Short Fin Bichir Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

The Short Fin Bichir is an ancient-looking freshwater predator with a long, muscular body, a flattened head and a row of separate dorsal finlets along its back. Its brown, olive or grey-brown colouring helps it blend into shadowed river margins, while the irregular patterning and robust scales give it a distinctly prehistoric appearance.

Polypterus palmas is primarily nocturnal and relies heavily on its excellent sense of smell to locate prey. It is generally deliberate and secretive during the day, becoming more active after dark when it explores the bottom and investigates anything that may be edible.

Like other bichirs, it can breathe atmospheric air using paired lungs and must be able to reach the water surface. This adaptation allows it to survive in warm, sluggish or seasonally deoxygenated waters, although it remains a fully aquatic fish and is an accomplished underwater hunter.

The species is a sit-and-search predator rather than a fast open-water swimmer. Its pectoral fins help it manoeuvre over the substrate, and its eel-like body allows it to push through dense vegetation, leaf litter and submerged roots in the quiet habitats it naturally favours.

Short Fin Bichirs are native to coastal and inland freshwater habitats of West Africa, with populations recorded across countries including Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. They inhabit slow-moving rivers, floodplain pools, swamps and heavily vegetated backwaters.

A single adult Short Fin Bichir should have an aquarium of at least 300 litres, with a footprint around 150 by 50 cm; a longer and wider aquarium is preferable as the fish grows. Use a secure, completely sealed lid because bichirs are powerful escape artists and regularly surface to breathe. Provide open floor space with smooth sand or fine, rounded gravel, along with driftwood, rocks, caves and hardy plants that create shaded retreats. Gentle to moderate circulation, good filtration and open access to the surface are important, while all decorations must be stable and free from sharp edges.

Short Fin Bichirs can reach about 35 cm (14 inches) in total length. Females are generally larger and heavier-bodied than males; males usually remain slightly smaller and more slender.

This carnivorous species thrives on meaty foods such as earthworms, prawns, mussel, chopped fish, insect larvae and high-quality sinking carnivore pellets. Offer appropriately sized portions after the aquarium lights dim, since Short Fin Bichirs are most active at night. Variety is important, and live feeder fish should be avoided where possible because of disease and nutritional risks.

Short Fin Bichirs can be kept with peaceful, robust fish that are too large to fit into their mouths, including suitably sized larger barbs, peaceful cichlids, silver dollars, larger gouramis and sturdy catfish. They may eat small fish, shrimp and other bite-sized tankmates, especially at night, and should not be housed with aggressive fin-nippers or highly territorial species. Avoid very small community fish, delicate long-finned fish and any tankmate that could harass or outcompete this slow-feeding predator.

Short Fin Bichirs are rarely bred in home aquariums, but spawning can be encouraged by conditioning a mature pair with meaty foods and simulating seasonal changes through a modest drop in temperature followed by warmer, softer, well-oxygenated water. The pair scatter adhesive eggs among fine-leaved plants or spawning mops, with the male receiving and fertilising the eggs using his broad anal and caudal fins. Remove the adults after spawning, as the eggs and fry may be eaten. The larvae hatch with prominent external gills and require very small live foods before progressing to larger foods.

Females are typically larger, broader and deeper-bodied than males. Mature males have a noticeably broader, thicker anal fin, which is used to receive and fertilise eggs during spawning, while the female’s anal fin is smaller and more typical in shape.