Tank mates for a Senegal bichir..?

Lillyan

Lillyan

AC Members
Jan 26, 2010
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Culpeper, VA
So, anyone know good tank mates for a single Senegal bichir? He or she, is about 4in long, has attacked slow and fast moving 1.5-2.5in fish in the past. Would he enjoy having another Sen as a buddy?


I wanted to make the 75g he is in a Mumba tank, but then remembered the Sen was in a temp 5g, so I had to make it his new home. Can Mumba live with him or no?
 
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bst thing would be a species tank.
 
I like bichirs, but I think an all bichir tank would be kind of boring. I think a great companion for bichirs are gar, but that wouldn't work in a 75. With sens, basically as long as they can't eat it and it doesn't pick on them much, they should be ok. I've never kept mbuna, so I don't really know how they would do with bichirs
 
spencerguy1 said:
bst thing would be a species tank.
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WHY? I have kept them with Oscars, JD's, Jardini's, large Clown Loaches, and numerous other species without any issues. They are not really aggressive per say, but they will eat anything small enough to swallow.

And no, I would not suggest keeping them in with mbuna, they will torment him to death I am sure.
 
fshfanatic said:
They are not really aggressive per say, but they will eat anything small enough to swallow.
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^ Basically that when it comes to tankmates.

Tankmates shouldn't be highly aggressive/territorial since bichirs are actually rather calm/mellow for their size/appetite and shouldn't be big enough to fit in the fish's mouth since they can/will eat just about anything that fit (and they can make things fit that people don't expect, such as smaller bichirs).
 
Well, he will bite off from big fish if he can. Eat out eyes or fins/tails.
Guess I'll have to buy another tank for my mumba. Can he live in a 40breeder alone or is that not enough JDs and Oscars are too big and I would want each of the 3 colors they have of Oscars. So no on either. hmm..
 
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Lillyan said:
Well, he will bite off from big fish if he can. Eat out eyes or fins/tails.
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Have you seen this happen with this specific fish? I ask that because I have kept numerous species of bichirs off and on over the past 35 yrs and cant remember ever seeing one that could be labeled "aggressive". If they cant eat it they pretty much ignore it.

Can he live in a 40breeder alone or is that not enough space..?
How many JDs and/or Oscars could I have permanently in there with him?
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They can get upwards of 12" long. The last Senegal Bichirs I had were easily 12". I kept them in a 150 with a Jardini, 2 Ornate Bichirs and 6 Red Hook Silver Dollars.

I have seen people kept a par in a 55 with a single Oscar without issue. I dont see why a 40B wouldnt work. If you are going to go out and buy a new tank I always recommend people go as big as they can afford. Not only is the extra space good for the fish, but it opens up other possibilities as far as tank mates go..
 
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