Dinosaur Bichirs

We carry these in our store. They are the same as senegal bichirs, right? Ever since I first saw them, I've been wanting one. What is a good tank size for a single bichir, with nothing else in the tank? What is their diet like?

Polypterus senegalus senegalus


Overview:

An ancient fish family, they have been around since the Mesozoic era. They are a very hardy fish and can become quite tame in a home aquarium.

Quick stats:


Listed tank sizes are the minimum

Size: Up to 20 inches (50.5 cm)
Tank: 48 inches
Strata: Bottom
PH: 6 to 7.5
Hardness: Soft to hard
Ttemperature: 77°F to 89°F (25 to 28°C)

Classification:

Order: Polypteriformes
Suborder: none
Family: Polypteridae
Genera: Polypterus



Common name:

Senegal Bichir Cuvier Bichir, Bichir, Sailfins


compliments of BADMAN Tropical fish .com

I just sold my 2 and I do miss them. Mine never caused any problems and they love live food, but anything smaller than their mouth or slow moving, will get eaten. I kept them with my peacocks and other less aggressive cichlids. And dinosaur is one of their common names in the lfs

My ornate "bichirs" are now 20 years old. Very long commitment. Do not trust with small fish. Last summer mine ate 2 baby red ear turtles. I had no ideal that they would eat them.

I keep them in with cories (have poisonous spines on back), bristle nose pleco and crayfish. They've done wonderfully. Very tough fish that can handle some of the worst water conditions!

However, they will eat anything they deam as edible. I always keep a bunch of rosy minnows/guppies in the tank in order to keep them occupied and hunting. I also freeze any feeder fish that don't make it through quaranteen (didn't die from disease - but because they were in a weak state at purchase) so that if I can't find/obtain feeders and the bichirs run out - I can throw 'bodies' in there for them and the crayfish. They enjoy being detritivors almost as much as being predators.

One of mine has grown from 4" to 8" in four months. How big was yours at age 20?

Here's one of my classroom bichirs:

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Not sure why that badmans reference list them as reaching 20", but this won't happen even under the best of care.

There does seem to be a regional variant 'turkana' which grows larger than normal senegalus, however you won't find those at an LFS lol

Regular sens max out between 12 and 14" if you have one with good genes and hasn't been stunted from malnourishment at the LFS.

A 40g breeder is fine for senegals, especially if you find albinos which stay smaller than regulars.

Wew! I was starting to worry that my two might end up almost 2' long! I can handle 14" max. Thanks!

Are they the same as the 'dragons'
My lfs just got a batch in and I have been eyeballing them.......

Fern wrote:

Are they the same as the 'dragons'
My lfs just got a batch in and I have been eyeballing them.......

Could be, but can't say for sue without a picture.

There are some 'dragons' that are violet gobies Gobioides broussonnetii which are not the same as polypterus 'bichirs'.

The violet gobies are brackishwater fish. Bichirs are freshwater fish from lakes/rivers in Africa.

i have dinosaur bichir and it is doing great with my tiger barbs,pleco,raphel cat, and i even had them in with 6 pond goldfish and he did not try o eat them and he loves fleak food

i have three of these, i love these guys. my littles ones i feed frozen bloodworms and beefheart. for the big ones i just feed them feeder goldfish.

i have 17 bichirs. 15 endli and 2 ornates. My largest 2 are about 20". These bad boys will eat anything that fits in their mouth.

I have one feeder guppy/mosquito fish that neither the two Bichirs nor the two EBJack demspeys have been able to catch! She's a little survivor that one!

I have read they dont do well in a tank with more than one bichir, the way everyone talks this doesn't seem to be the case? Can a group of bichir get along?

Purchase them young and of similar size. Then make sure that you have plenty of rocks or plants for them to find their own hangouts. They are from a marshy region, so they instintively want a lot of 'cover' to wander through all the time.

Thanks

Had a bichir, awesome fish but my tire track eel outgrew him and started to beat him around since they like the same areas of the tank. I recommend ghost shrimp. a dozen shrimp will keep the dino busy for days. The only time they can seam to catch them is at night but they just keep trying all day...very entertaining and a good way to keep the fish busy