black ghost knifefish?

[SeymourFRESH]

hey do you guys suppose it'd be a good idea to get a young south american black ghost knifefish for a 92 gal aquarium with the following fish in it:

4 blue rams
20 cardinal tetras
5 peppered cory cats
6 otos

 

[mr funktastic]

the only problem with getting this fish is its diet. it will usually only eat live or frozen foods and only feeds when it is dark in the tank. alos once it gets a little larger it will eat your other fish or atleast try to. i hand trained mine so whenever i put my hand in the water it would some strait to my hand eand eat. it was spoiled lol. i know a person who has a similiar set up with a variety of community fish and about 4 black ghost knives in there, they are still very small but they seem to be doing fine.

 

[Sebastian83]

I just got a ghost knifefish this weekend. He doesnt comeout much and justs hangs out with my clown loaches inside a large castle. Only problem I see is that they tend to eat small fish i.e. your cardinal tetras.

 

[Japola44]

a 92 gal would be great for a bgk. I had one and i loved it. It never showed any signs of agression, and mine even seemed to enjoy coming out during the day.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

yeah i was thinking it would eat my cardinals and i knew it would get huge (which is what i don't want). they're just so cool looking though lol

i figured if i got a baby one and it grew up with my cardinals it would be cool, but probably too risky in the long run.

 

[kaz]

they are sensitive to light also

 

[Kilgore]

My black ghost knife came out during the day all the time - they are sensitive to light but they are also very sensitive to vibrations and smell and they will know when you have introduced something tasty to the tank. Mine ate a variety of foods, but was particularly fond of live foods - I used to hand feed him live bloodworms and was able to pet him while doing this. Not recommended generally but he seemed not to mind - the sensation was like liquid silk, really cool.

They grow to about 20" but your tank is more than enough to hold one (assuming you don't have any other very large, aggressive fish). They will eat smaller fish opportunistically but are not really that aggressive except to conspecifics (i.e. other ghost knives), so only keep one per tank. If they are actively hunting small fish in your tank they are probably starving.

Finally, many people will tell you to add a tube to the tank for them - do not waste money on the "ghost knife house," an old gravel vac tube works just fine. Mine actually preferred to live in driftwood because it was darker... you could try coating the tube in aquarium-safe sealant and then covering it with gravel. That way it blends in and he has a safe house.