# Senegal Bichir Problem!



## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

So I woke up this morning to feed the fish as I usually do every morning and that's when I saw it. The Bichir had one of my Rosy Barbs in his mouth trying to swallow the entire thing. This makes the third Rosy Barb that he has killed even though this one is not quite dead yet. My wife suggests I should get rid of the Bichir, but he's a nice fish to look at it if you forget the aggression problem. If I get rid of my remaining Rosy Barbs will he start going after the Cories? What should I do? I've never had an aggression problem this severe before. Any help would be very welcome. Thanks all.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

And your sure things aren't just dying in your tank and your just catching him savaging on them?
I have a hard time believing a birchir is capable of catching a rosy barb, how big is it?


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## Dragonbeards (Dec 14, 2008)

Hmmm... a tank to himself? It's really hard to say what he'd do after the Rosy Barbs were gone. A tank by himself would cure the problem, if you really like him so much. I don't have this problem with my bichir, though it could be because his tank mates are so big. Do you feed him anything live? If he got live food, maybe he would leave the Rosys alone? Anyways, good luck with whatever you do.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Tallonebball said:


> And your sure things aren't just dying in your tank and your just catching him savaging on them?
> I have a hard time believing a birchir is capable of catching a rosy barb, how big is it?


He's about 6 inches and he seems to be getting them at night. Do you think I should get rid of the Rosy Barbs or get rid of him?


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Well, I just checked on him and he has swallowed the wounded Rosy Barb whole and is sitting in his spot on top of the heater digesting it. It sort of reminded me of a Anaconda eating a baby hippopotamus and I have seen that on National Geographic.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Yeah id say forget the rosey barbs and get a bigger fish school that he would have no chance of getting like larger rainbows or something like that, maybe you should try feeding him more too, he seems to be a abnormally hungry birchir. lol


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Tallonebball said:


> Yeah id say forget the rosey barbs and get a bigger fish school that he would have no chance of getting like larger rainbows or something like that, maybe you should try feeding him more too, he seems to be a abnormally hungry birchir. lol


Well, I just found the fish in his mouth again so he apparently barfed it up and is trying to eat it again. I put two beef heart cubes in every night, but apparently that is not enough. I might start trying to feed him his own beef heart by hand to be sure he gets enough.


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

Bichirs are pigs, and will eat anything that will fit in their mouth, and sometimes things that won't fit too.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

petlovingfreak said:


> Bichirs are pigs, and will eat anything that will fit in their mouth, and sometimes things that won't fit too.


I wish I'd known that before I bought him. At least I only paid $7 for him, but still I wish I would have known. Do they do better if you have more than one in a tank?


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

Just a heads up, often times the barbs of a cory get stuck in the fish's throat that is trying to eat the cory.


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