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I give my bichir fry bloodworms, blackworms, frozen BBS, and the occasional sinking pellet....as they grow (which they do very quickly with room, good food, and good water quality), you can start offering larger meaty items, like chopped earthworms, bits of krill, etc. Sand substrates are best, but fine gravel works well, too. Be sure he can easily access the surface, as he will need to take periodic gulps of atmospheric air.

Here is a link to a senegal bichir care sheet I wrote a while back...it is not quite as detailed as the one in my upcoming book, but should contain just about all the info you will need...and feel free to ask any specific rearing questions you may have:

http://aquatic-hobbyist.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3362

kinda like that ,shini, was kinda shocked when she said i could do brine shrimp. lol

Yes, polypterus and their relative the ropefish can all breathe air. This allows them to go onto land and move about to other bodies of water. Keep your tank covered to prevent escape (can't believe I forgot about that)!

I'd use the freeze dried only as a treat.

I guess your mom isn't okay with different sorts of worms in the freezer. You may be able to use krill if they come small enough.

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

Is there any frozen food that my mom would approve of???
he ate some pellets last night. Since he is so young, i'll
try to get him on pellets. Are freeze dried worms ok??? Can anyone confirm that they can breath air?? thanks for all the replies!!!!!!!!!

Shrimp pellets will be fine if it eats them; sometimes predatory fish can be hard to get onto pellets, preferring dead meats (or live meats with pickier fish!). You can also feed cut up pieces of shrimp and fish meat. If well-fed the Polypterus will grow quite quickly.

That is a really small Polypterus; I've seen Kuhli Loaches bigger than that! It's good you're going to get a larger tank in the future; the Polypterus will do just fine in the larger tank!

Hatching live shrimp is good for feeding tiny baby fish. The baby shrimp are usually microscopic, making them too small to be eaten by anything bigger than a baby. Though your Polypterus is small, it might not even go after baby shrimp.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Shinigami 2004-06-05 15:15][/span]

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

i don't think hatching live shrimp is necessary...i've seen them eat frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp right off the bottom of the gravel so you can feed them that way too. it's easier in the long run.

thanks guys the fish is small like 2 in. i will be gettinga 55-75 gallon tank soon so i dont think space will be a prob..
my mom accully like the idea of hatching shrimp so i might try to feed it that
i have some wardly shrimp pellets will that be fine? thanks for all the quick replies i hope they still are coming!!!!!!

Usually Polypterus palmas. Hardy, usually easy to get to feed, and cool looking to boot; all the qualifications of a good fish to keep, except for the fact that they get almost a foot long! If you don't already, you'll want a bigger tank in the future, of course, like a 55 gallon.

Nitrate doesn't have to be kept at 0, though.

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

what you bought is probably a bichir of some type. i've seen them come up labelled as that at the store where i work (petsmart). bichirs are large, aggressive, predatory fish that will get to be at least 10" long. they can be fed frozen, pelleted and live food. i don't think they're fussy about pH, but nitrite, nitrate and ammonia should be kept at 0. they can be mixed with other large, aggressive fish such as cichlids, as long as they are similarly sized. i have heard that they can be territorial with other bichirs, so it may be best just to keep one.

they are awesome fish that i would definitely love to own one day!! good luck

It will grow to be at least 10-12" long.

I just bought an awsome fish its called a dinosaur eel does anyone have any info on it. What size ?
What does it eat.
it ill try to get a pic. sone!!!!




[span class="edited"][Edited by fish1 2004-07-04 08:11][/span]

my species is palmas or something like that. It is the one shini said!!!!! does anyone know where i can get fry for cheap??? i kinda think it is kool for fish to eat fish!!

toirtis, check this out.

Jason

ps. I'm so tempted right now to get a P. palmas polli, P. palmas buttikoferi

Good luck on finding a real P. palmas buettikoferi....there are pretty much unheard of in the trade.

my eel will eat the shrimp but i am all so going to get bloodwaorms i think! what do you guys think?

Bloodworms are good, and taken very readily.

I've yet to find a food that isn't readily taken by my bichirs. Mine are pigs and literally will eat anything (except algae and waste of course). I know this isn't typical of all species though. some can be difficult to get onto prepared foods but once they accept prepared foods look out cause they'll try to take it all. The absolute only problem I've had in feeding them is making sure enough food gets to them. I keep my bichirs with cichlids which can also be pretty greedy at feeding time.

Jason

ps. I'm so tempted right now to get a P. palmas polli, P. palmas buttikoferi and P. ornatipinnis though all 3 would cost $150. For an extra $20 I could get a P. ornatipinnis "yellow morph"

[span class="edited"][Edited by jason_r_s 2004-06-12 04:00][/span]

Bloodworms are good, and taken very readily.

i might also get bloodworms for my ell!?!

oh he eats shrimp pellets but next time i go to my lfs i will get one of those i will just feed them after the lights are out.

