Can a senegal bichir be really aggressive?

Question

I bought an opaline gourami today and put into my 55 gal tank. My tanks been running for about 2 years. I have 2 plecos, 1 bullshark, 2 senegal bichirs, 1 needle fish, and a couple of crabs. They all have plenty of room, but when I went to check on the newbie 2 hours later I found one of the bichirs eating him behind the house?! I don't know if the gourami died and then was eaten because they have eaten dead fish before, or if they purposely killed him. The gourami was at least 3 inches by 1.5 inch, and the 2 senegals are about 6 inches. Should I not try to add any gouramis, or look for bigger ones? I thought he would be too big for anyone to eat?

I know that they eat anything that will fit in their mouths. However they're not typically considered aggressive. I wanna know if anyone has kept them and knows how big a fish has to be to be "safe" from their big mouths? I've kept bichirs from the time my tank was set up, and I've never had a prob like this before.

Answer 1

I wouldn't add another gourami, i think it was really to small for them to be not eaten

here is a link with a compatibility chart for senegal bichirs
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1911&articleid=2634


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 2

The first thing my senegal bichir did after i aclamated it was it tried to kill a fish 5x its size. Everything in there should be bigger than it or reaaaaalyyy fast.

Answer 3

As with all Bichirs, they are semi-aggressive fish. They will swallow any fish or invertebrate that they can fit into their mouth as you described earlier. Be careful in choosing passive tank mates for the Bichir, as they are very passive towards other large fish. However, they are aggressive towards their own kind, and only one should be incorporated into an aquarium, unless the aquarium is very large.

Answer 4

If you consider eating any other animal that will fit in it's mouth to be aggressive then yes, they are.