# Found mislabeled Ornate Bichir



## Methuzela (Apr 27, 2004)

I was at my LFS today and noticed that in a tank of swordtails swam a very small Polypterus ornatipinnis (ornate bichir). I asked the guy who was working how much it would be and he realized what it was and that it was labeled like a buck fifty. So he asked the manager and the manager said he would give it to me for ten bucks cause it came in by accident. Is this a real good deal, should I not pass this up? It had to be like almost three inches, real small.

I have a spare ten gallon, would it even be worth it, do they grow really fast, cause i Know how big they CAN get. But would it be cool to have a bichir in a ten for a while?

help me out i don't want someone else to get it. thanks.


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## Fruitbat (Jan 2, 2004)

Ten bucks is a good deal for _Polypterus ornatipinnis_ and one that size will do very nicely in a 10 gallon tank. It will probably outgrow the tank in less than a year, however. Still....if you are able to provide a larger tank for it as it grows...then you ought to snap it right up!!!


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## WolfFish (Jun 30, 2004)

I got two fairly large ornate birchers for £5 and 5 guppies. I didn't even know what they were. I think they grow really slowly so if you want it you could probably keep it in a 10g for about 18 months.
They are cool fish, but mine got scooped out by accident when taking out the sand and got flushed








. That really sucked.


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## Methuzela (Apr 27, 2004)

Is it a problem not too have a sand substrate with bichirs?  Also, how aggressive are they really?


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## Fruitbat (Jan 2, 2004)

I have different bichir tanks with different types of substrates....I don't use sand in any of them. I've got one with regular aquarium gravel....another with Eco-Complete...etc...etc. As for aggressiveness....they're not at all aggressive except occasionally to each other. They're pretty much safe as long as their tank-mates can't be swallowed. I've got Congo Tetras as tank-mates with my smaller bichirs and _Ctenopoma_-type fish with my larger (6-8") ones. Oh...there's also an African Knife Fish (_Xenomystus_) and some African Butterfly Fish (_Pantodon buchholzi_) in the larger tank. I've got _Synodontis_ cats of appropriate size in all of my bichir tanks. Haven't had any problems at all with any of the fish.


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## Methuzela (Apr 27, 2004)

awesome i think ill go pick him up today!!! I'm so fuckin excited


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## Methuzela (Apr 27, 2004)

anything else to know about em?
you seem to be quite an expert with them. Any tricks or tips i should know?


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## WolfFish (Jun 30, 2004)

Methuzela said:


> anything else to know about em?
> you seem to be quite an expert with them. Any tricks or tips i should know?


 they are pretty fool proof. Give them water and lots of food, worms and beefheart are good. Sand is good for them becuase they like to sift through it and bur themselves, but if you can't/don't want sand then you must provide lots of hing places for them. They do tend to spen alot of their time hiding in caves, and if you keep more than one they must have a cave each or they will fight.


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## Methuzela (Apr 27, 2004)

I got it, its awesome.

let me know what kind of polypterus it is cause im not so sure upon closer investigation.


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## piranhasrule (May 31, 2004)

it luks juz like mine but mines quite abit bigger, i got him for £10 and im tld hes a senegal 1 he's about 7 or 8 inch


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## Fruitbat (Jan 2, 2004)

That's not an _ornatipinnis_. What you've got there is _Polypterus senegalus_, Cuvier's Bichir (sometimes called the Gray Bichir or Senegal Bichir). They're great fish....wonderful for those starting out with bichirs. They get to about 12 inches and are among the most active of the _Polypterus_ species. I've got 6 of them...5 that I raised from little babies like yours and one albino. My biggest is the albino at about 6 1/2 inches....the biggest of the bunch of babies (I've had them for about 4 months now) is 5 inches. They love frozen bloodworms, frozen silversides (small), frozen beef heart and broken up Hikari Carnivore Sticks.

I don't agree that they need a sand substrate....I've never used it for bichirs in the many years I've been keeping them. Do provide some sort of hiding cave...though your _senegalus_ probably won't spend much time in it. Here's a link to a profile I wrote on a different forum: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=21833

Good luck and enjoy your bichir!!!


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## piranhasrule (May 31, 2004)

my sennagal is gr8, its active day and night and its shown no sign ov aggresion ever. mine eats bloodworm, tetradoromin and hikari cichlid pellets, its so enquizitive and is aways coming 2 the front 2 investigate what im doin, i think they need quite a deep layer ov gravel becoz mine is alway try 2 make tunnels


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