Combine both....when he gets full-size, a pellet-only diet would be pretty pricey, since the best pellets would be Hikari sinking carnivore and earthworm pellets.

thanks tortis do you think i should only feed it frozen food till it grows or try to get it hooked on pellets!?!

ok um , i think mine has already grow a little and im serious

I believe you....you can practically see those little ones growing.

ok um , i think mine has already grow a little and im serious

im gonna try and get a pic of the "polypeterus bichir" that the LFS got in. I cant seem to classify it yet and ive looked at a bunch of pics.

thanks jason you get the most helpful mod of the day!<!J/K
um i put in some frozen shrimp and he went crazy he likes it even more than the shrimp pellet!.! does anyone know how fast these fish grow on brine shrimp im presuming pretty fast cause mine is still small!!!!!!!!

I knew p. senegalus was one of the more active types, but I never knew for sure about P. palmas or P. delhezi. Since I got him, I've been wondering how active during the day the delhezi would become.

Fish1, have you compared pics of P. senegalus with P. palmas? A lot of lfs sell P. senegalus as the "Palmas Bichir" or "Palmas eel". In other words, they sell it as the wrong species. I've only seen one P. palmas actually for sale in an lfs...the rest of the Palmas bichirs I've seen were really senegalus. I wouldn't mind getting a palmas if I could find another one though. The one I saw was probably near full grown. It looked about a foot long-ish.

Jason

oh um jason im sure my bichir is palmas cause i have compared pic. he is only two inches so he is still small!!
how much does frozen food cost???? thanks to all who replied!!!!!!!

Try frozen prawn, my tulip eel loved it along with any small fish he could get hold of.

P. palmas polli will have a marbled pattern, whereas P. senegalus ssp. will have none. P. palmas polli tend to get an inch or two longer than senegals, and females get a fair bit heftier. Jason, you are correct....all over North America, bichirs are incorrectly labeled, with 'palmas bichir' being a favoured blanket label.

If you wish to feed live feeder fish, stick to captive-bred fry from guppies, mollies, platies, etc....convict cichlid fry are good for older/larger bichirs.

Frozen food is usually reasonably inexpensive....expect to go through about $2-$3/week worth.

o ok well im kinda new to frozen food soo should i feed it to him every other other day with the shrimp pellets in bewtwenn???

Sure....just make sure he gets good daily feedings.

what is the "common" bichir? Im reffering to polyperterus bichir, but i believe they recently changed the scientific name? Anyways, my LFS just got in a "common" bichir (polypeterus bichir), a 10" one for $44. I really like my ornate though, cant wait to get him nice and big for my new tank

i got frozen brine shrimp is that ok??

If you wish to feed live feeder fish, stick to captive-bred fry from guppies, mollies, platies, etc....convict cichlid fry are good for older/larger bichirs.

My largest senegal is ~6 or 7". the albino is ~5" and the delhezi about 4.5". the con fry were also very small...maybe 1/2" long. I know they had no trouble getting those con fry down...the other day I found half of a 1.5-2" albino bristlenose plec sticking out of the delhezi's mouth. Later, the regular senegal took it from him and then they played keep away for a while. I should be getting some swordtails and platys sometime soon. I won auctions on aquabid but haven't heard back yet.

Oh, I also feed mine thawed out shrimp. I bought frozen shell-on shrimp from the grocery to feed my puffers. Anytime I have leftovers I cut it into really small pieces and drop it in the tank. Once it gets to the bottom and the bichirs find it they snatch it up in a hurry.

Also, frozen brine shrimp should be fine.

Jason

[span class="edited"][Edited by jason_r_s 2004-06-08 00:17][/span]

The 'common' bichir is Polypterus senegalus senegalus (There is a second subspecies, P. s. meridionalis, but it is quite uncommon.). There are two subspecies in the Polypterus bichir complex, Polypterus bichir bichir, and Polypterus bichir lapradei....the latter is not terribly uncommon in the trade here in North America, but the former is unheard of....it is even rare amongst the high-end, super-serious bichir keepers in Japan.

Vary the diet amongst quality fresh and frozen foods, keep the water clean, and your 2" senegal should be hitting 10" within 6-8 months.

about what size are they good for feeding a 2 in bichir or do i just chop them???

add earthworms to the list of foods my ornate will devour

...and all bichir species...I believe earthworms to be the favourite food of all my bichirs.

Ah now im excited . Will go tomorrow and get some pics.

Hmm...that almost sounds (from the colour description) like a P. bichir bichir....which is unheard of in the trade in north America, and would be expected to be very pricey if it did show up. A couple of good photos would be great.

P. e. congicus tend to have long, flattened heads, big 'lips', and around 14 dorsal finlets.