Black Ghost Knife

[physicsdude]

Hi all- I just bought a Black Ghost Knife for my tank, and I am just curious if there is anything in particular I should do when feeding it. I know that one should dim the lights and such, but does anyone recommend any types of food for them, besides the feeders and tetras. Thanks

 

[tracygh]

We only feed ours frozen worms, mind you he was a baby when we got him and is only about 3" or 4" long.
How big is yours?

 

[Hara]

Mine is well over a foot long, I have had it since it was 3 inches long. He was raised on ground beefheart (very inexpensive), mysis and brine shrimp. He has been known to eat shrimp pellets off the substrate on occasion. I would advise you to not feed any live feeder fish. Mine has never gone after any small fish and I feel a large part of the reason is a) he is never allowed to get very hungry and b) he does not see them as a food source anymore.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[mr funktastic]

i always fed mine frozen blood worms. mine was spoiled though he ate out of my hand lol the second i opened the tank lid he came out and he would rip the blood worms while they were still frozen from me fingers. he nipped me a few times to becasue he thought my fingers were food lol. i had him till he was about 6 inches then returnded him to the store. it killed me to return him but i didnt think the tank was big enough and i couldnt afford a bigger one at the time.

 

[physicsdude]

Hi guys- thanks so much for giving me your advice on this. Yes, right now he's about 4" long. He is very active at night too, which is really cool. Ummm, I ran across a way online to teach a knife to come out and eat from the palm of your hand whenever you put it in water. I'm going to try to do that.
Also, the knife is in a tank with a blue crayfish of similar size. The knife made it thru the first night, but long term would it be wise to keep the lobster in the tank, with his sturdy pincers always looking for a victim? I'm sure I would have to remove the cray when the knife gets big, but for now, they seem to get along OK... As always, I appreciate the feedback and advice on this new fish.
Thanks!

 

[Japola44]

in my own opinon i would move the crayfish to his own 5 gal tank. I had a cray for about 5 days and he was not shy about going after my bichir and trying to nip at him. I suppose my bichir got his revenge; the day i had the 5 gal ready to move the cray fish in my bichir got to him first...o well. Back to the point, BGK are very passive fish. I would make sure that your cray doesnt end up nipping him. My bichir took a chunk out of my BGK's tail. It healed, but obviously they arent very quick to respond to an attack. Plus, they are blind so its hard for them to see whos coming or where they are going. They just feel there way around.

What size tank are you keeping yours in?

 

[physicsdude]

I agree- I will move the cray top a ten gallon tank I have set-up. Right now, the cray is in a 20 gallon tank, which is OK for now. I plan on buying a tank that's 3' long in the next 2 months, so that should give it plenty of space. Also, I feed mine about once a day when the lights go out. I drop the food usually pretty close to him, so he can find it. Is this necessary, or will the animal find it on his own? Thanks for all the help