Senegal Bichir and Figure of 8 Puffer's

Reed fish - excellent! I've never seen these, you have to post some pics!
Last time I saw my ornate (which is about 8-10 inches) was about a month ago sorry to say - I've been out of the country that long, but the OH (bless her) has been keeping up with the feeding and he seems to be quite happy with Doromin sticks. When I get home he's going to be treated to a few juicy earthworms and a lot of other invertebrates collected locally.

I was in Singapore a couple of weeks ago (hope to get back there before I go home) and a shop I found had ornates for a quid or two each - mine was twenty (or would have been but I got him for a few swaps).

Don't worry about the size of the tank, even the biggest bichirs that top out at 18" are ok in a 4 footer as they aren't very active swimmers, don't need the space.

Butterfly fish are a lot more interesting than you might gather by watching them in the lfs, and what else do you have that occupies the top one inch of the tank and virtually never ventures deeper? It's wasted space otherwise!

It would be a pity to leave the tank with just the bichirs and reed fish, there's loads of fish that would get along with them nicely and you have the potential there for a very interesting community.

Hello my Son!

Reed fish are wicked, my friend has x2 that are now about 8" and fatter than my two, his two hang around together all day long and i hoping mine will do the same, i also bought some plastic piping today for this set-up.

To be honest Ferox i was looking for x1 carnivorous 4-7" mid-level swimmer to complement the x4 Bichir and x2 Reed Fish, and in the end i made a bit of an impulse buy. I got x2 Jaguar Cichlids at about 3" and they are gorgeous, if they don't get on one will go in my American Cichlid 300 litre tank. Jags are very predatory and carnivorous so i thought they would go well, but i am well aware that this 48x12x15 will not hold all these fish for perhaps more than 12 months.

I thought Jags were a similar size to a Green Terror, but they are bigger, and apparently 12-14" is common, so i will have to see how it goes, but mate, i am sure you are aware, but google some pics of Jags, they are stunning, i am hoping my two will be okay with each other.

I know need to get the diet sorted, want to really give them 100% great feedings!!! I have no problem with over filtering a tank and doing loads of water changes.

I will take some pics in next few days mate......

by the way, i went to about 5 LFS today and the prices for 4-5" Ornates was £18.95 and for 6-7" Ornates it was £22.95 and for 9-10" Ornates it was £32.95  :police:

A quick google on Jags has me convinced you'd probably be safer keeping crocodiles, but they really are gorgeous, I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on with them and seeing some photos. Just keep your fingers out of the water!

........and if they breed put me down for a few fry!  ;D

Don't be tempted to overfeed, I did read somewhere that bichirs don't need daily feeding, every 2 or 3 days is plenty as they will gorge themselves on perhaps just one large food item and not move around much afterwards (Fry_Lover and curry springs to mind once more). They do seem to relish earthworms, and I'm tempted to try mine on small garden slugs. If he goes for those I might let him out in the garden some warm night, make him work for his living.

As for tankmates, my bichir has only a featherfin syno for company at the mo but if I can pick up cheap aros in Singapore and transport them safely home they will go in there. If not I will probably go for the african community thing.

Hi mate

i have been a bit naughty getting x2 Jags, they are about 3" at moment and hanging around together a lot, but they are simply stunning, i have not had a fish with that body shape before (the way mouth is position), yes they do have a fierce reputation, i will keep my eye out, i have upgraded My tank ALREADY from a 48x12x15 to a 48x12x18 just for a bit more space, i cant upgrade bigger as i don't have a stand big enough and i don't want a repeat of "Houston we have a catastrophe"  :idiot2:

I know basically 48x12x18 may hold the Jags for quite a bit if they get on, if they don't i will move one and i am sure a 48x12x18 will be fine for one Jag for quite a while.

As for feeding, yes good point, i reckon it would be quite easy to feed the Jags x1 daily but only the Reed Fish and Bichir's every 2-3 days. I don't think any of the food will hit the bottom if i feed the Jags carefully every day.

I was browsing though Google and i cant find the link now, but one Jaguar fanatic was passionately arguing they are the 2nd most intelligent of all Tropical fish, cant remember what the most intelligent was  :-\  maybe a guppy 

Gordon, what was also fascinating was the behaviour of the Reed fish in the bucket i had them in for a hour or so, getting them used to the tank water, it is a 40 litre bucket (big bucket!) and i don't think oxygen was an issue, but sometimes the Reed Fish (both of them) would stick their heads out the water (about 1cm of their body length) and just sit there, like they were looking for something!!! It then become quite clear they were trying to "climb out" i could see one constantly trying to climb up the side of the bucket but he couldn't manage it!

I know about their rep for leaving tanks, so my glass panels that slide across top of the tank are very secure and in the small gap at the corner of the tank where my external filter feeds through, i have stuffed the remaining "space" that they "could" climb through with filter wool

Hi Ferox is right about the feeding of the birchirs,but they will let you know if they are not getting enough as they will nick the jaguars food ;D
Birchirs are one of the most fearless fish i have ever kept > :knuppel2:
mine fed on cockles,mussels,worms,lance fish,krill and live rivershrimps!
ps ornates in my lfs £20 for a four inch fish

Yes Alex, my comment about letting the bichir out in the garden to eat slugs was only about 95% tongue in cheek - in the wild they will leave the water to feed. Quite a few fish will do this, including stinging catfish (Heteropneustes), Clarias. mudskippers and the common european eel.

I find this behaviour fascinating, what is more apparently unnatural than a fish out of water, but it can cause problems if you're trying to keep them in a tank! Many years ago I kept a Heteropneustes which once spent about 5 hours wandering around the carpet and lived to tell the tale.
Also I remember a story (true or not it's a great story) in PFK maybe 20 years ago about a large South American catfish (don't know which species) that escaped from a tank during the night and the owners woke up to find it on the carpet and one of their kittens missing. Brilliant tale.

James is spot on about the fearlessness of bichirs, they are completely unfazed whatever you do, but they do learn very fast. If the jaguar is the 2nd most intelligent fish maybe the bichir is first? Wouldn't surprise me, they must at least be in the top ten.