My Bichir forced me to get a Second 55 gal tank

[TheFredPit]

well I'm very new to the hobby [about 7 weeks] and 2 weeks ago I got a 3.5" dinosaur bichir and have lost about 40 small fish oops. well I just got a 2nd 55 gal off craigslist to turn into a predatory tank and I am cycling it now.

I am trying to figure out what to stock it with that will survive the bichir. I was thinking of moving my 4" spotted hifin pleco, my 2x 4" common plecos, and my 2 peacock eels. But 3 fish don't make a tank. i was thinking of getting 1-2 ornate bichirs along with another dinosaur bichir. I was also thinking of getting another couple peacock eels[or other spiny eels if I can find them]. I would also like a striped raphael catfish, bango catfish, and a whiptail catfish and/or pleco.

If you can't tell I like the oddball fish. I'm trying to find other oddballs to stock this tank with but don't know as much as I like so would like some help finding others that would fit in. i do plan on breeding fancy plecos so was wanting to add a couple before I separate them into a breeding tank.

Also how do In move the fish between tanks without a bag?

[TheFredPit]

I also plan on getting some crayfish

[TheFredPit]

oh I want another black ghost knife[or 2] my 1st one only lasted a couple days. Also I think it would be cool to have several types of bichirs

[ScottishFish]

BGK's need large tanks like 100G+ as they can reach 14-16 inches

[TheFredPit]

I have a strong suspicion that I will be getting more and larger tanks so the BGK's future size isn't as big of a worry in fact I was looking at 100 Gal tanks when I got this one

[Northerly]

My advice on switching tanks with fish is use a bucket with tank water in it and use an air hose to create a small siphon from the new tank to the bucket to acclimate the fish using "the trickle method"

[TheFredPit]

I've already moved my bichir using a ziplock bag to float him. then 2 days later i got an albino bichir, 4 Giant River Prawns, and some guppy feeders. the next morning I come out to find my original bichir beheaded I was sooooooo pissed. This weekend I'm going to try and trade the prawns towards an ornate bichir

[-Alex-]

What type of Bichir is it...? senegalus only get around 7-12" while Ornates can get 20"+

[TheFredPit]

it is an albino senegalus which "can" max out at 20" but generally only get 12"-15" in an aquarium where as the ornate "can" grow to 24" but usually only get 16"-20" I also just found out my LFS is getting in an endlicheri which I want to pick up when I get the ornate

[Demjor19]

I've had my Ornate for years and he seems to have stopped growing around 16"-17". Also had an Endli for quite a few years...He stopped growing around the same size. Not sure if this helps any...