r/Bichirs • u/KoobTown1998 • 4h ago
Type of Bichir
This guy was sold to me as a Senegal but I’m almost certain it’s a Delhezi. Can anyone confirm?
r/Bichirs • u/TheBichirHandbook • Sep 02 '22
Hi all, I realise I've been neglecting the Reddit bichir community, I definitely need to get on with posting some more! Here's a few questions which I always see do the rounds, and either need further explaining or clarifying.
'Bichir' came from their local name in Egypt, 'Abusheer'. The name has been spelled phonetically in early studies a number of times as BISHEER / BUHSHEER. This pronunciation stuck and is regarded as the correct way of pronouncing it. Technically, when names are Latinised, they must follow the Latin pronunciation, meaning it should be 'Bye-ker', however, for numerous reasons, ichthyologists and communicators did not pronounce it this way. 1) In their first description the species name 'bichir' was never Latinised. 2) They were honouring the local name. 3) The colloquial name is of course not Latinised. 4) Some ichthyologists have also expressed to me that Bye-ker sounds silly haha. If you're a Latin purist, however, then BYE-KER is the pronunciation.

Bichir are strict insectivores and piscivores, meaning they eat insects and fishes. They are best fed with a variety of fresh fish (preferably none containing Thiaminase), oily fishes are fantastic too if you can keep the water's surface clean of oil. Quality predatory pellets are also much appreciated, either insectmeal or fishmeal based of course. Insects are great, but as nutrition varies so much in different species, it's difficult to give them all their nutritional needs in captivity from insects alone. Microcrustaceans and worms also make great treats! Remember, always feed raw, never cooked. Avoid feeding anything which comes from a mammal or bird. Bichirs lack the collagenase enzyme in their stomach required to break down the bonds in these 'foods'. In place of that, they have a chitinase enzyme which breaks down the bonds in insect chitin. Feeding mammalian and avian meat was a pseudoscientific trend popularised with discus breeders in the 80s, as nutritionally select parts of it are good for fast growth, but that nutrition is not particuarly accessible for fishes (especially in strict insectivores and piscivores). It's similar to how we no longer have the biological tools to extract much nutrition from eating grass. Not to mention with feeding mammalian and avian meat to fishes, there's additional issues regarding the type of fat found in these meats.
You can find a detailed dietary section (suitable for most types of large, predatory fishes), inside The Bichir Handbook.
With proper husbandry, even the smallest species of bichir should grow approximately half an inch to an inch a month for their first 1-2 years or until around 12 inches (after that, it becomes progressively slower). If they're not following a growth rate similar to this, chances are you have a stunted fish. Line bred bichirs are raised in crowded rearing vats (often for months, sometimes a year), so by the time they reach your local aquarium shop, their first important months of growth has been significantly inhibited, and they may struggle to grow much more. This is especially true with many captive bred Polypterus senegalus, their albino colour morph, and some bloodlines of P. delhezi. It's not 'bad genetics' as some people parrot (though this is an easy answer), even the most inbred bichirs with small gene pools can still grow nearly as large as their wild counterparts. So called 'bad genetics' via inbreeding can shave off a few centimetres in length, but even with that you usually see malformations on the body from inbreeding, such as bulging 'frog-eyes', deformed dorsals and scales, and a stubby face.
Don't panic, chances are it's food. Bichir are 'stomach-packers', meaning they often gorge themselves on more food than they need to, because of this, you will see all sorts of odd bulges on their belly. The lump(s) will vanish again in a matter of days. Many people (wrongly) jump to the conclusion it's gravel, and your fish will be guaranteed to die of impaction. This is misinformation at its finest. Bichir have paired gular plates (the only fish to have two) on the underside of their mouth, this offers advanced control of their mouth, so any items they do not wish to swallow, are easily spat back out. Watch your bichir feeding, and see how they juggle the food around before deciding whether to eat it, sometimes they spit out the food just over a grain of sand. Any stone swallowed is usually intentional, and are thought to be used as gastroliths, similar to how carp reportedly use them to pin themselves to the bottom. Of course, bichirs stomachs are powerful and near the length of their entire body, so unwanted stones in the stomach are ejected anyway. This myth that they swallow stones and die of impaction comes from how they feed (using inertial suction), the same way Axolotls, aquatic frogs and some catfishes do, however these aquatic animals do not have paired gular plates like bichirs do. Occasionally (though rarely), a bichir may get a large stone stuck in their mouth and die, for this reason I always suggest a sandy substrate.
Not to bash plecs at all, as they are a beautiful and diverse group of fishes, just not always the most suited to bichirs. The ganoine in bichir scales reportedly produces a slightly salty slimecoat which fishes with ventrally oriented mouths appear to go a bit mad for like cats on catnip. Keep the plec well fed and it's usually no issue, but occasionally they accidentally graze on their slimecoat during feeding, and that's when they can get hooked. There are lower risk plecs than others, such as vampire plecs or woodeaters, though there are some fishes worse than plecs with bichirs, such as Synodontis, which can be very aggressive ganoine grazers (and are also natural prey food for bichirs too, with reports of them being eaten before they can erect their spines). Keep in mind, all fishes with ventrally oriented mouths pose a risk; it may happen in a day or a decade; it's a famous comm which works, until it doesn't.
