Black ghost knife question

[vanimal]

That's good to know lol... So a 125 so be fine

It will be fine for a few years but I think its the minimum for a BGK.

 

[SirCastic]

I have mine in a 120.

Do you have any other fish in there with your BGK?

 

[vanimal]

Could a crayfish live with a jack dempsey? i'm going to convert my 55 to a JD tank

Yeah it should work out. Just try not to get super tiny JD's.

 

[SirCastic]

You could easily fit a Peacock Eel in there. You should get one!

Instead of the BGK if i decide not to do it, could i get a fire eel or a peacock eel?

 

[vanimal]

Instead of the BGK if i decide not to do it, could i get a fire eel or a peacock eel?

Yes a Fire Eel can reach 30+ inches in captivity so that's a monster fish!! I have mine in a 150 and I would say that a 125 is the very minimum for them. A peacock eel usually reaches 12 inches but if properly cared for can reach 15. You could also get a Tire Track Eel and they also get huge like the Fire Eels. But keep in mind Eels can be VERY TOUGH and expensive to feed. My little Fire Eel will only eat live Ghost Shrimp. This can get kind of expensive. But some people get their Eels to eat frozen foods like blood worms, krill, etc and most Eels will take Earth and Black worms. Fire Eels are one of the most picky types of eels I believe Peacocks are a little better.

 

[SirCastic]

Yes a Fire Eel can reach 30+ inches in captivity so that's a monster fish!! I have mine in a 150 and I would say that a 125 is the very minimum for them. A peacock eel usually reaches 12 inches but if properly cared for can reach 15. You could also get a Tire Track Eel and they also get huge like the Fire Eels. But keep in mind Eels can be VERY TOUGH and expensive to feed. My little Fire Eel will only eat live Ghost Shrimp. This can get kind of expensive. But some people get their Eels to eat frozen foods like blood worms, krill, etc and most Eels will take Earth and Black worms. Fire Eels are one of the most picky types of eels I believe Peacocks are a little better.

Are the fire eels Community, i've seen on other forums (like the monster fish forums) that they have them in communities, but if you have one i'd like to hear it from you!

 

[vanimal]

Are the fire eels Community, i've seen on other forums (like the monster fish forums) that they have them in communities, but if you have one i'd like to hear it from you!

Yes for their size they have very small mouths. And like I said mine will only eat shrimp and I used to keep him with Guppies and they were fine together. They are like gentle giants and mine doesn't show any aggression towards any other fish. I will posts pics of him later but they need a soft gravel or sand substrate because they like to burrow and should have a cave, log, or driftwood to hide in or under. They are pretty sensitive fish so good filtration and 50%+ water changes weekly are needed.

 

[vanimal]

Ill post pics from my Ipad it has a better camera.

 

[SirCastic]

Yes for their size they have very small mouths. And like I said mine will only eat shrimp and I used to keep him with Guppies and they were fine together. They are like gentle giants and mine doesn't show any aggression towards any other fish. I will posts pics of him later but they need a soft gravel or sand substrate because they like to burrow and should have a cave, log, or driftwood to hide in or under. They are pretty sensitive fish so good filtration and 50%+ water changes weekly are needed.

Nice, my LFS sells the Fire eel for like 39.99 so i hope he loves me for what i need to pay. and on the filtration note i always at least triple filter on all my tanks, the 15, the 55 and the 40 i had that turned into a bearded dragon terrarium. and i know i want alot of plants in my tank so i'm going to do a split substrate kinda thing, 1/4 gravel or some plant friendly thing and the rest sand. i plan on making a wall of rocks (about 2 inches, sand on one side and gravel on the other) and putting about an inch of sand then on the other side completely gravel or some form of aquarium soil

*Edit* can i keep the cray with the Eel or should i keep him with the jack dempsey?

 

[vanimal]

iPad pictures is this better??? He likes that clay pot

 

[Cynic]

They are amazing pics Vanimal.

I hand feed my BGK, always goes in and out of my hand but you've got to be careful not to try and touch them due to being very fragile scaleless fish.

On topic they can be fish killers, any small fish like cories or neons won't last long. The point another poster made about being easy prey for crayfish also seems likely, BGK's like to lie still for a lot of the time and could easily be cray food.

 

[abstract373]

if you put a cray with any bottom dwellers theres high chances it will nip or eat it as for the jd sooner or later it will be a snack....eels are very cool fish i have a tiretrack eel that i also can hand feed and touch you can also look into rope fish they can get up to 36 inches in length i have 1 and feeds on live and frozen foods

 

[vanimal]

The most commonly available Eel is probably the Peacock Eel Petsmart usually carries them. Also a Bichir is Eel like but NOT a community fish once it gets larger.

 

[Mudfrog]

I have a BGK and Fire Eel together. I needed another non aggressive oddball for my community tank and the BGK fit the bill. Both will do fine in a community tank as long as the tank mates are not small enough to be eaten.

 

[SirCastic]

Yes for their size they have very small mouths. And like I said mine will only eat shrimp and I used to keep him with Guppies and they were fine together. They are like gentle giants and mine doesn't show any aggression towards any other fish. I will posts pics of him later but they need a soft gravel or sand substrate because they like to burrow and should have a cave, log, or driftwood to hide in or under. They are pretty sensitive fish so good filtration and 50%+ water changes weekly are needed.

What's the minimum tank size? Like could a fire eel fit in my new 125 along with the other fish I listed?

 

[SirCastic]

They are amazing pics Vanimal.

I hand feed my BGK, always goes in and out of my hand but you've got to be careful not to try and touch them due to being very fragile scaleless fish.

On topic they can be fish killers, any small fish like cories or neons won't last long. The point another poster made about being easy prey for crayfish also seems likely, BGK's like to lie still for a lot of the time and could easily be cray food.

My cray is surprisingly cool so far, my bushy nose Pleco likes to stay still for a long time near the cray and he never really does anything. The cray does seem to enjoy bloodworms a lot though

 

[vanimal]

What's the minimum tank size? Like could a fire eel fit in my new 125 along with the other fish I listed?

I would say 125 is the minimum.

 

[SirCastic]

I would say 125 is the minimum.

Can i fit the other tropicals in with him? and should the cray be with the JD or the Eel?

 

[vanimal]

Can i fit the other tropicals in with him? and should the cray be with the JD or the Eel?

The Cray is more likely to eat the the Eel than the JD so put the Crayfish with the JDs. Let me look at the list...

 

[vanimal]

It looks fine but the Shrimp are definitely going to get eaten...