# Ornate bichir



## Woodysausage (Oct 9, 2010)

Hello

I'm after a bit of advice regarding feeding an ornate bichir for a college assignment and I'm hoping someone on here might be able to help.

I need to devise a feeding regime and was wondering, if you have one, what your feeding regime is. 

I have been doing some investigation myself and have found that they are carnivores (but I'm not really sure what you feed them), that they are noctural and they have very poor vision. With this information I'd be guessing you feed them in the evening and put the food somewhere they'd be likely to bump into it!

I'd be very grateful if anyone could help.

Many thanks

Jo


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2011)

I've not kept an Ornate Bichir (_Polypterus ornatipinnis_) in years, good memories.

Ornate Bichirs do indeed have very poor vision, given the murky environment in which they inhabit. As a result of this, these fish rely on other senses such as the lateral line system which works in a similar fashion to sonar; sending and receiving weak electrical impulses to navigate and locate food.

When I kept one, I fed mine once a day for five days each week. Ornate Bichirs relish baitfish, peeled shellfish, earthworms and of course staple pellet foods such as Hikari sinking carnivore pellets.


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