Albino Polyptherus tank mates

[SkwidsLair]

I'm not even sure if this is the right forum to be posting in...but here goes.

I recently bought three Albino Poyptheri and put them in a 10 gallon with five glowlite tetras and a turbo snail.

Now...before y'all tell me the tank's too small...I am awaiting the arrival of my 60 gallon tank for them to go into. Even THAT is likely too small (eventually) but I will cross that bridge when it begins to loom.

It goes without saying that the tetras lasted all of an hour. The snail lasted a couple more days, and I honestly thought they'd leave him be...but alas, they got him as well. Shell and all.

I don't have a problem with that...except now I am wondering what kinds of things I can put with them to keep the tank clean.

So...question number one...other than buying a LARGE pl*co (the big ones aren't the greatest algae eaters, I've heard) or a UV Sterilizer...what are my options?

In my 75 gallon, I am having issues of my Black Shark claiming territory, and pretty much hogging the food. He hasn't hurt any of the other fish yet...mostly just chases them around...but I fear it's only a matter of time as he gets bigger. He is definitely the fastest growing specimen in my tank. So, this leads me to question number two...

Would the Black Shark do well with my Albinos? He's big enough that they likely wouldn't go after him as food...but I'm wondering if they'd gang up on him.

In my 75 gallon I also have an Irridescent Shark (only about 4 inches at the moment) that I really, really like. In fact, he's my favourite. I know he can handle himself with the Black Shark...so I'd like to put him in with the Albinos as well. Question number three...other than a constrainment issue as they grow into the 60g (I'd likely eventually swap the 75g and 60g stock at the very least) would he be okay in with the Albinos?

I think that's it...oh, no...one more question. How often should I be giving my carnivores feeder fish? How much at a time? And should I be giving them other things to vary their diet?

Right now my main tank gets algae wafers, sinking shrimp pellets and a high quality flake food...I give them frozen blood worms once a week, and frozen brine shrimp once a week. My Albinos get the pellets usually, with the frozen stuff on the same schedule as the main tank. I just picked up some Hikari Carnivore Disks...I'm going to see how they like those. (Hope so for the price they were! lol)

Sorry for the lengthy post.

 

[beblondie]

Now that you have a bichir what does it eat? In their natural habitat bichirs normally eat small

fish,various insect larvae and invertabrates.Bichirs are generaly non agressive ambush predators but

also oppurtunistic scavengers.Objects to big to be consumed whole are often "deathrolled" till
small parts are twisted and ripped off the carcass.The key here is to balance the diet thru a variety
of foods with an eye on total nutrition.A varied diet is a good diet for your fish and yourself.
Now then what can we feed them? You actually have several options and They will be listed below
The freezer at your local fish store is a smorgasboard of foods which should include
silversides or lancefish
mysis shrimp
brine shrimp
krill
bloodworms
tubifex worms
squid
beefheart
Simply thaw and feed


Your local market can be a great source of foods check the seafood section of the freezer
You can use just about any foods you find there including
mussels
shrimp
most fish filets (avoid salmon i think its to oily)

Available at the butcher counter or they should be able to order it for you
beefheart
and yes chicken gizzards
to prepare the above cut it into strips and remove any fat you can find
fish do not digest mammialian fat well

Live foods include
some frog species(some frogs release a nasty chemical when bitten)
tadpoles
African dwarf frogs are safe and part of the natural diet
ghost shrimp
earthworms
mealworms feed only the recently shed(white) ones the chiton in the exoskeleton
can be hard to digest and in some can result in intestinal blockages.
There is really no reason to feeders except as the ocassional treat.
Various live fish and fry can be used for foods.Caution here unless you raise them
any commercialy bought feeders usually rosie reds/tuffies (the albino form of fat head minnows),
guppies,bait minnows etc.need to be quarantined before feeding them to your fish for several reasons.
reason 1 They are kept in horrible conditions
reason 2 They are often diseased
reason 3 They often are carriers of parasites
During quarantine dispose of the obviously sick or diseased.The remaining ones feed quality
foods a healthy feeder is of course better for your fish.
Goldfish just generaly are poor feeders and should be avoided. they are oily not very nutritious and

constant feed of them causes faty deposits on the liver leading to premature deaths.They also contain

very high levels of Thiaminase a destroying hormone.While many fish used as feeders contain this

goldfish seem to have an abundance of it.Another issue is a spine at the front of the dorsal fin which

can lead to problems if the goldfish is swollowed the wrong way (tailfirst).Yet another reason not to use

goldfish,goldfish farms utilize copper meds in suspension form to combat diseases in the feeders

associated with overcrowding.These copper meds are retained by the feeders for long periods after

they leave the farms.Most lfs invariably retain all or part of the feeders shipping water when the feeders

are loaded into their bins/tanks. And copper does not dissapate from a closed system.
The key is to balance the diet with a variety of foods listed above not just 1 or 2 items and skipping a

meal once you notice a decline in growth rate is good for fish.The sad truth is we as hobbyists tend to

overfeed our charges

Pellitized foods
Can be found in various diameters and forms include sinking and floating pellets and sticks
shrimp pellets
worm pellets
even pellets for cichlids will work
spirulina sticks
brine shrimp sticks
Algae wafers(some eat them some just look at them)-Anne

 

[SkwidsLair]

Thanks, that was very informative.

As for feeders, I'm going to raise my own, and stick to the frozen stuff, pellets and the occasional stuff from the supermarket.

I'll occasionally throw some ghost shrimp in for them as well.