Barred Bichir

With dark vertical bars on its back and olive-gray, armor-like scales, the barred bichir is one of the most patterned and most popular bichirs. It has a row of finlets resembling small sails along its back, thick pectoral fins and tubular nostrils.

Like other bichirs it breathes air; it comes up to the surface to take a breath. It grows larger than the Senegal bichir (35–40 cm) and is a more active hunter at night. Its care is similar to that of the Senegal bichir, but it needs a larger aquarium.

It lives along slow-flowing, vegetated riverbanks and in floodplains of the Congo basin; during the day it rests among plants and roots. These waters are warm and oxygen levels sometimes drop very low; the bichirs' ability to breathe air is an adaptation to these conditions.

Its eyesight is poor; it finds its prey largely by smell through the tubular nostrils at the tip of its snout. For this reason it may take a little while to locate food in the aquarium.

• Volume: at least 400 liters for an adult; a 150 × 60 cm footprint.
• Lid: a tight lid and sealed gaps for hoses; an air gap between the water surface and the lid.
• Decor: sand substrate, roots, large pipes and hollows. Dim corners.
• Water: clean and well-oxygenated; 25–30% water change weekly.

Carnivorous. Sinking pellets, shrimp, mussels, fish fillet, worms and bloodworms. Feed in the evening; it finds food by smell. Juveniles can be fed once a day, adults every other day. Do not accustom it to live feeder fish; they carry disease and cause it to refuse frozen foods.

Calm during the day, active at night. It hunts fish and shrimp that fit in its mouth. It is peaceful with fish larger than itself.

Good companions: medium to large, calm species: large tetras, gouramis, angelfish, arowanas, large plecos, other bichirs.

Avoid: small fish, shrimp, aggressive cichlids that harass bichirs.

It can be kept alone; with enough floor space, several bichirs can live together.

It rarely breeds in the aquarium. Breeding is as in other bichirs: the male gathers the eggs with his anal fin and scatters them among plants; there is no parental care.

• Escape: getting out through gaps in the lid and drying out is the most common loss.
• Skin wounds: from sharp decor and coarse gravel.
• Water quality: it is hardy, but its appetite drops when nitrate is high.

Males have a thicker, broader anal fin.