Senegal Bichir: Complete care guide
- Sep 24, 2020
- Anshika Mishra
- 3556 0 0
SENEGAL BICHIR (POLYPTERUS SENEGALUS)
So, you have just got yourself a dinosaur Bichir or Senegal Bichir then down here are the things that you should know to give a great life to the Senegal Bichir in your tank.
Diet
It is a hardcore carnivore, which gets to the size of a hotdog, maybe a little bit longer. It eats everything that it can swallow. It will eat bloodworms, it will eat pallets, it can also eat smaller fishes like Neon Tetra, guppies. Therefore it should always be kept with other larger fishes.
Tank Mates
It is not an aggressive fish, it just swallows stuff. So, you should also not keep it with other fishes either because it will not be able to defend itself there.
Odd-ball fish
They are usually kept in the "ODD-BALL" tank; which is basically a tank for weird fishes that are not aggressive but do eat up other fishes in the tank. This tank usually homes with other weird fishes like a Butterflyfish, Leppard bush fish, elephant-nose, maybe some other types of Bichirs.
Tank Size
These Bichirs actually need to be in a 29-gallon or more tank, with a very tight-fitting lid. They will sail right through the top when you are not looking, therefore be careful with the lid of the tank and also with the filter, it should be mostly covered.
A bigger tank will be better if you are planning to get more of them, 29-gallon will be for one. For 4 or 5 of them, it should at least be 55-gallon or larger. They can be kept in the home aquarium, but it is pretty difficult, not everybody will be able to do that.
Water Parameters
They can thrive in a wide variety of pH i.e. from 7-8 or even till 8.4. It actually depends on where they came from and where are you putting them.
If they came from very acidic water and now you are putting them in a very hard, high-pH water, they might suffer in that transition. But if they are already coming from high pH like from Florida and you put them in high pH, they are going to do well. Don't assume that you are buying them from a local fish store so, they will be okay with the water parameter of your area.
In general, enjoy them and keep them warm about 78-degrees as they are tropical fish even though they are odd-ball.
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