Dinosaur Bichir Tankmates

[Ritingyou]

I have a 60 gallon tank 4 foot long and 2 feet deep (maybe 2 and a half) with two dinosaur bichirs, a gourami, and 5 goldfish. I know the bichirs get to be around 18 inches(so the store says) and I've ready that they grow slowly although not sure if thats true. But I was wondering if it would be safe to put other fish in there for now.

Ideas:
Bala sharks
Silver tipped sharks
pictus catfish
Golden dojo loach
African Brown knife

I know they would get along with the African brown knife but I wont have a bigger tank until maybe a year or two and am wondering if it would still be safe to get other fish. They are only 4 inches long maybe 4 1/2. Or should I wait until I get a bigger tank?

http/i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii157/ritingyou/100_1157.jpg

 

[simonas]

Hi
It looks like a Senegal Bichir. I think the sceintific name is Polypterus Senegalus if you wish to do a google or search on here. They are pretty common in the trade

It would take a long time to get to 18inch if in fact it gets quite as big as that

I kept one years ago, Bichirs are relatively easy to keep and feed as long as they have appropriate conditions, shelter and tank mates

In my experience they like hiding places, a mixture of meaty frozen and pellet food

I have to say I would ditch the goldfish, they shouldn;t be in there with it. You should decide whether you want cold or tropical fish.You wouldn;t normally expect a gourami eitehr with a bichir but I can;t see any harm in it

Silver sharks are far too big and active for your tank and require a small shoal. The african knife would make a decent tank mate and how about a couple of middle sized cichlids

 

[Ritingyou]

I wasnt planning on keeping the gold fish they were only used to get the tank started. I was planning on giving them to a friend but she changed her mind at last minute and now I cant give them away because the bichirs nibbled on their fins. So I'm kinda stuck with them. But the bichirs never even touched the gourami.

The have many hidding places, but I was told that cichilds were very aggressive so I've been afraid to get any. Also would they hurt the gourami?

 

[simonas]

I've kept bichirs with oscars etc and they are pretty formidable fish

In a big enough tank they would be fine . Have a good look around at the cichlid section see if there are any you like the sound of and go from there.

I quite fancy firemouths at the minute you could try those, not sure if your tank is big enough for severums but have a good look at those, very popular fish with a big personality

 

[Ritingyou]

Thanks ill give them a try.

 

[always4lora]

yeh its deffo senegal, will never reach 18" most get a little over 8-9 inch before slowing down eventually they'll get 13-14 inch. You need to get rid of the goldfish, they're too messy and get far to big for your tank. I'm not sure on your tank size as it wouldnt work near 60 galon.

 

[Ritingyou]

I'm not really worried about the goldfish. Ive had enough expirence with them to know how to handel them. I'm only concerned about the size of my tank being to small for the bichirs. But if they grow slowly then I shouldnt have a problem right?

I've also looked at all the cichlids that are at my local pet store.. they are too agressive for my gourami, and since the bichirs aren't harming the gourami I dont want to give him away.

 

[Don't be stupid]

Honestly, goldfish are cheap, messy and dumb. They #105### loads bigger then themselves like 3 times a day, get as big as a freakin softball, are overly aggressive eaters and steal food from other fish, and produce ammonia levels that are toxic to almost all other fish unless you have a massive filter or a nitriate bacterial colony on a sponge filter... There is no reason you should have them in there, they are causing discomfort to the tropical species because they are coldwater fish and require a totally different environment and temperature.. Not to mention your bichirs are slowly killing them. I have an adult Senegal, with 2 angels and a Cory (and a Pleco) and its working out fine, I too had goldfish in the tank at one point and I'm tellllling you things are not going to end well, either an all out war will insue and they all die or one species will cave.... For me, after about a month when my oranda got big enough to be territorial, it teamed with the 3 comets (equally as big) and attcked the other fish.. All comets were killed, my oranda had both eyes torn out but lived, I put him in a 10 gal coldwater and he bumbles around blindly all day... Still quite a neat fish to watch although i don't want this to happen to someone else..... Sorry for the overly long post just warning you.