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looks like i've killed the thread with those pics. Well i have some great news my neighsbors fish died and so he MIGHT want to get rid of it its a 46 gallon. with stand gravel 2 pengiun 170 filters fake plants etc. not sure how much hes willing to sell it for but im going to talk to him tomorrow would this be a better tank for my bichirs?

Bigger is always better.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Agreed...all my bichirs would be in 500 gallon aquariums, if I had the room.

ok then i have another ? should i get my friends and my neighbors tank and spilt the bichirs up??

Im trying to upload some pics, but im not satisfied with the quality of any of the ones i took so far. His diet (at this point) consists of
krill (freeze-dried)
Ghost Shrimp (live)
Minnows (live)
Beefheart (frozen)
I also tried dropping in half of a frozen ball of bloodworms (my 25g gets half a serving and i usually just re-freeze the rest) and he did gobble it up, so i guess i will add that to the menu. Any input?

Oh and I was wondering Toirtis, i assume hand-feeding them is unwise? I wouldnt be worried about my 5" ornate (he is too shy to hand-feed anyways) but the bite from my 8" endlicheri seems like something to stay away from. The endlicheri will closely watch my hand as i try to plant some krill for him in the gravel and will even follow it if I move it around and he will come upto it, but ive never let him feed from my hand.

[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-11 21:47][/span]

i might have to try some small ghost shrimp soon im running out of thing to feed him.

Well i put 2 3" cichlids in there thinking that they would be too big for him. Boy was I wrong. You can even see a bulge in his body like a snake gets. Here are some pics i took.
lunker101 attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/414042.jpg"]

how do i put multiple pics in one post?

i dont think you can well i think you might be able to upload it to photbucket and use the img tags that works.

[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-12 21:12][/span][/font]


[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-12 21:13][/span][/font]

[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-12 21:13][/span]

I know some (but i am un-aware of all species) are found in the same high PH enviroments as african cichlids.

All Polypteridae are African in origin. They accept pH levels between 7.0-8.6 quite readily, and ornates are actually found in Lake Tanganyika, which has pH values of up to 9.2, depending on the region of the lake.

I know they are all from africa, but i was saying that I was un-sure if all are from high-PH regions since some sites i have read actually reccomend an acidic PH for some species. But then again, Toirtis is the most qualified to answer any polypterus related question .

ya toirtis is great! um toirtis are the any boards that you know of that specialist on polyterus specius in gerneral? thanks fish1

There is an Endlicheri "club" webpage somewhere that i used to look at. I dont remember the URL but they have boards for all differant species and such. I think i found a link to it from predatoryfish. Predatoryfish also has some forums where bichirs are a hot topic.

ok thanks lunker i will look in that!

Hey Toirtis, I was just wondering how that book was coming? Can't say I've seen anything online about it.

Also, I was curious what Polypterids I could keep in my 125 gallon tank? It's current inhabitants are a Bala and a Royal Plec (though a Tigrinus Catfish could be a temporary inhabitant some day). I have seen tanks with plecs that do not suck on bichirs; I'm aware of the danger, but I'd like to try it out. If in fact there is no aggression from the Plec, I'd be more worried about the bichirs taking all of the plec's food! For bichirs, I am planning two Ornates, two Pollis, and maybe two Delhezi for now. Since I've seen what I think is a 180 gallon with over 10 bichirs, I don't think I'm at the maximum number of bichirs quite yet. What do you think?

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

There is an Endlicheri "club" webpage somewhere that i used to look at

Used to be...its been offline for awhile.

Hey Toirtis, I was just wondering how that book was coming? Can't say I've seen anything online about it.

Chances are you won't until publishing date.

Since I've seen what I think is a 180 gallon with over 10 bichirs, I don't think I'm at the maximum number of bichirs quite yet. What do you think?

Depends on the species you pick...10 smaller bichirs in a 180 is just fine, but I cannot imagine more than 4 ornates or endlicheri ssp. in some thing that size.

Well the pollis and delhezis are on the smaller side and could stay in there, but since ornates get to 24"+ you couldnt keep them in there for good.

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-08-01 22:46][/span]

That does it. Ornates are lazy fish anyway. So it seems I'll just go with the four Bichirs if there are no further suggestions.:%)

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I have seen tanks with plecs that do not suck on bichirs;

My bn tried to suck on my bichir i think it was an accident but my bichir bit its fine clean off! it grew back though!

If only I had my 180g already http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fw&1092146484

wow cool, for some reason i thought you were already cycling your 180 but you dont even have it???

Nope i dont even have it yet. Im in the process of remodeling my basement. Once im done, it is going to go down there.
Step1: Plan the new basement
Step2: Clean out basement
Step3: Remove cabinets
Step4: Get someone to check walls (they feel damp, last thing i need is a leaky basement)
Step5: Have someone come to do electrical work (old electrical work down there, tends to crap out on me, not risking running my 180g on a faulty circuit)
Step6 New Carpet or flooring (This is a BIG maybe, the carpetting down there now sucks but this would be extra time and of course extra $)
Step7: Setup Tank

Im on step 4/5, I have people coming this week to check those things out but i doubt any electrical work will actually be done this week. The cabinets were one of the biggest steps, when we moved into the house there was a large area of the basement taken up by what seemed to be a bar. Removing it was an all-day project but its gone now.

o i see. i want to but a 150 gallon in my basement but i dont have the money right now.Or mabe like a 100gallon.


p.s. fishfan doesnt like bichirs]:|]:|]:|

If only I had my 180g already http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fw&1092146484

Hey, thats Rudy's...he was supposed to give that one to me!]

Toirtis, do you have a favorite species?

