question about feeding a BGK

[discusdoodie]

i recently bought a black ghost knife fish that i was told to be a pretty peaceful and timid fish. he is in a tank with 4 discus 1 pleco, 2 small ruby and white tipped sharks, and a few smaller fish. all of the fish are doing great but i am a bit confused on how i should feed the BGK. he seems to go nuts for frozen blood worms, and i am pleased qwith this because everything in my tank eats them. but i can figure out where or how i should feed him?? my discus are gettin 2 cubes a day. broken in half and fed 4 times a day. then i feed a half cube and shut off the light in hopes that the bgk will find it. will he?? i dont want him to get hungry and take out my showcase fish. any advice would be appreciated on where to place the food, or what to use to do so. thanks in advance

 

[Terry]

I am not an expert on Black Ghost Knife Fish, but what i do know about them is they grow to about 16"+. they like well planted tanks and it takes them a bit of time to get accustomed to there surroundings. They are a bit of a skittish fish and can be easily frightened, as far as i know they will take most foods but they do prefer live or frozen. i also know that they us a small electrical pulse from an organ in there body to navigate and to find food.

Sorry i can't be of more help, but i have never owned one.

 

[Hara]

I have had my BGK for three years. He is over 14 inches long now. All his life, I have fed him bloodworms and beefheart. I run the beefheart through a food processor and chop it up finely. I also have discus and angels and a few other assorted fish in with him and ALL of them like the beefheart as well. I feed only
at night. What I do, is put the food in the tank, wait 5 minutes then shut the lights off, this way he will come out and eat without being annoyed by the light.

hth

 

[discusdoodie]

you say you put the food in the tank... do you just drop it in? when i put in the blood worms they scatter all over the tank, and i am afraid it wont find them. do you use a feeder? also today he started coming out with the light on and it looks like he is looking for food... i feed my discus 3-4 times a day in small bits, should i wait till i feed them again? or should i put food in when he is looking for it? thanks in advance

 

[Hara]

they have an excellent sense of smell and can locate the food as long as there is some left for them to locate...I did hand feed my guy when he was a baby though.

Does he come out each time you feed the discus? Or does he just come out during the evening feedings? Also, does he have a tube? you could place some in the entrance of the tube, using a turkey baster, and it will stay in his area for him to find.

 

[discusdoodie]

today is the first time he has come out during the day. but so far two times today he has come out when i fed the discus. i think this is a good sign. i will try the turkey baster idea. thank you very much i appreciate it.

also how do i use a cone feeder? can it be used with frozen blood worms? will the BGK eat from that?

 

[Hara]

I honestly couldnt tell you about the feeder...never used it.

 

[LondonGman]

I use a cone feeder for feeding frozen blood worm (or whatever they are) to my fishes. It is like a fine sieve and you put the frozen cube of food in it. The food defrosts and sinks to the bottom of the cone feeder where the fishes suck the worms through the holes.

The big advantage of it is that the frozen food does not sink to the bottom of the tank and between the gravel. the cone feeder is held in place in a plastic ring held by a sucker thingy to the inside of the glass tank. This is ok for small fishes but I do not know how it would fare with your larger fishes. Give it a go for the experience.

 

[discusdoodie]

thank you. i truely appreciate all of your help.