Albino Senegal Bichir

[karin15]

John has a breeding pair of albino sengal bichir's and he breeds them and sells young ones, now that I have a bigger tank he disided to give me one from his group thats ready to be sold.
I just added him in and he seems to be doing fine (hp 7.1, temp 81)
he said that they can grow 12 inches but usaly only get 8-10 inches, in a larger tank they will probably get a foot long.

anything i need to know about them? i already know they eat smaller fish when they get bigger, most of the fish in my tank grow to big for him to eat. expt for the corrys, in a year or two they can get 4 inches long though right? I know prity much everything about them ive seen them a thousand times, any personal exerence would be good, like what you have found there likes and dislikes to be, just for cross reference more than anything else.

 

[Fruitbat]

karin15...

Any general information that applies to a 'normal' colored P. senegalus will also apply to the albino variety.

How fast your P. senegalus will grow depends on the genetics of the individual, the conditions under which it is kept, and the quality and quantity of food it gets. You can expect a fairly fast growth rate for your bichir (up to 1 1/2 inches per month) until it reaches about 8 inches or so and then the growth rate will likely slow down significantly. Your Corydoras cats aren't really going to be safe for very long and if the bichir does try to eat one of them it could end up being fatal for both fish. If the P senegalus tries to swallow the little catfish and the cat's spines get lodged in the bichir's mouth or throat then both fish can end up dying. Your 'corys' won't get big enough to avoid eventually looking like a snack to your bichir unless you have one of the larger species of catfish.

-Joe

 

[karin15]

karin15...

Any general information that applies to a 'normal' colored P. senegalus will also apply to the albino variety.

How fast your P. senegalus will grow depends on the genetics of the individual, the conditions under which it is kept, and the quality and quantity of food it gets. You can expect a fairly fast growth rate for your bichir (up to 1 1/2 inches per month) until it reaches about 8 inches or so and then the growth rate will likely slow down significantly. Your Corydoras cats aren't really going to be safe for very long and if the bichir does try to eat one of them it could end up being fatal for both fish. If the P senegalus tries to swallow the little catfish and the cat's spines get lodged in the bichir's mouth or throat then both fish can end up dying. Your 'corys' won't get big enough to avoid eventually looking like a snack to your bichir unless you have one of the larger species of catfish.

-Joe

ok so i moved my corrys into my 20 gallon that I just cloned, and also I moved a few other smaller fish in, now there is no fish in my tank that will be smaller than 5 inches expt for the killi fish that are 4 inches but they keep a low profile and stay at the very top of my tank, my birchir is doing good hes eating blood worms and flake food, and having no trouble competeing for food, hes quite active.

my elephant nose is agresive to him just as he is to all my fish, but he cant realy do anything to any of my fish with his tiny mouth and he never chases around my fish just pushes them out of his way.

 

[stang1]

Wouldn't John be able to give you all the info you need? If he's breeding them he's probably the best person to ask.

 

[karin15]

Wouldn't John be able to give you all the info you need? If he's breeding them he's probably the best person to ask.

he said more less the same thing as google and this sights reference, just not about the corys I just asumed that they would be fine thats the basic reson why i check everything because you can never get enough infromation, i google ask john and ask the sight, every one sais just google dont even bother with fish forms, john alwais sais dont bother with the internet talk to real people, but i probably should have mentioned that I wanted more specific information like personal expereince or storys oh well, It just suprises me that the corys have spines I would have never expected that one, john told me id have to move it out of the tank once it got biger since lots of the fish in my tank would become potentail meals when he was bigger, but I think ill just move my smaller fish into a 20 gallon and keep him in the big tank.

 

[stang1]

I must admit we do the same. I ask or take notes from this forum, google, check different sites, check books and ask at the lfs! The trouble is, sometimes there is so much conflicting advice so I understand why you ask for peoples experiences. Thats what I love about this forum, you learn so much from people.
We brought two books, both from the same author and even they had contradicted themselves!

 

[karin15]

exactly in this hobby every one has there own opinion, of course I hold johns opinion above all, but you can never be too sure every one makes mistakes

my sengal bichir is amazing hes active I want to get a regular colored one too, but then id have to pay money for it lolz

ok john sais you feed them as many blood worms as they can eat once a day, this also makes them more active as they hunt for food all day, in your experience how many times a day should you feed them? my elephant nose also only gets fed once a day, my regular fish get fed flake food twice a day x_X and sometimes blood worms

 

[Gankutsuou]

an elephant nose and an Albino senegal bichir?

Welcome to the club, mate!

I have such fish in mine, as well as peacock eels. It' sounds like you have a lovely taste for the oddest of odd as I do. 8)

Albino Senegals will eat brine shrimp (thaw it if frozen), Bloodworm, and anything that will fit in their mouth, so feede3r shrimp and amano shrimp will work out fine when they get big enough.

The Elephant nose enjoys blood worm and brine shrimp also. But be sure to turn off the lights before feeding them, as they are nocturnal.

 

[karin15]

an elephant nose and an Albino senegal bichir?

Welcome to the club, mate!

