Dinosaur Bichir Care Guide
- Diet. In the wild, the Dinosaur Bichir has a diet that includes amphibians, earthworms, and small invertebrates.
- Water Conditions. Senegal Bichirs can endure extremely poor water conditions because they have many ways to counter their problems.
- Disease. ...
- Tank Setup. ...
- Tank Mates. ...
- Breeding. ...
What do Bichir fish eat?
In terms of their actual diet, this is where bichir care can get a little trickier than other fish. You shouldn’t rely on pellets or flake food and instead need to give them a mix of protein-rich live, dry, and frozen foods.
Do Bichir fish need live live tank plants?
Live tank plants are desirable, but not necessary. Since bichirs is mostly a bottom-feeder, the tank bottom substrate should be easy in care and cleaning. It’s better be a thin layer of sand, though small grained gravel will do as well. But the latter is less natural like for the fish and it will be more difficult for the fish to feed from it.
Are Bichir fish good tank mates?
Finding compatible bichir tank mates is all about managing size and potential for aggression. As we’ve said, these fish can be aggressive and are naturally carnivores. This means that any species their size or smaller is probably not a good idea. They might get picked on or even eaten!
How big of a tank does a bichir need?
The minimum recommended tank size for these fish is around 90 gallons for one. The size of these fish and their activity level means they need ample room so they can swim and feel comfortable. There are a lot of owners who have kept bichir in tanks as small as 40 gallons but we disagree with this approach.
What do dinosaur Bichir fish eat?
Dinosaur bichir diet Bichirs need a large assortment of living, frozen, and freeze-dried food, such as bloodworms, shrimp, brine shrimp, earthworms, and other small fish. While the dinosaur bichir is a nocturnal fish species, it is possible to change when they eat.
What do Gray bichir eat?
Diet. Bichirs are nocturnal predators. They are carnivorous fish and enjoy eating small vertebrates, crustaceans, insects, and other small fishes. It is better to feed them with live food rather than pellets or artificial food.
How do you take care of a bichir?
Bichir care is also fairly straightforward. Simply keep them in the right kind of habitat, monitor the water consistently, and don't pair them with the wrong tank mates. Their neat appearance and manageable difficulty of care are why they're one of our favorite freshwater fishes.
What do you feed a saddled bichir?
Feeding: Feed meaty live foods such as black worms, blood worms, and earthworms along with frozen foods such as brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, and beef heart. Dried foods are not always accepted, but eventually most Bichirs will accept a quality pellet, tablet, or stick that is suitable to their size.
Do bichirs like plants?
Plants and Decorations Unlike many other large fish Bichirs are very easy on plants, substrates, and decorations. They don't dig into gravel, uproot plants, or move caves about.
Does bichir jump?
Bichirs are prompt to jump when in fright or when chasing each other of their own kind or kena chased by other predators. It is a MUST to cover up your tank!
What temperature do bichirs like?
between 72 and 82°FThey thrive in shallow waters, though much to the chagrin of dedicated aquarists, these bichirs are likely to Houdini their ways out of tanks that do not have tight fitting lids. Waters should be maintained with temperatures between 72 and 82°F, pH of 6.0 to 8.0, and hardness between 5 and 25°H.
Are bichirs Hardy?
They are very hardy, beautiful, personable, and come in a variety of attractive red-based tones. While nowhere near as large as Peacock Bass, Oscars are still large predators so be careful when keeping them with smaller Bichirs. However any of the medium to large species are excellent tank mates.
How big does a bichir fish get?
Most species grow to between 30 and 60 cm (11.8 and 23.6 inches) long. Some members of the largest two species, the saddled bichirs (P. endlicherii) and Congo bichirs (P. congicus), grow to lengths of 75 cm (29.5 inches) and 97 cm (38.2 inches) and weights of 3.3 kg (7.3 pounds) and 4.4 kg (9.7 pounds), respectively.
How long do Senegal Bichirs live?
Given enough time, any fish that can fit in the bichir's mouth will be eaten This fish should not be kept with any other fish smaller than three inches. It will also bite fins of other fishes if it can. P. senagalus can reach 10-15 years of age in captivity.
How can you tell if a bichir is male or female?
Sexes can be told apart by looking at the anal fins. Male bichirs would have a broader anal fin than the females. However, this is only true for mature males and not the young ones. Also, males seem to have thicker dorsal spines than the females, though normally, females tend to be larger than the males.
Lifespan, Behaviour & Types of Bichir
The lifespan of the Dinosaur Bichir can be as high as 15-20 years, with males living for a slightly shorter period of time than females. These fish are generally shy and avoid contact with other fish.
Suitable Tank Mates For Bichir
So you’ve decided you’re going to get some Bichir, what you’ll want to know next is what are some suitable tank mates?
Breeding Bichir
Bichirs are one of the best beginner fish species. Bichir’s breeding is relatively easy, although getting their eggs to hatch can be frustrating even for seasoned breeders.
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I hope you enjoyed this Bichir Fish Care Guide. If you have any questions at all, just leave a comment here and I’ll do my best to answer all your Bichir Questions!
What do bichirs eat?
Now that you have a bichir what does it eat? In their natural habitat bichirs normally eat small fish,various insect larvae and invertabrates .Bichirs are generaly non agressive ambush predators but also oppurtunistic scavengers.Objects to big to be consumed whole are often "deathrolled" till
Is crabsticks good for goldfish?
