Finally some pics.... bichirs at home

DMD123 2013-08-25, 18:02

Ive had these guys for a little bit and thought it was time to share. Here are the new bichirs at home in the 72g bowfront.

Here is the common Senegal, he is the smallest and still a bit jumpy at times:
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Here is the Albino Senegal named Snowflake, who is very outgoing and active:
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Here is my favorite, the Delhezi, most active of them all and very hungry all the time pig

:
This first shot not so good but wanted to show it still had external gills.
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This guy is a total jerk, very territorial and everyone gets out of his way even though some are bigger than him, here is the Gold Dust Polypterus buettikoferi:
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Here is the beginning of what sometimes is called a "log pile". These three get along great, notice who is missing? The ever anti-social gold dust!:
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Thanks for looking.

And if you have not got a bichir yet.... Suspect

KaraWolf 2013-08-25, 18:16

Curious, what IS the recommended tank size for a Delhezi or simmilar sized bichirs? XP

PS Great pictures!!

DMD123 2013-08-25, 18:56

Glad you enjoyed the pics. You got bichir fever after getting those del for madness? jocolor

These types that I have should hit around 12"-14" max. There are some out there that say these can get to 16"+ but really that is only the case with wild caught. As far as I know I have all tank raised fish. I plan on keeping them in the 72g bow which is 4ft long and 16" at the wide point. If they get too big they can go into my 210.

I would say the tank raised sen or albino sen could go into a standard 55 but a 75 would be more comfortable. If you ever look at this site, it gives you ideas of what fits in a tank: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

That is my tank with the fish and filters I have going. Check it out.

**Madness** 2013-08-25, 19:10

Very nice D, heading down to take pics of my new Del's. Smile

Guest 2013-08-25, 19:58

That Gold dust is a coOl loOkn' bugger!

**Madness** 2013-08-25, 20:24

Buttikoferi (gold dust) is one of my favs also. My Palmas looks similar to the Gold Dust but the dust is green not gold. I think you need another one D.

DMD123 2013-08-25, 20:28

That gold dust is a total tool! All the others give him a wide berth. I want another bichir but not sure what....

KaraWolf 2013-08-25, 21:07

I have a lot of different fish fevers...oscar, blue ram, maybe a tiny bichir one, RTS forever but my husband caught the bichir one! lol he calls all my fish "Wimpy" except maybe my RTS. I do have to admit they are pretty darn cool looking. Maybe in a bigger house I can teach him the way of the fish with a 55 or 75 bichir tank >> right next to my epic 90 gallon oscar tank. XD pair up normal oscars with albinos <3

Do love that site aqadvisor.com though it says 55 is too small for a delhezi even.

**Madness** 2013-08-25, 21:13

No, no Oscars. You and your boyfriend need to tour my fish room, it will change your mind on Oscars and boring fish. Smile

and you can see all 12 of my polys. (Bichers)

anthony 2013-08-25, 21:13

get the mokelebembe. That gold dust is nice lots of dust on him! Is he from the wild?? Wild bichirs
Know how to act right!! Ha Ha what do they remind you of again? Cause you sure like buying them. Just messing with you! Have you seen the white senegals with the black eyes. that's the one I would like to get. I think It's called platinum senegal. Nice pics. Gold dust is the best of the palmas complex. Thanks for sharing.

DMD123 2013-08-25, 21:15

Dels and Sens are very active and a 12" wide tank would be a bit difficult to maneuver as an adult. But there are other footprint sizes.... you could look at a breeder base 36" x18".

DMD123 2013-08-25, 21:18

The gold dust came from The Wet Spot in Portland. It was pretty reasonable in price and was not advertised as a wild caught. I am not sure if they breed these captive or not.

KaraWolf 2013-08-25, 21:22

My dad had AN oscar. I loved him XDD course he also kept piranha before they were illegal and before I can remember sooooo.... Wink

future fish: Oscars, bichir, a giant RTS "colony" tank(breeding would be So Sweet but probably impossible), all irridesent/other silvery sharks are off because 4' is just 0.o blue rams, betta breeding? dwarf gourami(yay soon) annnd my husband will probably jump in the hobby at some point and try to get all the dangerous awesome-looking fish too. >> he wants to farm catfish in pools for eating. I think that's the problem he has with my current fish. none get big enough (and I'm too attached for) eating >.< BUT I have seen your videos your fishroom would be EPIC to tour!!

DDM123: oh duh! That would be perfect! not any bigger but better dimensions for bichirs XD

DMD123 2013-08-25, 21:33

My very first tank when I got back into the hobby was a 65g breeder. They are a bit hard to find and a 75g is more common.....

