Senegal bichir

Quick facts

Adult size

30 cm

Lifespan

can live up to 20 years

Tank zone

bottom

Temperament

semi-aggressive

Difficulty

intermediate

Water parameters

Temperature

24–28°C

pH

6.0 to 8.0

Hardness

5 to 20 dGH

Tank requirements

Minimum volume

250 L

Minimum length

120 cm

Flow

low

Lighting

dim preferred

Substrate

sand

Driftwood

preferred

Hiding spots

needed

Open swimming room

needed

Lid

required - jumper

Feeding

Diet: carnivore, feeds primarily at the bottom.

Sinking carnivore pellets, frozen bloodworms, prawns, silversides, earthworms. Poor eyesight; hunts by smell. Feed at lights-out for best feeding response. Will eat any fish small enough to swallow.

Nocturnal feeder; drop food after lights out so it can eat without competition.

Compatibility

• Living fossil. Polypteridae have existed for 100+ million years; the dorsal finlets, ganoid scales, and lobed pectoral fins are all primitive features
• Obligate air breather. Must have access to the surface; they drown in nets or traps that prevent surfacing. The lung is a modified swim bladder
• Escape artist. Will find any gap in the tank lid and push through it. Bichirs can survive out of water for hours breathing air, so you may find one on the floor still alive
• The 'dinosaur eel' common name is doubly wrong (not a dinosaur, not an eel) but it sells fish to people who want something unusual
• Compatible with similar-sized non-aggressive fish: large peaceful cichlids, larger catfish. Will eat anything it can fit in its mouth, which is wider than it looks

Habitat

Widespread across tropical Africa from Senegal to Egypt. Found in slow rivers, lakes, swamps, and floodplains. Often found in shallow, heavily vegetated water with low oxygen, which is where the air-breathing ability pays off. The most commonly kept bichir species because it stays smaller than most others in the genus (P. endlicherii reaches 60 cm).

Breeding

Rarely bred in home aquariums. Males have a wider, thicker anal fin than females. Breeding requires a large tank (400 L), heavy feeding with live food, and a water temperature around 28–30°C. Males cup the female's anal fin during spawning and eggs are scattered among plants. Eggs hatch in 3-4 days. Fry have external gills (like axolotls) for the first few weeks.

Common problems

Predator that eats anything it can swallow, which includes surprisingly large prey for a fish that looks slow. Small tetras, shrimp, and anything under 5–6 cm is food. They're also escape artists with a primitive lung that lets them survive out of water for extended periods. A weighted lid is required. Poor eyesight means they find food by smell, which makes feeding slow; ensure tankmates don't eat everything before the bichir finds it.

Bioload

Bioload coefficient: 6.0 (large carnivore with slow metabolism; moderate-heavy waste).

Bioload coefficients are calibrated against the neon tetra as the anchor (1.0). See the methodology page for the formula and how each value was derived.

Further reading

• How to cycle a fish tank
• Stocking ideas by tank size