Black Ghost Knifefish

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bettacove

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
May 3, 2003
Messages
379
Location
Ontario Canada
Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone could tell me a little more about these fish. I think they are so cute and would love to get one!
It would go in my 70gal (for now), and what would be the ideal set up for it? I know that they get pretty big, like 20" or something, but just how fast do they grow?

thanks!
ashley
 
Keep it alone!! I had a brown knife once and it killed 7 of my fish! :cry: Give it lots of hiding places. Feed live and frozen foods at night.
 
Browns and Blacks are different tho, no?


I've heard Black Ghosts are very placid easy going creatures..
 
Black ghosts are not like brown knives. They are much more easy-going and do best will large peaceful tankmates. Severums come to mind. Max size is around 18-20", but 14-16" is common.
 
Really? hmm........ Dumb petsmart people said brown knives were docile, I believed them and lost half my tank. I thought all knives were the same. Clown knives look neat. Are those mean like brown knives?
 
so how long do you think I could keep one in a 70gal before I'd have to upgrade? The ones at the LFS are only a few inches


ashley
 
When I worked at the lfs we kept black knifes with ghost catfish, bumblebee catfish, and another type of fish I forgot the name of. The knifes were pretty expensive and didn't get sold very often, so they went through LOTS of tankmates. But never showed any aggression to the other types of fish....
 
clown knives will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. they aren't necessarily aggressive, but they will try and eat any and everything they can
 
I have had my BGK for over 4 years, it is 18 inches long and very docile. It is in a large community tank. It had rosy and golden barbs, plus german rams as its smallest tankmates. They died of old age, not due to the BGK. Mine was in a 55 gallon for 2 years. Keep in mind that due to their sonar, they need to be housed singly.
 
Yeah they are electric fish. They use it the same way that dolphins use echo location so to put more than one BGK or any other electric fish such as elephantnoses would screw up their sensory. They can become a little territorial if they are housed with a lot of other fish. They are cool looking fish but a lot of times won't do much until the lights go out. So you might want to get a red lamp to see them feed or to just watch them.

PS being electric they can give you a little zap but it doesn't really hurt just scares the hell outta ya!
 
Yeah they are electric fish. They use it the same way that dolphins use echo location so to put more than one BGK or any other electric fish such as elephantnoses would screw up their sensory. They can become a little territorial if they are housed with a lot of other fish. They are cool looking fish but a lot of times won't do much until the lights go out. So you might want to get a red lamp to see them feed or to just watch them.

PS being electric they can give you a little zap but it doesn't really hurt just scares the hell outta ya!
 
yeah. theres this cool thing i saw at the lfs and online. they use the echo location and theres this clear pvc tube with lil stands. you can see it but it feels secure.
 
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