# Senegal Bichir



## Tomorrowland (Mar 9, 2012)

Hey guys. I have a fully established 75gal long tank, it's been running for a little over four months at this point. 

(If interested in the tank set-up / water conditions, read on, if not please skip to Stock ) I have two filters running on the tank (one Emperior Bio Wheel Pro Series 400, and one 280) and a powerhead to increase the surface area, and the current for my loaches. There are four live plants in the tank, two hollow logs (one floating and one at the bottom), a large rock arch/cave, and a very large rock decoration with several hiding places. Ammonia and nitrite are at 0, nitrate is at 10, PH is 7.7, and water temp is 80-81 F.

Stock
One Senegal Bichir
One Red Tailed Shark
One Opaline Gourami
One Veiled Angelfish
One Pictus Cat
One Blood Parrot
Three Clown Loaches

I know the Angel and Gourami will grow to about 6", the Parrot 8", the Loaches 12", the Pictus 5" and the Shark 4". I'm not too concerned about the bigger fish, but I have heard recently that as a Bichir grows, so can their aggression. I know Pictus are generally good at defending themselves, but what are the chances of my Gourami, Angel and especially my RTS, who will be the smallest in the tank, falling prey to my Bichir?

Any help appreciated.


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## Corywm (Jan 18, 2011)

Unlikely that the Bicher will eat the RTS. Bichers are ambush predators and only attack what they think they can swallow whole.


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## marcusrose123 (Jun 13, 2012)

i have two different speices of bichir, they are the most AWSOME fish out there! nd like the comment above they only eat what they can whole, however keep and eye out because one of my bichirs ate a angelfish by ripping its fins off first!


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## meBNme (Oct 7, 2011)

Yeah...... what they can eat whole....... Not so much LOL

When I had a 6.5" senegal, he tried swallowing my 7" sturgeon.
Twice.

Tail first both times. The first time I thought, "poor little blind sucker, probably thought the skinny tailed sturgeon was a smaller fish."
So I watched em closely. 3 days all is well.
4th day he has 5 inches of the sturgeon swallowed with only his gills side fins and head sticking out. I though for sure the sturgeon was a goner.
I tapped the bicher with a net and he spit him out and pitched a fit uprooting a few plants. I separated them immediately and later traded the bicher on something else.
My indilicheri bicher never seemed to notice the sturgeon until he got to about 13 inches, then I noticed him stalking the poor guy and had to separate again.

The question is, how big are all the fish now, and what rate of growth can you expect?

Clown loaches grow very slowly, Bichers grow very fast.
My Indi has gone from 3 inches to 14 inches in 1 year.

They may be all compatible NOW, but very quickly the bicher will grow large enough to eliminate 2 and 3 inch fish.

For example. If you have 2 inch CLs, and a 3 inch Bicher they should be fine for now, but in 6 months that bicher will likely be pushing 8 inches and the CLs still shy of 3.
Pretty soon the bicher will have a very expensive lunch.

I had an 11inch bicher make dinner out of a 3.5 inch $35 cichlid within 12 hours.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

also should the pictus be in groups of about 6?


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## Nereus7 (Jun 13, 2012)

Hey TL. Sounds like playing with fire. I've never had a bichir, but I've done alot of reading up on them and talking with the LFS. An ornate is next on my wish list. I do have botias, and would hate to see any of them suffer. meBNme's post sounds to me like a bullseye. One of the reasons I like bichirs so much is the fact they're as ornery as the are. I'd set him up seperate.


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## plecosrawesome (Mar 1, 2011)

They will eat anything they think they can get down there throat. I have an 8 inch one in my 30 gallon and he eats everything. I think your gouramis will be fine because mine is in a tank with gouramis and theres never been a problem. Ive heard of them eating angelfish but it seems a little unlikely, and i would think the pictus catfish would be ok as long as there not too small. The RTS may get eaten if the bichir is big enough but it depends on the bichir. Some are more aggressive than others,mine never bothers other fish in its tank.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

zero said:


> also should the pictus be in groups of about 6?


I keep a school of three pictus, and they seem to do fine in that number, though I imagine the more the merrier applies here. they are schooling fish, so three is about the least i can get away with. being ina 55 gallon with three angelfish I don't have much room for any more of them.


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## pepe (Nov 11, 2013)

I have a 10 inch Senegal in a 90 gl. by herself.She did share the tank with a large snakeskin gourami .The gourami passed away about a year ago and I tried a good size angel ,it was eaten,large giant danio's, eaten, and a firemouth cichlid about 3 inches long that didn't last ten minutes.If I could get a big enough blue,opaline gourami (I can't get any large fish where I live)I'd try that otherwise she'll stay by herself the rest of her life


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

pepe said:


> I have a 10 inch Senegal in a 90 gl. by herself.She did share the tank with a large snakeskin gourami .The gourami passed away about a year ago and I tried a good size angel ,it was eaten,large giant danio's, eaten, and a firemouth cichlid about 3 inches long that didn't last ten minutes.If I could get a big enough blue,opaline gourami (I can't get any large fish where I live)I'd try that otherwise she'll stay by herself the rest of her life


Look for a clown knife fish!I had a clown knife and polyepterus for years and NOTHING else lasted a day with them.The knife was 3" when I got him(for my son) and was all of 16" when I got rid of him.The polyepterus passed before the knife and I had same problem as you,no one was going to live(long) with this guy!


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## ChannaLover (Nov 22, 2013)

Corywm said:


> Unlikely that the Bicher will eat the RTS. Bichers are ambush predators and only attack what they think they can swallow whole.


"Swallow whole" Aw hell no! XD My delhezi bichir 4" attacked and attempted to eat a 8" red bellied pacu XP


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