Black Ghost Knife Fish

[miketosh]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could help. I have a 75gal live plant aquarium with driftwood. I have a Ghost Fish and was wondering if anyone has one and what fish they have with it. I know that small fish like tetras would be potential food and aggressive fish are not the best companions. Some of the fish I was looking to get are a puffer, discus, bala sharks, boesmans rainbows, and angelfish. Before I spend the money (mostly the discus) I wanted to see if anyone has a tank with them in it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

-Mike

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I can't be of help to you on this one miketosh, but I just saw one in a magazine and thought that they were absolutely gorgeous fish. Post pics if you have some. I've never seen one up close before.

This is a passage taken from www.liveaquaria.com on the subject:

It does well with other, larger species of a peaceful nature, but may be aggressive towards those of similar or smaller size.

 

[unicorn2tears]

I wouldn't do the black ghost knife with a puffer. Puffers can be aggresive and generally prefer brackish water. I have one with angels and so far they get along fine. I'm not sure about the other combinations.

To fishyfanatic, I'll see if I can get some pics of mine in the next few days and post it.

 

[miketosh]

Thanks for the replies. I will get you some pictures in a few days. Other than his looks, his behavior is awesome, swimming forwards and backwards, gliding, sleeping on his side during the day. And best of all feeding time (how he loves, krill).

So you have no issues with Angelfish and the ghost fish? What size are your angels?

 

[Toker95]

I just found a group of black ghost knife's at a LFS and fell in love. Unfortunately my current tank is quite full, and my new 72gl is not yet cycled (hope to start this weekend).

I'm dying to get one though, but am curious how it will handle my platy's. I think my angels, sharks and danio's should be able to hold their own, but the platy's not being larger than 2 inches when fully grown might be a plump target... any thoughts?

I read recently that some people get an aggressive knife, others have been very peaceful and calm so long as they are properly fed. of which, i've read where some knife's won't eat anything but premium treats, and others were 'trained' to eat flake food and do just fine.

And lastly, what about snails? My angels keep the snail baby population down, but would the knife go after larger snails with his larger mouth?

 

[Guest]

I had one for a while and they are kind of boring fish. They hide out a lot, and when they are out they move around like they are blind and don't really interact with anything. Definatly a fish that looks cooler that it behaves (as opposed to ADFs and corys that behave way better than they look)

 

[Toirtis]

Discus, rainbows and angels would all be fine....balas would be fine if you had a larger tank (they get to 12"-14", and the knife can hit 24" itself). You don't want anything small enough to the knife to eat, or that will be aggressive or will harass the knife. Other things you might consider would be mature congo tetras, severums and Brochis or pictus cats for the bottom.

 

[travis simonson]

IME, Black Ghost Knives (Knifes?) are usually fairly passive. They are not quite blind and use electrical impulses to sense nearby objects. They like to hide but you can take advantage of their essential blindness by placing a clear plexiglass tube in the aquarium. The knife will hide inside of it, not knowing that it is clear. He'll feel comfortable with the walls around him and you'll be able to see him

 

[RoK]

1 bala shark would be fine IMO.

 

[Guest]

IME, Black Ghost Knives (Knifes?) are usually fairly passive. They are not quite blind and use electrical impulses to sense nearby objects. They like to hide but you can take advantage of their essential blindness by placing a clear plexiglass tube in the aquarium. The knife will hide inside of it, not knowing that it is clear. He'll feel comfortable with the walls around him and you'll be able to see him

Yeah, I've seen this done a lot, but it makes your tank kind of look unnatural and ugly to have some hamster tube lying in the middle of the tank. Clown Knives are much more interesting to watch, but really all knives like to hide.

 

[Guest]

... and the knife can hit 24" itself).

Have you ever seen one that big Toirtis? The reason I ask is that I had one for a year and it never got over about 7".

 

[Toirtis]

... and the knife can hit 24" itself).

Have you ever seen one that big Toirtis? The reason I ask is that I had one for a year and it never got over about 7".

Only 2, but I have seen a good 50 or so that reached 20", and had, before I sold them, a pair that hit 18" in just 24 months.

 

[Guest]

... and the knife can hit 24" itself).

Have you ever seen one that big Toirtis? The reason I ask is that I had one for a year and it never got over about 7".

Only 2, but I have seen a good 50 or so that reached 20", and had, before I sold them, a pair that hit 18" in just 24 months.

Wow, a 20" black knife must be an impressive sight to see.

 

[Rxblade123]

The last time I kept a black ghost knife, my angels harassed it to death . Probably because it was too small to fend itself. It was only 3 inches.

 

[Toker95]

The last time I kept a black ghost knife, my angels harassed it to death . Probably because it was too small to fend itself. It was only 3 inches.

In relation to your BGK, how big were your angels? Mine are roughly 2.5"-3" in length themselves.... any thoughts on whether they'd be ok?

I recently found a 3-4" BGK in a LFS and am trying to research how well he'll fit in...