Bichir compatibility

Question
Hi Odette,

I want to get a senegal bichir. My tank is only 29 gallons but I really want to have a bichir. i think they are really cool looking! I used to have goldfish there, but two of them died and i moved the rest to a big jar. they seem pretty good and im not worried about them. Anyways, can you give me some info about them? my personal favorite is ornate and ropefish but they won't fit in my 29 gallon tank would they? the tank is cycled fully and the subtrate is medium-fine gravel. Its about 1/2-3/4 inch in diameter. since i only had goldfish, i just have a house and some plants, but i can get more rocks. What type of rocks and plants are good? how can I recorate them? i dont want any live plants because I dont want to be dealing with algae and I dont want any algae eater. what food do I give to bichirs? recommend any brand? sorry for so many questions, I want to take the best care of my new fish!

luke

ps i was thinking having just one bichir because i dont want to over crowd and i want it to be loyal to me. is there other fish i can put without overcrowded? and will it still pay attention to me or would it only play with other fish?

thanks
luke

Answer
Hi Lukas!

A senegal bichir in a 29 gallon aquarium would be alright. Since you have always wanted one, I'm sure you will take good care of it. It's a big fish, and they require meaty food, so make sure you do 20-35% water changes every week, or at least every other week. The meaty foods they eat really pollute the tank and I recommend having a filter built for at least 40 gallon tank. Having a filter for 30 gallons would push the bacteria level to its absolute limit and is not safe. I hope your goldfish won't suffer in a jar, though. Hopefully you can do full changes as often as 2-5 times per week every week.

An Ornate or ropefish definitaly won't fit in your 29 gallon tank. I've had my Ornate bichir in 29 gallon tank, but I had to move to a 55 gallon tank soon enough.

Your gravel size is acceptable. Bichirs like caves so provide some small and one big caves with either already built cave, or with large rocks. They don't seem to destroy plants so anything should work. They like to rest on leaves so if you can, try to put at least a few plants with big, sturdy leaves. Fod food, you can give any meaty foods. My favorite staple food for them is Carnivore Sticks from Hikari brand, called "food sticks". It gets nice and soft for babies, too.

One bichir would be plenty for a 29 gallon aquarium, but you should be able to put about 3 giant danios. I'm assuming you will buy a young senegal, so 3 one-inch giant danios will be alright. When there are other fish, sometimes they would be distracted and won't pay as much attention to you. But my ornate bichir was really good, and it seemed like he enjoyed the company. But it depends on you.

They have organ similar to lungs, and will breathe air. So make sure you leave about 1-2 inch room at the top or the tank. Don't fill the water all the way.

xoxo,
Odette