Albino Bichir (Polypterus Senegalus)

This prehistoric looking fish is distributed throughout much of tropical Africa such as Burkina Faso, central African republic, Ethiopia, Chad and Kenya.

It inhabits lagoons, marshes and swamps that are heavily covered with dense vegetation, where they spend most of the day hidden amongst rocks and sheltered spots and come out at night to hunt for crustaceans, frogs, other smaller fish other prey.

They grow to a fair size - up to 40 cm (15.8”) and require a big tank - around 6ft per fish with good strong filtration to ensure good water quality but not so strong that the fish struggle in the current.

Despite their predatory appearance, they have quite poor eye sight and rely on an excellent sense of smell to locate prey. often sifting through the substrate to find them.

We suggest a soft sand bed in the aquarium with other soft rounded stones to form caves and hiding places so the fish do not damage there bodies.

They have modified swim bladders which they use to breathe air from the surface. Because of this they are able to survive out of water for a period of time.

They do need easy access to the water surface to breathe.

We suggest a lower water level in the aquarium to give plenty space above the tank water.

They are skilled escape artists and can squeeze out of any tiny gaps in lid, so make sure it is well sealed.

Care

• Size: up-to 40 cm (15.8”)

• Temperature: 24-28℃

• pH: 6.0-8.0

• dH: up-to 25 degrees

• Diet: Carnivorous and readily accept a wide range of fresh and frozen foods such as bloodworm, earthworms, frozen fish , frozen mussel, They will take sinking carnivore pellets, but often prefer the frozen and live foods

• Community: not recommended due to size and possible aggression

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Breeding

These fish have been spawned in aquariums but it can be very hit and miss due to the large size of aquarium needed .

We suggest attempts to breed them should be left to only the most experienced aquarists.

During breeding, both fish swim parallel to each other and the male will jerk his head towards the female signalling he is ready to breed.

If successful, the female will stop swimming if she is ready to spawn and the male will wrap his anal fin around the female where they will remain motionless until the female begins depositing her eggs on the males cupped tail.

The male then swings his tail to deposit the eggs and sperm into the vegetation where they stick.

The female can release between 200-450 eggs per spawn and both parents share no responsibility in raising the fry once the fry hatch usually 3-4 days later.

Fry remain stuck to the vegetation until they have consumed the rest of their yolk sac, becoming free-swimmers at this stage.

By then, they are big enough to accept live baby brine shrimp (BBS) and should be fed frequently to avoid aggression.