Polypterus ornatipinnis

Spotted this beauty in the lfs today and fell instantly in love.

I'm planning a largely african mix for the new 4 footer including butterfly fish, synodontis and Xenomystus knifefish and a bichir was part of the plan too, but I was thinking more about a smaller species such as senegalus. I'm now sorely tempted to go for the ornatipinnis instead.

Having browsed around the net, I'm getting conflicting stories about them. A couple, including the pfk site, say that they'll destroy plants as they blunder around and should be kept in an unplanted tank. Others say they should be kept in a well planted tank.

I intend my new tank to be planted so I'm wondering now if it's worth taking the risk of buying this fish. Has anyone any experience of keeping P. ornatipinnis and what sort of setup do you recommend?

Thanks! 

Hi having kept ornates,they are an amazing fish so full of character! but they are very cumbersome as they do not beleive in going round anything
so you can still have plants but best to use plant pots or get plants that have larger root sytems like amazon swords,{there are many more species,but me forgotten which ones :dunce:}also plants that grow on rocks or wood like java fern should be ok!?
I have plants in with me stingrays and have know probs{i use pond planting crates and have vallis in there-thanks Di}hope this helps O0

Thanks for that James, very helpful. Decision made, if he's still in the shop by tomorrow he's coming home with me. The tank isn't ready of course so he'll have to go into temporary accomodation, but now I can go ahead with planting the tank bearing your advice in mind.

they do get big compaired to other polys you can expect a ornate to grow to 2ft easy were as a senagalas and a delhazi should only grow to 12inch

Thanks t1karmann, that did concern me a bit originally I must admit. I was reassured that it should be ok in my 4 footer by the pfk article on the subject;

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=33

This says...

"Size: Said to reach more than 60cm (24" in the wild but captives seldom grow larger than 38-45cm (15-18" long.
Aquarium: Minimum 120 x 37.5 x 45cm (48" x 15" x 18" for a single specimen but you could keep a pair in this size tank with no problems at all."

Of course the author may be basing the min tank size on the assumed max fish size of 18". If it  ever exceeds this size (and I'd expect this could take years)  I would hope to have a bigger tank by then anyway!

hi ferox biggest one i have seen is about 16 inches and well fat! mine grew to about 14 inches in a six footer! took about ten years to get to that size
ps if he gets to big i'll give it a good home! O0

14 inches is a fine size and I wouldn't be complaining if he stopped at that after 10 years!
Tell you what James, if he gets bigger than 20" he's yours!  :2funny:

Picked him up today and he's now in a 2 foot tank until the 4 footer is ready. I'll post a photo later if I can get a decent one.

I tried him on some Doromin foodsticks and he gobbled them up straight away. Then I went out for half an hour and came back to find him swimming around with my 2" Synodontis in his mouth (the bichir is about 7-8 inches)!

The catfish was rescued, apparently none the worse for it's ordeal, and is now safe in another tank. This does leave me with a bit of a quandary nonetheless, as these 2 fish were both intended for the new tank. Obviously the syno will have to elsewhere now (at least until he grows), but at least I now know what the bichir is capable of when I select his future tankmates!

Hi i am surprised he had a go at your synodontis :o
i personally reckon its where they deliberatly underfeed the fish in shops so he/she was super hungry,hence why it had a go at your synodontis?
look forwarad to picking it up from you in ten years or so ferox :2funny:

Here's the blighter. Wish I'd got a photo with the syno, but didn't want to leave him like that any longer than could be helped! Funny, he was just carrying it around crosswise in his mouth like a cat carries it's kittens by the scruff of the neck.

EDIT: 10 years from now he could be big enough to turn his attention to stingrays.  :knuppel2:

Hi cracking looking fish ferox!
they are cracking fish and almost like cats! as they will also hunt down any food in the tank till its all gone :
i am hoping my rays will be a wee bit bigger by then  :2funny:

Very very nice fish!  O0

nice pick up ferox O0
gorgeous fish

Thanks for the comments folks!

These fish are reputed to be intelligent and playful, and I remember this from the senegalus I had years ago. Now this may sound a little far fetched, but I think there's a chance he was just amusing himself, playing with the catfish.

For one thing it was too big to eat, he could never have swallowed it.
For another thing it appears the catfish is completely undamaged, not a mark on him.
And, I've watched him eat food pellets. As soon as he gets one he drops and sits on the bottom chewing it. With the catfish he was swimming around as normal carrying it with him.

Proving to be a bit of a character already if this theory is right! I'll be training him to fetch sticks next.

WOW Nice fish