r/Bichirs • u/West_Tangelo_5811 • 1h ago
Does anyone have a picture of their BIG albino senegals? (also should i remove the small rocks if i feed them with tongs?)
they are about maybe 10-12 cm rn
r/Bichirs • u/TheBichirHandbook • Sep 02 '22
Hi all, I realise I've been neglecting the Reddit bichir community, I definitely need to get on with posting some more! Here's a few questions which I always see do the rounds, and either need further explaining or clarifying.
'Bichir' came from their local name in Egypt, 'Abusheer'. The name has been spelled phonetically in early studies a number of times as BISHEER / BUHSHEER. This pronunciation stuck and is regarded as the correct way of pronouncing it. Technically, when names are Latinised, they must follow the Latin pronunciation, meaning it should be 'Bye-ker', however, for numerous reasons, ichthyologists and communicators did not pronounce it this way. 1) In their first description the species name 'bichir' was never Latinised. 2) They were honouring the local name. 3) The colloquial name is of course not Latinised. 4) Some ichthyologists have also expressed to me that Bye-ker sounds silly haha. If you're a Latin purist, however, then BYE-KER is the pronunciation.

Bichir are strict insectivores and piscivores, meaning they eat insects and fishes. They are best fed with a variety of fresh fish (preferably none containing Thiaminase), oily fishes are fantastic too if you can keep the water's surface clean of oil. Quality predatory pellets are also much appreciated, either insectmeal or fishmeal based of course. Insects are great, but as nutrition varies so much in different species, it's difficult to give them all their nutritional needs in captivity from insects alone. Microcrustaceans and worms also make great treats! Remember, always feed raw, never cooked. Avoid feeding anything which comes from a mammal or bird. Bichirs lack the collagenase enzyme in their stomach required to break down the bonds in these 'foods'. In place of that, they have a chitinase enzyme which breaks down the bonds in insect chitin. Feeding mammalian and avian meat was a pseudoscientific trend popularised with discus breeders in the 80s, as nutritionally select parts of it are good for fast growth, but that nutrition is not particuarly accessible for fishes (especially in strict insectivores and piscivores). It's similar to how we no longer have the biological tools to extract much nutrition from eating grass. Not to mention with feeding mammalian and avian meat to fishes, there's additional issues regarding the type of fat found in these meats.
You can find a detailed dietary section (suitable for most types of large, predatory fishes), inside The Bichir Handbook.
With proper husbandry, even the smallest species of bichir should grow approximately half an inch to an inch a month for their first 1-2 years or until around 12 inches (after that, it becomes progressively slower). If they're not following a growth rate similar to this, chances are you have a stunted fish. Line bred bichirs are raised in crowded rearing vats (often for months, sometimes a year), so by the time they reach your local aquarium shop, their first important months of growth has been significantly inhibited, and they may struggle to grow much more. This is especially true with many captive bred Polypterus senegalus, their albino colour morph, and some bloodlines of P. delhezi. It's not 'bad genetics' as some people parrot (though this is an easy answer), even the most inbred bichirs with small gene pools can still grow nearly as large as their wild counterparts. So called 'bad genetics' via inbreeding can shave off a few centimetres in length, but even with that you usually see malformations on the body from inbreeding, such as bulging 'frog-eyes', deformed dorsals and scales, and a stubby face.
Don't panic, chances are it's food. Bichir are 'stomach-packers', meaning they often gorge themselves on more food than they need to, because of this, you will see all sorts of odd bulges on their belly. The lump(s) will vanish again in a matter of days. Many people (wrongly) jump to the conclusion it's gravel, and your fish will be guaranteed to die of impaction. This is misinformation at its finest. Bichir have paired gular plates (the only fish to have two) on the underside of their mouth, this offers advanced control of their mouth, so any items they do not wish to swallow, are easily spat back out. Watch your bichir feeding, and see how they juggle the food around before deciding whether to eat it, sometimes they spit out the food just over a grain of sand. Any stone swallowed is usually intentional, and are thought to be used as gastroliths, similar to how carp reportedly use them to pin themselves to the bottom. Of course, bichirs stomachs are powerful and near the length of their entire body, so unwanted stones in the stomach are ejected anyway. This myth that they swallow stones and die of impaction comes from how they feed (using inertial suction), the same way Axolotls, aquatic frogs and some catfishes do, however these aquatic animals do not have paired gular plates like bichirs do. Occasionally (though rarely), a bichir may get a large stone stuck in their mouth and die, for this reason I always suggest a sandy substrate.
Not to bash plecs at all, as they are a beautiful and diverse group of fishes, just not always the most suited to bichirs. The ganoine in bichir scales reportedly produces a slightly salty slimecoat which fishes with ventrally oriented mouths appear to go a bit mad for like cats on catnip. Keep the plec well fed and it's usually no issue, but occasionally they accidentally graze on their slimecoat during feeding, and that's when they can get hooked. There are lower risk plecs than others, such as vampire plecs or woodeaters, though there are some fishes worse than plecs with bichirs, such as Synodontis, which can be very aggressive ganoine grazers (and are also natural prey food for bichirs too, with reports of them being eaten before they can erect their spines). Keep in mind, all fishes with ventrally oriented mouths pose a risk; it may happen in a day or a decade; it's a famous comm which works, until it doesn't.
