CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Again I've been gone for a few months but I'm back in full force!!
What have I been up to you ask...well...NOTHING! I have been expanding my collection of fish as always. So here they are.

First is the Ornate Bichir, he's about 11" and as fat as a roll of silver dollars! Second, is one of three Herichthys Carpintis


O.k so their in the wrong order you still get the idea.

as fat as a roll of silver dollars!

LOL!! I like your means of measurement!

I don't know about those Herichthys Carpintis, but that's a very nice Ornate.
Male or female??

I've been trying to measure our 3 Bichir.

We've had Cheetah the longest. It's the biggest, over 8" TL & bigger than a roll of quarters in dia.

Puma, our Sengal is a very agressive feeder and is catching up fast! He's over 4" and almost a roll of dimes in diameter.

The last one I got for free; Jaguar is a "rescue".
It was sold to someone as a "spotted eel" without informing them that it would eat any little fish it was kept with. The person was very upset - in just under 25 days it had eaten 8 neons, 6 zebra danios, 4 pencil fish and a pair of Cardinal Tetras.
The store didn't want it back as they had no tank space.
I offered to take it. He was so glad to have somebody take "the ravenous killer" off his hands, he not only gave me the Bichir, but 4 live plants from one of his other tanks as well.

Jaguar is a fast growing, 5.25" TL & like a roll of pennies.

Nice! Post some pictures for me. I want to get a couple more myself, just a little hard to find in my neck of the woods.

I have no idea of the sex.

This is Cheetah.
It's got beautiful black & yellow colors with perfect fins.

This is Jaguar, the Bichir I rescued.
It's body colors have more of a greenish hue than Cheetah's colors do, but it's pectoral fins and tail still have that same great flashy yellow though.

And this is the smallest, Puma, the Senegal.

Before I added Jag, a bunch of live plants & changed the light over that tank, Puma's tail was a coppery orange. As you can clearly see, his tail is now a golden yellow color. I only had a 20" hood with a 15"/14W Aqua-Glo bulb over it when I first set it up. I think the new light with it's dual 36" T5 (Coralife 10,000K Daylight + Actinic Blue 03) tubes in it is what made the biggest difference.
(((Yeah, I know the Actinic blue tube is supposed to be for saltwater corals - I'm trying to get a T5 6,700K Flora, but have to wait for my local Big Als to get them back in stock.)))

It's not too bad the way it is....
when I pull both layers of the window tint over the glass-top, the blue tube gives the tank a real moonlight look. :thumbsup:

As you can see, Puma enjoys his food!:eek:

It may seem like he's bit off more than he can chew.....
but don't worry, he'll get that big mealie down his gullet....
even if he has to slam his face into the glass to do it!

:redlaugh::hahaha:It's like a scene from a Three Stooges movie watching him banging his face into the side of the tank trying to ram the mealworm down his throat!:hahaha::redlaugh:

I really like Jaguar! His patterns are great. A Senegal is on my list for sure.

Is that an Easter egg in your tank? Thanks for posting some pictures.

My daughter saw the Fancy Glass Eggs at Big Al's the last week so I picked up a pack.
They do look kind of cool & add a small splash of color.

I'm a little worried about their durability though....
Our one Oscar Blondie has decided she likes this blue one in their 90gal. tank and she keeps trying to pick it up. For about 2 hours last night, all I could hear was Tink! Tink! Tink! of her bouncing it off a nearby rock.

hey tug i know what you need in your tank..................VW bug matchbox.......:redlaugh: hey man nice to have you back, how big a of tank do you need for bichirs, i am getting my tanks back soon i hope, i would love to have a few of those to watch. they look like dragons, later bug man:D

Polypterids are very cool. I agree they have a real primitive look - that's why PetSmart sells them as "Dinosaur Eels".

Requirements for Bichir are close to Oscars as far as tank size. A Bichir's size depends on the particular species. Size can range from 12" to over 24".
Senegals can get to be around 12".
Ornates can get over 26".

There are quite a few other kinds that are pretty cool looking too:
Endlicheri Endlicheri, Endlicheri Congicus, Delhenzi, Weeksii, Palmas Polli, Lapradei, Buettikoferi,

There's some great info & pics of Bichirs here:
http://aquatic-terrors.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3086

http://forums.waterwolves.com/index.php?showtopic=80505

BTW Tug, if you're wondering about sexing a Bichir....
Females are usually the bigger/thicker of the two, though that isn't always the case. The best indicator seems to be the size & shape of the Anal fin.
The males have a wider anal fin, while the female has a narrower anal fin. Bichir are egg-scattering breeders. Males swim beside the female. The female releases a few eggs, the male catches them in his larger, wider anal fin, fertilizes them, then drops them as they continue to swim along.

I'll have to look at my fishes anal fin (that just sounds nasty). Thanks for the info.

Caboose, I don't mess around with TOYS I like the real thing!! VW for life homie!!

One more thing, I saw some Endlicheri on aquabid the other day, those suckers look crazy....I want one.

ya we all know that tug is the KING of the VW Bug for life:D later man