Ohh...thats a hard one...my top four are ornatapinnis, endlicheri endlicheri palmas polli and bichir bichir.

I think i showed u that auction of the Endlicheri endlicheri that was listed as a color variation or possibly a new species, you remember it?

Copeir nice FAKE premieum member lunker i knows its fakes cause i dont see any award in your profile nice try!

Fake? I signed up for the trial this morning and just subscribed for 3 months, I dont see how that is fake...:%)

last night you still had the trail. so i thought you screwing around with it congrats on becoming a premie.

Step 4 is done, and even better is that my walls are fine so no need to replace them. This speeds things up a bit. Hoping to get the electrician in later this week.

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-08-04 20:12][/span]

cool. how long to you think it will till you get your new tank?

New carpetting or flooring is going to be the biggest pain for me. I can fix up the room as much as possible but walking on a stained, torn up carpet will just keep ruining the goodness of it. I HOPE early september/late August, but thats if i keep working hard at it to get it done. Plus im not the only one to worry about, I need other people to work on the room and they all have their own schedules that I need to follow.

I think i showed u that auction of the Endlicheri endlicheri that was listed as a color variation or possibly a new species, you remember it?

Well anyways, I ordered a 8" one for my 180g and im holding him in my 29 for now. He seems to be doing fine with plenty of room to move around even with the rocks and cave i left in there. I was going to re-do the setup once i got him but he seems to have plenty of room so far. He is a BEAUTY!

post some pics your a premie.!!! what do you feed it lunker since its 8in do you have any experience with feeding him/her small crikets or mabe water bugs or some other insects? thanks fihs1

Well he arrived 10:30 am this morning, so i havent had much experience feeding him yet. Im going to pickup some ghost-shrimp later and get some frozen beef-heart and feeder minnows. He had a tough journey though, his bags leaked (yes, both bags had leaks) and lost alot of water. The USPS guy was holding the box in a plastic container when he delivered it because it was soaked from all the water . But he seems to be doing fine, breathing normal, pretty active. Toirtis, do you think its fair to say ornates are more of a "slender" polypterus species? Ive dealt with some 7" ornates at the LFS I work at but this endlicheri is so much bulkier . BTW my baby ornate is eating feeders like crazy now. I took him out and put him in the 25g (he has left everyone alone so far) but I will be putting him back into the 29g once the endlicheri goes to the 180.

Slender is Zaire Green, IMO. Ornates can be pretty hefty as well; maybe not as hefty as some endlicheri I have seen, but they can be fat.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I thought that toirtis said that Ornates could get as big around as your rist or was that jason rs? btw i wish i have another tank to i wanted to get some of the bichirs on aquabid that they had. they were so cool. also how big is your Ornate right now? i cant wait till i can geed mine(being the polypterus sengulas) feeders.

[span class="edited"][Edited by fish1 2004-08-05 13:30][/span]

Ornates get pretty hefty once they hit 14" or so. About the heftiest are the female palmas polli, but since they only get 12"-14"...

Some endlicheri endlicheri can get pretty hefty as they mature.

Toirtis, the topic of ounciation came up earlier. Is it ounced Polyp-terus or Poly-terus with the second P silent?

i thought we were discussing the unctation of bichir. o well i always said polterus and i spelled it that way then when i wasnt finding anything i figured it out. but i've never said polterus to anyone i always says bichir

It doesnt seem to want to chase down its food, but it is taking dead/wounded feeders. This was with the lights on though, who knows whats going on right now in the dark.

wounded??? as in like stabbed by you im thinking of raiseing my own feeders. Im think of getting some guppies and useing those but im not sure if i would want to.

here are some new pics that i took today.

fish1 attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/410272.jpg"]

another.
fish1 attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/410276.jpg"]

another
fish1 attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/410278.jpg"]

last pic
fish1 attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/410283.jpg"]

looks like i've killed the thread with those pics. Well i have some great news my neighsbors fish died and so he MIGHT want to get rid of it its a 46 gallon. with stand gravel 2 pengiun 170 filters fake plants etc. not sure how much hes willing to sell it for but im going to talk to him tomorrow would this be a better tank for my bichirs?

Bigger is always better.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Agreed...all my bichirs would be in 500 gallon aquariums, if I had the room.

ok then i have another ? should i get my friends and my neighbors tank and spilt the bichirs up??

Im trying to upload some pics, but im not satisfied with the quality of any of the ones i took so far. His diet (at this point) consists of
krill (freeze-dried)
Ghost Shrimp (live)
Minnows (live)
Beefheart (frozen)
I also tried dropping in half of a frozen ball of bloodworms (my 25g gets half a serving and i usually just re-freeze the rest) and he did gobble it up, so i guess i will add that to the menu. Any input?

Oh and I was wondering Toirtis, i assume hand-feeding them is unwise? I wouldnt be worried about my 5" ornate (he is too shy to hand-feed anyways) but the bite from my 8" endlicheri seems like something to stay away from. The endlicheri will closely watch my hand as i try to plant some krill for him in the gravel and will even follow it if I move it around and he will come upto it, but ive never let him feed from my hand.

[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-11 21:47][/span]

i might have to try some small ghost shrimp soon im running out of thing to feed him.

Well i put 2 3" cichlids in there thinking that they would be too big for him. Boy was I wrong. You can even see a bulge in his body like a snake gets. Here are some pics i took.
lunker101 attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/414042.jpg"]

how do i put multiple pics in one post?

i dont think you can well i think you might be able to upload it to photbucket and use the img tags that works.

[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-12 21:12][/span][/font]


[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-12 21:13][/span][/font]

[span class="edited"][Edited by lunker101 2004-08-12 21:13][/span]