Elephant nose fish

[izzycomosy]

hi when my tank has finished it's cycle I would luv to get some Elephant nose fish ..does anyone know anything about them ?or does anyone own one I should luv to here from you regarding this amazing fish.
I have read a lot about the intelligence of this fish and the way it likes to play...if you have one please let me know......thanks in advance

[Blazeherd2306]

They reach a max size of about 14" long, and I would not put them in anything under 75 gallons [acronym:515f4e5fca="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:515f4e5fca]. They feed and are more active at night and they use their long snouts for searching for food in the substrate (substrate should be sand).

[acronym:515f4e5fca="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:515f4e5fca]

[acronym:515f4e5fca="By the way"]btw[/acronym:515f4e5fca]- your 29 gallon is extremely overcrowded.

[izzycomosy]

Hi, Thanks for the reply to my query,which at the moment is only a query,
I have 3 tanks but the 108 gallon is the biggest it is 5 ft long and is a bowed fronted tank and is extremely wide,I have a 29 gallon tank and I have just purchased another 29 gallon tank today which I am going to fishless cycle, so I have plenty of room to put all of the small fish when I have finished cycling,do you have a elephant nose fish? I was just after some info on them before I decide to buy one or two of these fish.

[LydiaGreen]

Don't buy two. You can have just one or more than two, but not just two... they won't get along with just two. No, I haven't had one... yet. I have done a lot of research on them and gotten some advice from people who have had them. I will be getting three for my 44 in a few months (that's all that will be in there, just the 3 elephant noses). They like tall, wide tanks and sand substrate as someone else mentioned. Having a secure top with [acronym:82d107c2f5="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:82d107c2f5] gaps is important because they will wiggle out and through the smallest spaces next to HOBS, heaters, etc. Getting to 14" is not the norm - pulled from one website on them....

Size and Life Span. Elephant Noses can grow to be 14" long, but they rarely grow bigger than 9" in an aquarium. They can live for 6 to 10 years, and sometimes longer.



They also need their own areas for territory (caves, plants, etc). Really neat fish.... can't wait to get mine. I have been told my 44 would be perfect for them... it's one of those corner ones that is really a tall square with a bowfront put on the one corner.

My only local fish source had told me that they only breed two weeks out of the year and that they were just too hard to get for that reason. But, I found a reliable source who says that they are readily available (it's just a 4 and a half hour drive for me to pick them up). I guess the availablity depends on who you talk to.

Hope that helps you a little.

[flamingonhot]

all i really remember is that they get about 10 inches, are moryimids, use electric currents to find theyre food, and are kinda harrd to keep unless you know theyre feeding habits. i would say one would be perfect in at least a 70. you could try a 40 like lydiagreen is but ive read that they really like wide open spaces.

some will hide all of the time, come out only at feeding time, or will constantly be patroling your tank and protecting its territory.

[BrianNY]

Much like the clown loach growth is very slow. [acronym:4c33b8c40e="Just My Opinion"]JMO[/acronym:4c33b8c40e] but I wouldn't be as concerned as much with the tank size as I would with plenty of hiding spaces. They are best kept in small groups.

[Toirtis]

So far what has been said is correct...they should be kept in matured systems, and are big on eating worms (particularly live blackworms)....they prefer dimmed lighting and do best in a dedicated species tank.

[izzycomosy]

I thank you all for the information on the elephant nose fish I have to sort out my tanks at the moment I have a 29 gallon tank with 1 pleco and one large catfish redtailed shark fish and 10 neons,Then I had a Juwel 108 gallon tank and then added some more small fish and 2 kissing fish to my 29 gallon tank ,my large tank is now recycled and I tranfered some of the fish over to the big tank,and all the fish are doing very well, I still have some of the neons and tetre's catfish and 1 small pleco still in the 29 gallon tank,I have just purchased another 29 gallon and will have to wait for that to cycle then I dont know wether to move all my small fish into the two 29 gallon tanks and keep the big tank for larger fish like the elephant nose,I am not sure yet but would like to thank you all for your responses regarding my query,
And yes I agree with Lydia dogs are pets too and I have 2 cocker spanials 1 Gold female called honey and 1 black female called ebby