Well I did it.... I just ordered another bichir online. This guy will have to go into the 210g for sure when its bigger.

anthony 2013-08-25, 21:37

endli or ornate?

DMD123 2013-08-25, 21:40

I did not want an aggressive one, so no ornate or endli...

I got something that is not that big.... well close

anthony 2013-08-25, 21:44

I'm puzzled I call them 1,2, or 3 footers. I gotta know

DMD123 2013-08-25, 21:45

WC Weeksii - a fathead!

anthony 2013-08-25, 21:58

Nice ,I've seen an 18" weeksi before that thing was as big as the top part of a ball bat that's why I didn't get it . The guy told me it was the fastest grower he ever had. I'm missing that one! their head goes right into their body like a tree trunk neck. Aquabid, rebooth?? Nice choice definitely not very common .

DMD123 2013-08-25, 22:12

Ebay - looks to be a guy who also sells on Aquabid also. Not cheap but $85 total with shipping for a 5"-6" one. Coming out of Salem Oregon.

The weeksii is said to be a more mild bichir out of the 'bigger' boys.

**Madness** 2013-08-26, 00:35

I pick up a Weeksi a couple months ago, about 7" for $30.

@anthony its Rehoboth, he is based out of Texas here is his site. (if you guys want to order some bichers from him, I have connections. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

DMD123 2013-08-26, 01:06

Good price! I had seen a lot of other sites at up to $149 for similar sized and they were out of stock, and that did not include shipping cost. I should have mine in on Thursday, will post some pics.

**lloyd378** 2013-08-26, 03:04

madness wrote:No, no Oscars. You and your boyfriend need to tour my fish room, it will change your mind on Oscars and boring fish. and you can see all 12 of my polys. (Bichers)

Kara, Oscars aren't boring.... They are just really messy. Haha. You can have mine (Reggie) if you want. He's right at 13 inches now and interfering a lot with my umbee pair up project

Dmd, they look great. But still not convinced that I will ever have one

DMD123 2013-08-26, 09:33

lloyd378 wrote:Dmd, they look great. But still not convinced that I will ever have one

It took me a while to warm up to them. They are different compared to owning cichlids but interesting. I think a Sen or Del would be great in a classroom.... (hint, hint)

**lloyd378** 2013-08-26, 10:24

Haha, nice try. i would have to field the question, " is it dead/ why does it never move" about a hundred times a day. I find that glass bangers are the best for classrooms as they don't hide when kids come in and move around...... But I will continue to enjoy your pics when posted

KaraWolf 2013-08-26, 11:39

lloyd378 wrote:
Kara, Oscars aren't boring.... They are just really messy. Haha. You can have mine (Reggie) if you want. He's right at 13 inches now and interfering a lot with my umbee pair up project

Dmd, they look great. But still not convinced that I will ever have one

lol I can deal with messy XP and if I had space I'd take him for you XD but I don't...plan is to pick up a 75-90 gallon and pick up the smallest ones I can find so they look absolutely ridiculous for nearly a year XD and can all grow up together. Makes me giggle to think (if I manage to have more then 1 or 2 guests) how many people will ask "where's the fish?" or "how come this tank only has 3 tiny fish?"

**lloyd378** 2013-08-26, 12:03

Kara, you should also do dark substrate and background with tiger oscars or white substrate with a whit back ground for albino..... That would make them extra hard to see and also extra funny for your guests

DMD123 2013-08-26, 18:02

lloyd378 wrote:Haha, nice try. i would have to field the question, " is it dead/ why does it never move" about a hundred times a day.

You are too kind, at least you didnt compare them to turds like Mr. Hankey. jocolor

**Madness** 2013-08-26, 22:12

Here is one of my new additions. Come on Lloyd climb aboard.

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**lloyd378** 2013-08-26, 22:33

The prices on them are crazy, right? I might try a dabble in them if I could find a cheap one that would also allow me into the cool bichir kid circle

**Madness** 2013-08-26, 22:43

You should have grabbed one at the sale this past weekend for $30, if you found out you didnt like it, you could have sold it. But now its to late. Smile

AP has a small 3" one (looks like a worm its so small) for $40. Very Happy

DMD123 2013-08-26, 22:51

Nice new dels madness!

Im happy with what I ordered, should be the right size to get along with the others. I measured my del today and its 5". Even though he has a lot of body mass, he still backs down from the gold dust. So if my weeksii turns out to be 5"-6" he will be just right. If not he will get a bad review.

**Madness** 2013-08-26, 23:01

DMD123 wrote:Nice new dels madness!