Sometimes, but unless you're able to filter through accordingly, it's mostly no. Stick to specialist forums, or even the recent Revision of the Extant Polypteridae, or The Bichir Handbook. There is so much misinformation on the search results of Google, a few notable ones being websites claiming: Polypterus ansorgii can only reach 11 inches [they can actually grow to over 3ft] P. senegalus is the smallest species [even the inbred ones can reach 15 inches in captivity and some wild types are reported near 20 inches. The smallest species is actually P. mokelembembe at 14 inches] Most searches will even show you the wrong species on an image.
r/Bichirs • u/West_Tangelo_5811 • 1h ago
they are about maybe 10-12 cm rn
r/Bichirs • u/FlexSealClubber • 1d ago
My biggest bichir has this sticking out of it. I feed them 4-5 days a week at night. I relocated 6 good sized Danios into this tank last night. I know that sounds incredibly dumb and maybe it is, but they looked way too big for it to eat. I’ve only owned Bichirs for 4-5 months now, so I still have a lot to learn and he/she just taught me a good lesson. I feel horrible about it though.
It’s still active, though it does seem to be gliding/floating a bit more than usual or it could be that I’m worried and noticing it more. Any tips/suggestions are appreciated.
r/Bichirs • u/Ethdawg21 • 2d ago
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Hi, all im having trouble with my Delhezi Bichir. For about 3 days now hes been having trouble eating his carnivore pellets. He's fairly big in relation to them and has been swalling them whole for a while now but for the past 3 days he has started spitting them out to break them down when he never used to. Seems to be having difficulty eating. When i got home from work today he's been frantically glass surfing and shaking his head constantly and also opening and closing his mouth like hes biting but theres nothing there. Sorry not the best video to show, he has been frantic but as we know with animals as soon as you start recording they stop. He was a rescue and arrived to me with his trail & external nostrils missing along with damage to one of his eyes. His tail and eyes healed but his external nostrils never really did they kind of grew back but not really, they look like pom poms. trying to google isnt really helpful responses range from harmless glass surfing to imminent death and everything inbetween. Does anything know whats going on or know how I can help him ,or if he even needs help at all?
r/Bichirs • u/PrimarySwitch92 • 2d ago
Are those spots on her something I should worry about
r/Bichirs • u/Vlynitrii • 2d ago
I recently bought a pair of delhezi bichirs for my 75 gallon tank. are there any recommendations regarding their diet? (currently 6 inches atm)
would also appreciate pictures of your bichirs :]]
r/Bichirs • u/StrangeNinja509 • 3d ago
I currently have an ornate bichir in a 75 gallon tank. Ik I need a larger tank for a bichir and am willing to get one but the ways things are right now I can’t.
The bichir is like 3 inches long currently, how long do you think it’ll take for the bichir to outgrow his current tank?
r/Bichirs • u/Beardedbobert • 5d ago
Thanks to nationwide for another new poly. Ate on day 1. 16ish inch weeksii
r/Bichirs • u/Mad_x_Hatterr211 • 6d ago
I’m just in love with bichirs. Started with 2 Senegal. Then saw an albino and instantly loved them. My husband surprised me with one. Then shopping at petco I saw a delhezi for the first time. Instant love again 🥰
r/Bichirs • u/StrangeNinja509 • 6d ago
I’m about to setup a tank with Black diamond sand for my ornate bichir. I don’t know how I want to decorate it and I was wondering if some of you will be willing to share your tank setup for your bichir to give me some inspiration
r/Bichirs • u/Responsible_Chest_74 • 7d ago
I want to know if a Clarias catfish can be housed with other large bichirs. I have a custom L 10ft×W 3ft×H 3ft tank, and the current residents are a 14" Ornate, a 16" Endlicheri, a 14" Teugelsi, and a 14–15" Ansorgii. My local pet shop has some Clarias catfish, and I'm tempted to buy one. (Photo not mine)
r/Bichirs • u/Madd_x_hatter • 7d ago
I bought a baby delhezi from petco because he looked sad and out of place. I didn’t realize how small he was until I brought it home. Now he moved about for like an hr a day then hides. I saw him eat a couple bloodworms last night but he’s slow to eat or be out of his cave. I hope I didn’t get in to far over my head 🥺
Any advice how to get him more active ? Eat better ? He’s by himself, has a heater/filter and soft sand, minimal though. And he has a moss cave and a shrimp cave and an arch to hide and not to much ligh.
I’ve had it 3 days. I have 2 senegals in a 75 gallon and an albino.
Pics of little and larger ones
r/Bichirs • u/Winter-Ninja-4399 • 7d ago
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r/Bichirs • u/PolymerPocketPets • 8d ago
I usually make dog sculptures but I had someone contact me saying they couldnt find anything online that looked like their Bichir so they commissioned me to make them one, the most unique pet I have made for sure, I did some research into them and they are such cool interesting creatures.
r/Bichirs • u/GoblinsGuide • 8d ago
Ol bent back, bent lip beauty! Loves food but does not grow past this length. Had the fish for around 3 years now. Name is tank.
r/Bichirs • u/Educational_Paper_62 • 8d ago
I heard some plecos can be kept with bichirs successfully without eating slime coats. Can anyone tell me which types can i keep with an endlicheri bichir.
r/Bichirs • u/Zoo4123Rivers • 8d ago
My 220 Gallon aquarium including an Ornate Bichir
r/Bichirs • u/deranged_banana2 • 10d ago
Hey guys so recently became the proud owner of a Senegal bichir and have him housed with 6 torpedo/denisson barbs. I want to get something to sift around in the sand but obviously corys are out since they'd become a quick snack for him, some people suggested an elephant nose but I know they need a special diet and was wondering if anybody else had any suggestions?