# Dinosaur/Senegal Bichir Companions



## NthPvttucker (Jul 22, 2011)

i just bought a dinosaur bichir from a store here where it looked like it was being mistreated, the water was a brownish color and there was hardly any air in the aquarium ect, so i felt sorry for it and brought it home, he is now in my 55 gallon aquarium, currently in here i have 

2 Electric Blue JD's (1 1/2 inches)
2 Chinese algae eaters ( 1 1/2 inches)
2 Black Kuhli Loaches (1 inch and 1 1/2 inches)
1 Pangsius Catfish ( 2 inches )
1 firemouth (1 1/2 inches)

and now the Dinosaur Bichir which is about 2 to 2 1/2 inches long. there are plenty of hiding places, he ate alot of mysis shrimp when i fed the others so i assume he was hungry, would he be ok with the others? they arent messing with him but im more nervous about him eating them, would he do that to the other cichlids? or would he be more passive?


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## DrMiller357 (Apr 1, 2011)

From what I've heard they can be kept with fish like yours that get pretty big, the senegals get to 12"-14" and are slow growing for bichirs so i would think they will grow a bit slower than your other fish so they should leave each other alone for the most part, the only ones i am kind of worried about is the loaches. Although i would expect aggression between the fish once they get bigger because of tank size.

Also bichirs are nocturnal hunters so i would think if you feed them just before you go to bed you will have a better chance of keeping him from having a midnight snack ;-)


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

The real problem I see is the firemouth. Plain and simple they are *******'s. I love the look of them, but they are not a nice fish. The EB Dempsey's, for a cichlid, are very calm and timid. I've seen them with tetra's, abiding by the fit in the mouth rule. Seen them in community tanks without a problem at all for years.

The Pangius I would imagine is like any other catfish. It's a threat at night and by size of mouth only. Loaches and the birchir are going to be the same way. Fortunately you're not going to have to worry about that, minus the catfish down the road.

With the birchir and loaches, you may end up with them attacking someone else, but I doubt it. Size of mouth dictates an easy rule of no one is going to just disappear in an instant with the current sizes. Keep an eye on it though. The other thing is, all of the fish will be able to move pretty quick to get out of the way.


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## NthPvttucker (Jul 22, 2011)

yeah the firemouth is kind of mean but all the EBJD's and the firemouth get along pretty good, they defend territory, but there have never been any liplocking or nipped fins or anything like that, they dont fight for food ether, the catfish is taken care of, one of my friend has a 125 gallon with 13 more of his kind and same size so he went to live there now, the loaches i just have to clean the sand, im not AS worried about them even though itll be a sad loss, but the bichir i feed frozen bloodworms (thawed out of course) and he seems to love them, lol he eats it from my hand and then rubs against my fingers and doesnt care if i move my hand around, i guess hes happy to be out of that nasty water haha


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