Ornate Bichir

Ornate Bichir (Polypterus ornatipinnis)

The Ornate Bichir is a truly prehistoric-looking fish, prized for its bold black and yellow patterning and unique, eel-like body. With its striking coloration and distinctive, spiny dorsal finlets, the Ornate Bichir makes a dramatic centerpiece for large aquariums. A nocturnal and hardy species, it prefers subdued lighting, plenty of hiding spots, and a secure tank lid (as they are skilled escape artists!). While generally peaceful, they will eat smaller tankmates, so they are best kept with similarly sized or larger fish.

Need to Know:

• Recommended For: Large predator or semi-aggressive community tanks

• Minimum Tank Size: 300 litres

• Temperature Range: 24–28°C

• pH Range: 6.2–7.8

• Recommended School Size: Best kept singly or with robust tankmates

• Compatibility: Semi-aggressive; not suitable with small fish

• Max Size: 60 cm

Shipping Disclaimer:

All fish are shipped on Monday or Tuesday mornings via an overnight courier (Sometimes same day, location dependant). We use NZ Couriers for all livestock shipping, we find they handle your fish with the best possible care.

Special Requests:

If you have any requests for gender/colour etc we will do our best to accomodate them. Please note we can not always accomodate every request due to high stock turnover and what is available at the time. We move all fish sold online into seperate holding tanks while they wait to be shipped.

Rural Shipping:

Good news! If you are a rural customer, we can still ship fish to you. Fish will be shipped to your nearest agent and they will call you when they arrive. Please ensure you provide your mobile number when ordering.