Im happy with what I ordered, should be the right size to get along with the others. I measured my del today and its 5". Even though he has a lot of body mass, he still backs down from the gold dust. So if my weeksii turns out to be 5"-6" he will be just right. If not he will get a bad review.

Thank you sir. Very Happy

I couldnt have done it without the help of KaraWolf.

anthony 2013-08-27, 01:27

Nice bichir. I love dels! As close as you can get to a dinosaur at 1 foot. There was a guy on craigslist about a year ago that was selling a really big tank and he said he had a delhezi that was 20 inches long and 12 years old. I saw in the pic it was a del. I could not tell if it was really 20 inches or not but I'm gonna say i bet it could happen. I mean who has had their bichir for 12 years? Just keep powerfeeding It for 12 years and break a record! After dmd posted the bichir pic with it in the blue tub I started lookin up bichir pics and i found a couple of pics of bichirs with pretty big looking teeth now I can't find them again. Bichirs were around 300-400 million years before the dinosaurs walked the earth/one of the planets oldest fishes... youtube: the life of polypterus bbc. Everyone needs one.

DMD123 2013-08-27, 23:30

Hard to imagine a del that big! affraid

I have to say of my bichirs the del is my favorite. So active and outgoing and just gets along with the others. The albino sen is my next favorite in regards personality. It took me a while to warm up to these guys. I had thought of one for like 2 years and as soon as I got the del I was hooked. Thursday when the new guy comes in, I will have 5, yikes! Im done really, I can stop at any time.... jocolor

DMD123 2013-08-28, 17:36

Fish came in early! cheers

Well here is the new Weeksii:
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I know, an acclimation shot is pretty lame. Rolling Eyes

He is bigger than expected. The ad said 5"-6" and he is 6"+ and thick. I worry for the little sen, he might end up as dinner... Pretty happy with the seller too. He contacts you after your order and asks if there is anything else you would like to 'add' to the order (since it will be the same shipping cost) and he responded to my request to try and find one with more distinct pattern or stripes. Very nice guy, who will get an excellent ebay review!

**Betty** 2013-08-28, 17:44

Those are really cool looking critters. I didn't know much about them and looked them up. They come from Africa? Very Happy

DMD123 2013-08-28, 17:46

Yep, I finally started an "African" tank after all these years. LMFAO

DMD123 2013-08-28, 17:49

Ok he is in the tank now.
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This guy may attain a length of up to 22" so his future home is in the 210g. The Weeksii are a lot more easy going and peaceful compared to the Ornate and you dont see them as much so this was a big factor in my decision.

**Madness** 2013-08-28, 18:28

Looking good D.

DMD123 2013-08-28, 18:56

Thanks! He looks so HUGE compared to the others and he is only like 1" bigger than the del. I think I will wait two or three months and get some size on him and then move him into the big tank.

**Madness** 2013-08-28, 19:15

Yea, the one I acquired was about 6-7" but as big around as a quarter, his head is huge.

DMD123 2013-08-28, 19:59

Thus the nickname 'FAT head' Wink

anthony 2013-08-28, 20:53

they say the weeksi is all about the stripes. Yours has a lot and they look bold. Nice. You have been getting some nice fish online but the weeksi has taken me where I didn't want to go.... Jealousville. If you ever go a different direction sell him to me he can kick it with his bros[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img][img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img][img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][/img]

DMD123 2013-08-28, 21:44

Nice 'log pile' you got there anthony! If I change my mind I will let you know. I really wanted a big fish for the bottom of the 210g tank and I thought the giraffe catfish would fit that bill... he was interesting but I could not take his destructive behavior. He would dig into the sand so much that plants and decor were moved from one side of the tank to the other. Worse than ANY cichlid digger Ive ever had. So in a few months if he makes it into the big tank and does the same.... you will be hearing from me.

anthony 2013-08-28, 22:01

Thanks ! You got a good fish!!! 3-0 in online fishing . Winning

DMD123 2013-08-28, 22:12

Just need to ask in a nice way of what you are looking for and they seem to try to send something just a bit more special. Or it could just be my imagination.

**Madness** 2013-08-29, 01:35

They are looking amazing, welcome to the snake pit. Very Happy

LOL

DMD123 2013-08-29, 02:15

If only we could turn Lloyd to the dark side.... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

DMD123 2013-08-29, 21:53

Was bored so.... a few pics

Gold Dust at home
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Checking out his new tankmate
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The Weeksii setting in (Ate some Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellet today cheers

)
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And the Sens chillin' out
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The Del was not being photogenic today. tongue

Not really, just in a funny spot to take pictures. Right where the acrylic makes its bend so it distorts the image a bit.

If Im so bored maybe I need to take some pics for the photo of the month scratch

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