black ghost knife in a 20gal....oops :(

[ilovemydragongoby]

we saw a black ghost knife at my lfs, had to have it. he said they would only grow to about 10 inches...later did i learn not so much. on one site i saw they grow to about 20inces.

does anyone know anything about this amazing fish? maybe some advice would be helpful. we already had a size problem with my dragon goby, that problem has been solved with an 80 gal tho. but i dont think BGKs are brackish. i guess i'm buying a bigger tank down the road...again!

 

[HUKIT]

The BGK is not a brackish water fish but he will need at least a 6ft tank when when he reaches adult size up to 20in.

Companions should be semi-agressive but large enough not to be food.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

okay right now he's about 5-6 inches long, hes in my 20 gal with 6 cherry barbs and 6 juvinile mollies and 3 otos. he has left them alone so far. he likes to hide in the sunken ship i have in there. how long do you think i have before i need a bigger tank?

 

[logansmomma1228]

Aw! I love BGKs as well. i wanted one for my 29 gal, but I did the research and found out no luck. :/ Looks like you'll have to hunt CL for another tank!

 

[HUKIT]

I had one years ago and growth rate was around a estimated half an inch per month.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

so would you say i should get a new tank when hes about 10-12 inches?

 

[logansmomma1228]

If I were you I would start looking for one ASAP. So that way you can get it cycled and get him established.

You do have a little time though

 

[taylorodw]

A 20gal "long" is 13" wide so IMO you really should move him when he gets 7" as he will be more than half of the tank width at that point.

However, because you are stretching thing out here I think you could wait until 8".

If it's a 20gal "high" the same advice applies.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

i believe the tank is 24" x 12" x 17". so we are looking for another tank...but it might not be for a couple months, not sure what we're going to due with this fish

 

[dkpate]

I had one and he grew from 4 to 8 inches in about 4 months. Even though he was smaller, he was all over the place in the 75G. They are amazingly fast swimmers!
I would get a bigger tank asap.

What are you feeding him?

 

[happygirl65]

I had one in a 90 gallon...got 18inches before it leaped out to it's death one day...If I ever get one again it will be a tank that is at least 6 ft in length...sadly...my guess is it just needed to move more than it could. Beautiful creature though. And SO much fun to watch. It did dig up plants though as it got bigger and would pick on my other fish at night (large angelfish). Still....I loved that suicidal little guy.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

well because he's in the tank with barbs, mollies and ottos. he's getting a variety of food. he really likes blood worms and brine shrimp (both frozen) we also put tropical flakes in there cause the barbs like them, so does he apparently. oh and tubifex worms too. he's got quite the appetite, but hasn't bugged any of the other fish

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

would you say that i'd be safe to go with a 60 gal for now, i found a really good deal on one

 

[JustOneMore20]

A 60g is better than the 20g, but a wider tank would be better IMO. You'll have to upgrade again in the future, so if you can, look around for a 75g. I agree that they are best kept in a 6ft tank when full grown. A 75g would be able to house it for awhile though.

 

[Aquarium1]

A 60g is better than the 20g, but a wider tank would be better IMO. You'll have to upgrade again in the future, so if you can, look around for a 75g. I agree that they are best kept in a 6ft tank when full grown. A 75g would be able to house it for awhile though.

+1

 

[Crepe]

Or call up your local glass company and build your self a 3'x3'x2' aquarium. Don't that sound AWESOME? (too bad I'm not taking up any more projects until I get the funds for my nano reef)

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

yes that does sound awesome! we were looking into building our own tank and the size of tank we wanted to build was going to be between 600-700 dollars, so we scratched that idea for now.

 

[mgamer20o0]

these are amazing fish. the soon you get it into a larger tank the better. you dont want to stunt it from leaving it in a small tank like so many do. i wouldnt put one in anything under a 180. that gives you the swimming space and the space needed to turn.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

hmmm the only problem is, i live in an apartment the biggest i can go with is probably 100gal. the stand my 20gal is 40" x 19" so we're trying to work with that, but i can't build it more than 2 feet tall, its the only spot i can put the tank and the breaker box for my apartment is in the middle of dining room (i hate it)