Should be fine. They're mostly starch and cheap white fish (like pollack). Little or no crustacean material, so unlikely to have the thiaminase problem. Certainly better than goldfish or rosy-reds, for the same reason. Now, if you could feed your fishes some homemade California rolls, with the crabsticks wrapped with sushi seaweed, they'd be even better! Roughage and vitamins as well as the protein!
Is it safe to feed fish pellets?
Just some general advice -- the more good quality pellets they're eating, the better. The problem with fresh and frozen foods is you can't always tell if they're getting all the vitamins they need. So you need a variety of things to be safe. Pellets (and flake, for that matter) has everything most fishes need, so you're safe with it.
What is a bichir fish?
Habitat in the wild. Bichirs (lat. Polypteridae) is a family of freshwater ray-finned fishes, the only one in the order Polypteriformes and subclass Cladistia . Nowadays, there are 14 modern genus of the fish known and spread over tropical Africa. Another fish E. calabaricus also belongs to this class.
What is a Senegal bichir?
Senegal bichir (P. senegallus) This is one of the most active and less timid Polypterids species. It actively swims almost all the time, it is curious and persistent. The fish doesn’t show aggression towards its kind and other tank dwellers if the latter are large enough.
How long is a fish's body?
The fish skeleton resembles that of a shark and it is not made from bones, but from cartilages. Maximum length of Polypterids species body is over 100 cm (39 in), but most of them aren’t longer than 25 cm (9.8 in).
What pH should a polypterid tank be?
Here are proper tank water parameters for Polypterids keeping: water acidity pH should be about 7, the fish is not demanding as for the water hardness. It will feel comfortable both in soft and hard water, though it’s better not to take chances with extremely hard water (higher than 20).
How big of a tank do you need for a bichir?
Bichirs is quite strong and healthy fish. To keep one you will need a tank of at least 50 US gallons (200 L) capacity and it’s better to be larger. The cover is a must for such a tank! Bichirs can not only jump out of the tank, but also crawl out of it.
How many fins are in a dorsal fin?
The dorsal fin consists of a row of 5-18 small fins, which defined the name of Polypterids. Pectoral fins of the fish evolve from a fleshy blade, which visually resembles lobe-finned fishes construction (however, their skeletons are completely different).
Where do polypterids live?
Modern Polypterids species occur in freshwater basins in Africa and India. The fish prefers muddy water and silted bottom, it can even live in bogs. The fish navigates in water (which is not transparent) due to its sense of smell, at that it has quite poor sight. Some Polypterids species are constant tank dwellers.
Species Summary
Appearance
- The general appearance of bichirs is very ancient and prehistoric. These ray-finned fish have been around for millions of years in one form or another and have undergone very little change over that period of time. They look kind of like a cross between a snake and an eel, and can grow to be quite long. On the top of their backs they have a series of spiny dorsal fins. These dorsal finlets …
Types of Bichirs
- There are a few popular types of bichirs that you’ll see in aquariums all over the world. Each type has a different color and many times will have a body length that’s not shared by other bichirs.
Size
- The average bichir fish size is between 1-2.5 feet in length.This wide range is determined primarily by the type of bichir you get. Other factors like care and genetics influence this as well.
Bichir Care
- Bichir care is not exceptionally difficult, but there are some things you need to be aware of. On the bright side, these are hardy fish. There is a fairly generous range of water parameters that any semi-experienced aquarist should be able to maintain. On the other hand, there are behavioral and dietary considerations that make them a little more time-intensive. All in all, we think this evens …
Behavior & Temperament
- One of the main things you’ll need to be aware of when it comes to bichir care is their temperament. While we wouldn’t consider them very aggressive, they definitely have aggressive tendencies that you need to manage. When you combine this with the fact that they’re carnivores it can lead to some problems with other fish in their tank. Anything their size or smaller might b…
Bichir Tank Mates
- Finding compatible bichir tank mates is all about managing size and potential for aggression. As we’ve said, these fish can be aggressive and are naturally carnivores. This means that any species their size or smaller is probably not a good idea. They might get picked on or even eaten! Fish that are a bit bigger make much better bichir tank mates because they won’t be confused with food a…
Breeding
- There is not a lot of information out there about how to successfully breed bichirs. The process, in general, has not been done much in home aquariums and the amount of data we have is limited. Each type of bichir requires slightly different tank and water conditions to breed, but that too is not well-understood. This just means you might have to do some experimenting if you wish to pursu…
Conclusion
- Owning a bichir is incredibly fun and rewarding. These living fossils are a treat to watch and you’ll often find yourself marveling at their prehistoric look! They’re relatively active fish as well which can be a nice change of pace compared to other bottom-feeders. If nothing else, you’ll frequently witness them visiting the surface to get oxygen. Bichir care is also fairly straightforward. Simply …
Habitat in The Wild
Description
Difficulties in Keeping
Keeping in A Tank
Feeding
- Bichirs is a predator fish and you should feed it basically with live food: bloodworm, frozen shrimps and calamary, small fishes, pieces of ox heart and meat, earthworm. The fish may also feed on artificial food, but this kind of diet is not natural for it. The fish feature is that it eats slowly, since in the wild the fish goes hunting at night wh...
Compatibility and Tank Mates
Gender Differences: Male vs Female
The Most Popular Types