I have such fish in mine, as well as peacock eels. It' sounds like you have a lovely taste for the oddest of odd as I do. 8)

Albino Senegals will eat brine shrimp (thaw it if frozen), Bloodworm, and anything that will fit in their mouth, so feede3r shrimp and amano shrimp will work out fine when they get big enough.

The Elephant nose enjoys blood worm and brine shrimp also. But be sure to turn off the lights before feeding them, as they are nocturnal.

thanks
mine aren't my my elephant used to be but now hes realy happy he will eat flake food when i feed my fish but i also feed him half a block of blood worms at night he is active all day now, my sengal is all over the tank when i first got him he hid all day the same as my elephant nose but now there happy, my african butterfly fish only ate crickets but now he eats flake food with the rest of my fish john told me flake food is much beter for them than constant blood worms so now they all get a little.

dose your elephant nose like to swim near the middle? because mine is usaly hovering in the middle of the tank bagging for food it sooo cute.
yeah i pritty much know anything there is to know about them. I don't think my sengal birchir ever sleeps, hes more active during the day since thats when i feed him, it was realy hard swiching my elephant nose to the day shift I think they don't feel safe during the day because there instinct tells them that its dangerous thats when there enemys come out, but hes the bigest fish in the tank so now that he feels secure he comes out all day, which i'm told is rare, my sengal and was even on the day shift in johns tank.

 

[Gankutsuou]

My senegal is ALL over the tank 24/7, and just to warn you, has actually consumed an ABF. Otheriwse, My new ABF would be in this tank with him, but I'll let him get to his maximum size.

Blood worm is better than flake in most aspects. But My ABF gladly accepts flake and betta pellets, but senegal's and Elephant nose should be given bloodworm and brine shrimp IMO, and the senegal will eventually get to live foods.

As I said in the planted section, I have a forest made out of a plant called wisteria, and I have a row made for the elephant nose in it in which he spends most of his time.

 

[karin15]

My senegal is ALL over the tank 24/7, and just to warn you, has actually consumed an ABF. Otheriwse, My new ABF would be in this tank with him, but I'll let him get to his maximum size.

Blood worm is better than flake in most aspects. But My ABF gladly accepts flake and betta pellets, but senegal's and Elephant nose should be given bloodworm and brine shrimp IMO, and the senegal will eventually get to live foods.

As I said in the planted section, I have a forest made out of a plant called wisteria, and I have a row made for the elephant nose in it in which he spends most of his time.

i have a flat pice of drift wood against the glass and a *very well planted tank* i'm going to buy some film and take a few pictures of it, hes got plenty of places to hide and he dose

also were talking about nutrition balaced flake food like omega 1, not safeway brand lol belive me a nutritional balaced diet with some meet is much beter than just pure protin

and if your fish will acept frozen food why start feeding it live food? my friend got a snake from the pet store and it took him forever to get it eating frozen mice, because the stupid pet store feeds live food to all its stock.

my sengal is only 4-5 inches right now, thanks for the warning but I have my small snyo catfish too and I am raising all my fish together the only adult fish in my tank is the elephant nose, abf can get up to 6 inches in a tank were it has enough room to swim around, there quite active at night and i keep my birchir well feed the gorami's/ angle fish also are well fed when ever they get to close to my butterfly fish he just swims away after all he has 5 feet of swiming space.

it seems you and I ave very differnt ways of keeping fish so lets agree to disagree shall we? also i made a little place in the back left hand corner of my tank were my powerfilter is 2 inches below the water and the abf gose there when ever he gets spoked out because the fish cant see him, hes eating well and all the fish in my tank are realy happy, the only fish that got eten in my tank were neons, and my elephant nose ate them, theres still 2 left but ever since my elephant nose has become active during the day/ eating flake food on top of the blood worms he has become completly docile and dose not show agresion to my other fish were as before he was extreamly territoral.

oh ps my abf is only 2.5 inches right now and my sengal cant even eat a neon, when he bets big enough to eat corrys ill give my 4 corrys to john. (1.5-3inches long)

Reply to>hi john I someone online told me that its better to feed fish live food? What do you think?

>>Don't start feeding your Senegal live food it will start relating there tank mates to food and can some times become aggressive and territorial. They will try to eat other fish, instead of once in a wile snatching neon. Just remember to keep the fish very well feed and it will have less of an urge to attack fish. The only time I would feed live food to fish is when switching them to frozen, also the risk of disease in freshwater live- freshwater fish is high, in some foods more than others. Karin as another reason not to feed them live food, Bichirs are prone to gravel eating. When it tries to catch a shrimp or a fish it will sometimes take a mouthful of gravel with it or instead of it this is lethal, its best to get them feeding by hand which isn’t hard to do, anything that is dead doesn’t try to escape so it should have no problem eating dead things off the ground. One more thing I almost forgot, it’s a lot easier for a fish to digest many small things like frozen blood worms or flake food, rather than one large thing like a gold fish, so you see it is healthier to not feed live, everyone has there own opinion but I breed them so don’t go around asking the internet for advise, like you always do. –john


your safe with anything twice the width of there heads

 

[Gankutsuou]

mmmmm.... My senegal was only 5 inches when it downed a 2 inch ABF, rare black and gold coloration too.

