Please help me to identify my loach..if it is one?!

[rossce]

Hi All,

I have 2 small..dare I say it..loaches? I've searched high and low on the pictoral search but canot find what I have.

They are grey brown - small at the moment but I have seen they can grow up to 18". They have 2 barbels (shaped like fork prongs) and a featherish like long tail. They do not have sucker mouths or mouths that face down. Other than that I do not know how to describe them. If anyone can help it would be much appreciated. I have them in my Cichlid tank. I may be able to upload a pic if its easy to do?

Caz.

[rossce]

May I add, it looks like a dinasaur! and ravishes pleco wafers

[loachmom]

Hi and welcome!

The featherlike tail and two barbels make me think of an eel.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... hlight=eel

[rossce]

Hi..Thats what I thought. But it looks like a serpentine type. I have weather loaches in my coldwater tank and pakistani loaches in my other tropical. These things are wierd!

[loachmom]

OK, one more try.

How about this one:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/va ... lla-maassi

[rossce]

Nope! The feathered fins on the back are similar. The "loach / eel" has its feathered fins more vivid. As it gets bigger it goes brown in colour. It has a "nasty" face. Thats the only way to describe it. They look impressive when they are hanging from fake plants in the tanks - mine are small - around 4" long. They do all the thinks the weather loaches do..except go divvy with weather changes. I will post a pic tomorrow evening, but partner has hidden the download lead! I need to identify them so I can give them proper care. I have been told they can kill small fish by squeezing then to death in a dragonlike fashion if that helps. Fortunately they are small and in with largeish cichlids!! As I say they seem to chop wildly on algie wafers and no doubt are meat eaters.
I have done so many wild cat searches but to no avail.

Caz

[andre]

Is it not a Bichir is it?

http://primitivefish.com/bichirs.htm

[loachmom]

One more guess:

Violet Gobie (Dragon Fish)

[mickthefish]

i was thinking of the reed fish, if i can find a pic i'll put it up.

mick

ps if you check on fishbase at the family polypterus they might be the fish.

[rossce]

Andre,

yes i've just clicked the link its a zaire green birchir!! Many thanks to you all for looking! Now I can care for them proper!

So their fish?! goodness! I was so sure they were loachie things!!

Caz

[andre]

Incidentally I saw a few last week in a lfs. If you go to Youtube you will find some interesting videos on bichirs eating large shrimp.

Quite impressive.

Good luck!

[rossce]

I will! Many thanks!

[starsplitter7]

yes i've just clicked the link its a zaire green birchir!! Many thanks to you all for looking! Now I can care for them proper!

I have a common bichir, and it is one of my favorite fish. I know we have different fish, but I think they are similar enough to let you know what I have learned. Three things you probably already know, but just in case, since I found out the hard way.

1.) My bichir was about the size of my pinkie when I got her. I have had her six months, and she is now 7 inches and bigger around than my thumb. And getting bigger everyday.

2.) She loves live fish, but dead fish are fine too. Anything live that fits in her mouth she will eat, and she'll try big things too. I found this out when her tank mates started disappearing at night. They are night ambush predators. Her mouth is bigger than it looks. She does not bother her big tank mates and makes a good community fish, if her mates don't fit in her mouth. I feed her chopped fish. She loves it. The LFS where I bought her told me she would eat flake. She is to big to eat flake.

3.) They are fantastic escape artists. Mine has never gotten out of the tank (knock on wood), but she did jump out while I was cleaning. It took me a long time to catch her, because she was very slimy (helps them to survive draught conditions). If yours gets out, it may not be dead. Try to revive by putting in a container of tank water. But seal all holes to prevent this from happening.

Tanja

[rossce]

Hi Tanja,

Will mine be OK with Cichlids? I have another tropical tank but it contains Harlequins and guppies amongst others! prob a bad idea!! She is way smaller than the Cichlids bit it appears they are ok with a PH up to 8.2 I was just reading.
They are really impressive and do look nice. I have 2 of them in a 300 ltr tank. I wil have to see how they grow. I feed them algie wafers, cichild frozen mix and trpical flake. They sem to love algie wafers almost looking like they crunch them!!

[starsplitter7]

Will mine be OK with Cichlids? I have another tropical tank but it contains Harlequins and guppies amongst others! prob a bad idea!! She is way smaller than the Cichlids bit it appears they are ok with a PH up to 8.2 I was just reading.
They are really impressive and do look nice. I have 2 of them in a 300 ltr tank. I wil have to see how they grow. I feed them algie wafers, cichild frozen mix and trpical flake. They sem to love algie wafers almost looking like they crunch them!!

Hi there,

Unfortunately, I am a beginner. I have been keeping fish about 2 years, so I am not an expert. I do read a lot though. My bichir is the common Senegal Bichir. How big are your bichir? How big and what kind of cichlids do you have? Do you have a hidey hole for the bichirs? Mine sleeps in a floating log.

If your cichlids are big enough not to fit in the bichir's mouth, they are safe from the bichir. But depending on size and type of cichlid, is the bichir safe? I do not know, but I am sure someone with more experience will know.

I think bichirs come from Africa, mine does at least and I know the type of freshwater changes dramaticly with the lake types. I know some lakes where the African Cichlids come from are very basic. I think it can be the opposite with South American cichlids. I am assuming since you have really basic water, you have African Cichlids.

My bichir wouldn't touch algae wafers, but she likes shrimp pellets when she was young.

I lost 2 Harlequins, 3 danios and a number of tetras to the bichir, before I could work out which of my "flake" eating fish has switched to live fish during the night. So your fish are safe from the bichir if you keep the bichir with the ciclids. Someone else will need to let you know if the bichir is safe. Make sure you post size of fish and type of cichlids.

Sorry, I can't be of more help. Tanja.