide in, so maybe it'd be alright...

 

[beblondie]

1. I know these guys are jumpers and escape artists. The only exposed sections on the top of the tank are gaps in the hood template around the heater/filter that are about 1/2" on the sides and about 1" where the water comes out of the filter (biowheel area). Is this going to be a problem? Or do I really need to cover this as well? I just worry about covering it because I want there to be SOME oxygen to get into the tank for when he comes up for air (though I'm thinking about dropping the water level in the tank a bit to aid in this).
A.Cover or plug any opening in the hood not used and don't worry thee will be plenty of oxygen form small opening.Bichirs need acess to the surface drop your water level aprox 2 inches below the black trim on the tank.
2. This morning when I woke up, I turned on the light and looked for him everywhere on the bottom. Then, I looked up and saw him floating at the surface on one of the tank sides. He appeared to be breathing normally and was fully upright. About 10 minutes later, he kinda shook himself a little bit and darted back down the bottom and was acting like normal (or at least, what I have observed to be "normal" so far). I'm thinking he was sleeping. However, the floating thing kinda disconcerted me.
A. perfectly normal behavior not to worry
3. I bought those sinking carnivore pellets by some highly-recommended company (I want to say it was Harin or something) upon the recommendation of a posting on another forum. Within an hour of being introduced into the tank, I dropped 3 pellets in. Within 5 minutes of that, he was trying to wolf that bad boy down, even though it was the size of his head. Now, he has trouble eating the whole things or breaking them down into smaller pieces. Is it ok for me to leave the pellets in there? Or should I break them into halves/quarters before I drop them in the tank from now on so he can ingest them easier?
A.Break them into quarters it will make them easier to consume there are also numerous frozen foods you can use bloodworms are good.
Bichirs are found in slow moving river and swamp they really don't need much current-Anne

 

[beblondie]

BTW what you have is a Polypterus senegalus.If possible feed it several small meals thru the day rather than 1 meal also once they get around 7" skip a meal once a week -Anne