And by live foods, I'm refering to once in a while giving it feeder fish. That will only spread agression towards things it thinks it can eat.

And an elephant nose ate your neons? How the heck did it manage that?! The mouths on the things are so small!

Intresting that you have a syno. catfish also. It looks like out fish we are keeping are most similar.

And I didn't say live food is better than flake.
Frozen Blood worm would be. Also, the senegals will take veggie wafers time to time (sinking wafers)

I haven't taken a full look at your stock. If it's in your profile, I'll see.


Most people also don't worry about their senegal's eating corries, but I got large false corries, Emerald greens, In my 10, and probably will move them to the 38 If I get rid of the syno, because I worry about him being on the bottom only at night and staying in upper tank corners in the day.

 

[karin15]

2.5 inches? how did he manage that? mine could never swollow a mine hole, hold on a sec ill mesure it, perhaps its bigger than 2.5 inches, i dun know about the corrys though they alwais get currious and swim around him it would be so easy for him to snatch one if he could.

thats the second time someone on this form said the same thing scroll up i dont want to rewrite the same answear, and my elephant nose is 10 inches long when he opens his mouth he can easly eat a neon or a any small guppy, most elephant noses only get 6-8 inches long in captivity there seen about 15 inches in the wild but this one was reaised in a realy big tank with young arowanda's when i put it in my tank he was quite agresive towards my little fish and completly nocturnal.

yeah correction my butterflyfish is only 2 inches i was including the tail, and my bichir is only about 3.5 i messured him from the net, like i said my bichir is very small, theres no way i could posibly imagine him eating my butterfly fish hes way too big at least right now, john said he has kepted them with smaller fish, he has one in nearly every tank, they usaly only get about 10 inches long, some of them get bigger some of them stay smaller, + my abf seems to be realy senstive when ever a fish gets any were near it he darts away, my fish rarely take a trip all the way to the surface though, john has never kept that combination together but they should be fine, he hasnt eaten anay fish yet the 2 neons are swimming around my tank from the group of 5


ps: my syno isn't very active durring the day either but hes coming around, he dosnt hug my powerfilter but he usaly stays close to the drift wood, hes very small about the size of a cory. Well he is becomeing more and more active before I never saw him but now he ventures out very offen, he still spends 60 percent of his time hiding underleaves or in caves, the agresion in my tank is very low, mostly between the the species of free swiming fish like angles and goramis, and they only pic on each other.

 

[Fruitbat]

karin15...

A couple of things regarding bichirs:

1) It is always best to offer a variety of foods to your fish. My bichirs (depending on size) get frozen bloodworms, frozen krill, frozen silversides, live earthworms, occasional live 'ghost shrimp', and Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets. I never feed them live fish unless I have personally quarantined those fish for at least two weeks. A common cause of death and disease in bichirs is the introduction of disease-causing organisms by using live feeder fish.

2) A bichir will eat any fish it can get in its mouth (or even thinks it can get in its mouth). This is not to say that you can't keep other fish with bichirs, however. All of my bichirs are housed in 'community' tanks with fish of appropriate size. I have had great success keeping the African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi) with the 'smaller' species of bichirs (like P. senegalus) but I certainly wouldn't put one in an aquarium with some of my larger bichirs like P. endlicheri endlicheri or P. endlicheri congicus. My favorite fish to keep with bichirs are the 'Bush Fish' (Ctenopoma and Microctenopoma species) of appropriate sizes. I do keep various species of Synodontis (again of appropriate sizes) with my bichirs as well. I've also kept the African Knife Fish (Xenomystus nigri) successfully with 'smaller' species of bichirs. I did, however, lose an 8 inch African Featherfin Knife (Papyrocranus afer) to a 12 inch Polypterus bichir lapradei (I never thought he could manage to take that knifefish down but he surprised me).

3) As far as the Corydoras cats are concerned, they would have been fine with your bichir while he was small but would have eventually been at risk as the bichir grew (and they can grow as much as 1 1/2 inches a month during their youthful growth spurt).

-Joe

Oh....and by the way....last time I checked I WAS a real person and not just a virtual bit of digital information on the internet.

 

[Gankutsuou]

Ah, my featherfin syno is pretty big, nearing max size I'd guess.

My senegal was 5 or so inches when it took out my 2 inch ABF. I'm gonna let my ABF reach full size before introducing him to the 38.

But still, did you see the elephant nose get your neons? Mine is around 8 inches and his mouth looks like it's have trouble swallowing a 1/4 pea!

Well, I'm going to get stress coat from a LFS, and do a water change.

And yes, I did forget to mention, QUARENTINE!

That's very importaint for feeder fish. Not so much for ghost shrimp IMO.

One other thing, your senegal will constantly be checking the surface of the water, as they breath through a system of primitive lungs. So The ABF will have constant constact with it. But Yours sounds like a small one, so there should be no problems