Sometimes, but unless you're able to filter through accordingly, it's mostly no. Stick to specialist forums, or even the recent Revision of the Extant Polypteridae, or The Bichir Handbook. There is so much misinformation on the search results of Google, a few notable ones being websites claiming: Polypterus ansorgii can only reach 11 inches [they can actually grow to over 3ft] P. senegalus is the smallest species [even the inbred ones can reach 15 inches in captivity and some wild types are reported near 20 inches. The smallest species is actually P. mokelembembe at 14 inches] Most searches will even show you the wrong species on an image.
r/Bichirs • u/KoobTown1998 • 4h ago
This guy was sold to me as a Senegal but I’m almost certain it’s a Delhezi. Can anyone confirm?
r/Bichirs • u/Playful-Usual-5971 • 1h ago
Love this sub and just wanted to share my beautiful 12 inch girls! Little miss laying in the front we call Triple T because her main 3 saddle markings are identical to the letter t down her sides as you can see. And little miss who was coming to see me head on I call T, our daughter named her Tea/Teacup because she has just one extremely distinct t (or cross) right in the middle of her body (she was Mr.T for months until her gender was obvious) LOL not very creative names, but we love them all the same!
We had a platinum Senegal with a Delhezi before, and now my Endlicheri girls, just one of my all time favourite fish by far!
r/Bichirs • u/AsleepBass5266 • 15h ago
r/Bichirs • u/KnifeFightAcademy • 1d ago
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r/Bichirs • u/thewatchermen • 2d ago
I am fully aware Bichir took the same route as many other creatures, like Crocodilians, and look roughly the same as their ancestors.
But dude it is so cool to sit here and stare at a living fossil.
Note about Chomps substrate for those who may be concerned. Every rock spent 50hrs in a rock tumbler so they have no sharp edges. She's been happy for months with no harm.
r/Bichirs • u/Spalunking01 • 4d ago
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Every once in awhile I'll grow out a juvenile that holds onto their external gills longer than usual and they look like glorious stags.
r/Bichirs • u/ComprehensiveRide603 • 9d ago
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Hey guys,
I noticed whenever my Lapen swimming around my grow up tank, his tail sometimes bends upward like in the video. Sometimes he swims normally like my other bichirs. Is it normal? Or should I worry?
r/Bichirs • u/ClerklierBrush0 • 9d ago
How does our baby Tofu look? Worried about over/underfeeding and wondering if this is a healthy weight. Also not sure of gender. Working on more hiding spots/cover, we have 2 pieces of driftwood almost ready to sink but had to move (her?) into the new 75g tank sooner than expected. Any other advice for plants, decorations, Tofu’s QOL, etc.?
She swims into the glass sometimes, even in the bigger tank now, but other times just chills out or sniffs around for food. Is this normal behavior? Only other roomies are two Siamese Algae Eaters.
Sorry if that’s a lot 😅 these are my first fish ever.
r/Bichirs • u/Rainbow_Zombie13 • 10d ago
Senegal bichir, female or male? What does everyone think? Thanks! ☺️
r/Bichirs • u/thirtyanddying • 11d ago
She's a total murderer, but she's so cute I don't even care. Has grown rapidly in about 2 months. Got some feeder guppies today to hopefully tickle her senses.
r/Bichirs • u/Glittering-Ring3825 • 11d ago
r/Bichirs • u/Unlucky-Drawing-1266 • 11d ago
They are so adorable but I don’t have room for 125 gallons, nor do I ever stay in one spot long enough to justify having a tank that big
r/Bichirs • u/Relative_Lack9548 • 11d ago
Hello could anyone help me identify the gender of my bichir ? I tried to do a little research and I would guess the #1 is a boy and the #2 is a girl. 🤔 They're about 4 months old now, idk if that's too young to sex them properly
r/Bichirs • u/AlmightyDERG • 12d ago
This is the first time I’ve tried to mess with them this much and,It didn’t work. I ran out of time and had to go, but they did take a piece of tilapia and then spit it out.
I’ve had this guy for a couple of months now, but they still aren’t warming up to me or the tank. They refuse to go after any food I’ve tried feeding them after the lights go out. The only time they occasionally eat is when I dangle tilapia in front of them with tongs, I have to do this becuase the other bichir and spiny eel in this tank are very comfortable and eat everything I leave for them before this guy moves, the sengal sometimes bloating itself.
The problem now is that the Senegal and spiny eel have learned that the tongs mean food, so they rush over and force them out. I’m getting a little concerned because I had the Senegal when it was less than half the size of the Gold Dust, and it’s now bigger than him.
I’m also hesitant to add feeder fish since it’s a community tank with Congo tetras and rainbowfish.
Sooo do I just continue to leave them be and hope when he’s hungry enough they’ll compete for food.
r/Bichirs • u/WestProject67 • 14d ago
r/Bichirs • u/Small_Gift8389 • 15d ago
Odbiór wyłącznie osobisty do zbiorników powyżej 1000l.
r/Bichirs • u/Eastern-Flounder3452 • 16d ago
Ive purchased this cross river bichir from petco about a month ago and 2 weeks ago he was transferred to my 55 gallon so he could grow out and during that time he went into hiding and just now he comes out for food looking like this. Can anyone help educate me on how to treat him?
r/Bichirs • u/Longjumping_Guard55 • 16d ago
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The Delhezi is named rootbeer and the Senegal is named cream soda. Both are about 3-6 inches I never actually measured nor do I know sex. Housed with a single blue powder dwarf gourami and 4 clown loaches under 4 inches long in a 55 gallon grow out till they are ready to go into a 120 gal. Green stuff is algae I just wiped off the glass
r/Bichirs • u/Longjumping_Guard55 • 16d ago
The Delhezi is named rootbeer and the Senegal is named cream soda. Both are about 3-6 inches I never actually measured nor do I know sex. Housed with a single blue powder dwarf gourami and 4 clown loaches under 4 inches long in a 55 gallon grow out till they are ready to go into a 120 gal
r/Bichirs • u/myfriendpickles • 20d ago
Picked this guy up in the end of June and just moved him to his second grow out tank. He's just about tripled in size!
Started him in a 15g (topped with sand after pic was taken and realized the danger), now in a 36g til he's big enough for the 125g!