Should I buy it?
Senegal bichir
Polypterus senegalus
Also known as: cuvier's bichir, dinosaur eel (misnomer; not a true eel), Cuvier's bichir, Dinosaur eel (misnomer; not a true eel)
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on multiple reputable aquarium care sources with strong agreement. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
A primitive armoured fish at 35 cm that breathes air and eats any fish that fits in its mouth. Peaceful with fish its own size or larger.
Best for
Large species-appropriate tanks 300L or more with fish all over 15 cm and sand substrate.
Avoid if
Community setups with medium or small fish, or any tank without a tight lid.
Top things that go wrong
- Grows large or needs a very big footprint. Senegal bichir is often sold at sizes that hide adult length (~35cm on file) and a published minimum near **300L**. Shop tanks are not adult housing.
- Mouth gap vs tiny tank mates. Predation risk toward smaller tank mates. The figure that matters is the adult mouth size against the adult prey length, not the juvenile sizes in the shop.
- Shrimp & snails. Shrimp: not safe. The fish will eat adult shrimp, shrimp fry, or both, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Common mistakeSenegal bichir with tetras or danios in a 'large community'. They swallow smaller fish overnight when the lights go out.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Predation risk scales with gape, night feeding, and crowding. 'they grew up together' is a schedule, not a law.
- 2.Kept in short tall cubes. The fish cannot turn or hold flow without banging its snout.
- 3.Housed with nano schoolers. A night hunt is inevitable once the bichir reaches adult size.
- 4.Bichirs are escape artists: a screen lid beats a loose hood. Match tank-mate size to a 30 cm adult, not an 8 cm juvenile, and re-check compatibility as they thicken.
About this species
Senegal bichirs are West African polypterids that breathe atmospheric air, hunt by smell after dark, and swallow any tank mate that fits the gape. Adults reach 30 to 40 cm and live for fifteen years or more. They need a long, lidded tank and meaty foods rather than flake.
- Ropefish / reed fish200L min · same fish family
- African freshwater butterflyfish150L min · same fish family
- Black ghost knifefish500L min · same fish family
- Golden Wonder Killifish80L min · same fish family
- American Flagfish60L min · same fish family
- Marbled Hatchetfish60L min · same fish family
- Pea Puffer40L min · same fish family
- Clown Killifish20L min · same fish family
- Angelfishalso intermediate semi-aggressive, similar tank size
- Banded leporinusalso intermediate semi-aggressive, similar tank size
- Electric Blue Acaraalso intermediate semi-aggressive, similar tank size
- Firemouth Cichlidalso intermediate semi-aggressive, similar tank size
- Opaline gouramialso intermediate semi-aggressive, similar tank size
- Rainbow / red-tailed black sharkalso intermediate semi-aggressive, similar tank size
No reverse lookups on file yet.
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease22
- Peacefulness12
- Community fit0
- Small-tank fit66
- Hardiness54
- Energy24
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
Avoid “one of everything” baskets — Senegal bichir belongs in a plan built around territory, line-of-sight breaks, and matched water chemistry.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Senegal bichir against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Senegal bichir + Bala / silver shark
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Senegal bichir is semi-aggressive: stable in a calm tank, pushy with weaker fish when stressed or crowded. Treats any fish small enough to fit in its mouth as food. Mouth size at adult length matters, not the prey's listed adult size. Holds territory on substrate, in caves, or at the surface film. Break the sight lines with hardscape to keep the resident off the visitor.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- Crowding and limited territory
- Similar-looking fish in the same tank
- Spawning, for any breeding pair
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper, but individuals can still test fins under stress or in a crowded tank.
Predation: Predation risk toward smaller tank mates. The figure that matters is the adult mouth size against the adult prey length, not the juvenile sizes in the shop.
Territory: Holds territory on substrate, in caves, or at the surface film. Break the line of sight with hardscape, and avoid placing the tank where the fish can see its own reflection.
Planted tanks: good — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Often calm on the glass — bursts of movement around food or tank disturbance.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Chasing one individual repeatedly, torn fins on tank mates, or food theft every feed.
- Corner guarding, flaring, or body-blocking — territory is normal until it becomes relentless.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
soft
Diet
carnivore
Small invertebrates, frozen bloodworm or daphnia, and protein-rich prepared foods. Rotate the menu and feed by appetite rather than by clock.
Shrimp & snails
Shrimp: not safe. The fish will eat adult shrimp, shrimp fry, or both, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Kept singly or as a paired setup. Check the species profile before doubling up in one tank.
Breeding behaviour depends on the species. Research before you buy a mixed-sex group of this fish.
- Hold 24 to 30 °C steadily on a real thermometer, not the dial on the heater.
- Aim for pH 6 to 7.5 and a hardness you can re-test in two weeks. A one-time strip in the shop car park is not a water test.
- Footprint: short wide tanks and tall narrow tanks fish differently for the same volume. Match the tank shape to the swim pattern, not just the litre count.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 300L published minimum for adults.
- Heater can hold 24–30°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
- No known fin-nippers paired with long-finned fish unless you accept documented risk.
- No tank mates small enough to fit the adult mouth gap for this species.
Explore and stocking hubs
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
Filtration & heating
A 300L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 1200L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 24–30°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Senegal bichir does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 24–30°C and pH 6–7.5:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: high · 2 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Polypterus senegalus (subspecies: senegalus)
Primary: aquarium size, water chemistry, behaviour, and compatibility for the Cuvier bichir complex; Seriously Fish slugs the subspecific form. Use as the vetted care profile even when retailers only print Polypterus senegalus.
- FishBase. Polypterus senegalus
Secondary: range-wide data and size for the complex; reconcile with the exact import's locality when biologists care more than a shop price tag does.
Evidence notes
- Seriously Fish's live URL is subspecies-suffixed (…senegalus-senegalus), not polypterus-senegalus, which makes automated link generation fail until you know that detail. The profile is the best vetted care sheet; FishBase is retained for size context without duplicating a wiki care article.
- All compatibility text reflects typical hobby experience and the Fishori model. Individual fish, shop stress, and the order tank mates are added in can still defy a single-paragraph label.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.