New senegal bichir at surface

O

oscar boy

AC Members
Sep 26, 2005
13
0
0
i just got a little 3.5-4" senegal bichir a couple hours ago. it's in a 55 gallon tank all by itself except for a khuli loach. its still at the surface and hasn't gone to the bottom yet. should i be worried? it was all over the tank at the store.

also, any ideas for tank mates?
i was thinking a green terror and a couple of other small/med cichlids.

thanks.
 
how long did you take to acclimate?

you should give it a couple DAYS before even thinking about expecting any normal behavior.. it takes a while for them to get used to the new digs.

also.. i highly discourage any larger fish (ie. GT)... its just a 55g.

one more thing.. something like a GT would make a kuhlii loach into a spaghetti snack.
 
Well normally id say give him a few days, due to water params and ect. you added and turned the light off and didnt feed right? try to make it as calm as possible. But my senegal was from !!! w lm t and it went all over my 10g which is alot smaller a tank than yours so maybe hes scared? Mine was ALL over. Even eating some guppies and danios ofter a few hrs. I normally dont throw food at em but its w lm t so i fig'd it was STARVING. Me thinks he was lol.
 
Thanks.
i wasn't planning on keeping the khuli loach, i'm waiting for a friend come pick it up.

btw i was able to get the bichir to eat a few pellets :)
any suggestions of what i could safely keep it with in the 55?
 
oscar boy said:
Thanks.
i wasn't planning on keeping the khuli loach, i'm waiting for a friend come pick it up.

btw i was able to get the bichir to eat a few pellets :)
any suggestions of what i could safely keep it with in the 55?
Click to expand...

I kept gouramies with my palmas. Polypterouses arn't aggressive in the least, just predatory so any peaceful fish it can't catch or fit in it's mouth should be okay. right now there are a ton of choices but when he's an adult it will prove to be more difficult.
 
I wouldn't worry about your bichir. It does go to surface a lot of times. Like others mentioned, give it a few days to become accustomed. And please remove your kuhli loach before that bichir tries to eat it. All serpentine fish species should never be kept with bichirs.
 
would peacock cichlids or other african cichlids be a posibility for tank mates? or are they too agressive? i want something i can keep it with now and as an adult
 
oscar boy said:
would peacock cichlids or other african cichlids be a posibility for tank mates? or are they too agressive? i want something i can keep it with now and as an adult
Click to expand...
I'd rather not recommend you keeping other fish with African cichlids. You could try however some silver dollars and possibly a severum cichlid.:)
 
good tankmates = any fish that is peaceful and not large enough to be eaten. bichirs have armour but they cant stand up to an aggressive cichlid.

i would personally recommend, angels, 3 spot gouramis, butterfly fish, african knife, silver dollars


plecos tend to attach themselves to them, i personally seen it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom