Id fish for me

I would like and ID of this fish i bought yesterday. The owner of our lfs wasnt in and there was a young boy filling in and he wasnt sure what it was. there was no Id on the tanks they were in. I enjoy watching him in my tank. he is very peaceful and just minds his own business. When he see's me come to the tank he will come to the top as if he wants fed. I just would like to know what there name is and any info. you might have on them. Thanks!

last 1.

Looks like a knife fish amityv...

It'll probably eat anything that'll fit in its mouth

I'll have looksi

amityv,

It is a clown knife also called a spotted knife. Latin name - Notopterus Chitala.

Hope you have a large tank!! They grow to a size of 3 feet!!! They prefer subdued lighting and to be kept in pairs.

Temp wise 76 - 80 degrees will suffice. They will accept standard aquarium foods such as pellets and flake (when small)

They are a peaceful fish given their size, but cannot be kept (at any size) with any fish that will fit in it's mouth as it may very well end up being a snack.

CM

They all grow pretty big, and theres a few different species out there..

Bit of info on them here clown knifefish or here knifefish

I think some members have kept them???

royal knife is what they call'em here,i believe they are the biggest knife available.i have bought a few not knowing their potential size but i found they are great fish to keep(if ya got the room)they'r not hyper agressive and not very demanding once you get them to accept dry foods(ime was a problem).
have you seen it's eyes glow(reflect light) in the dark it's kinda scary.


they are at the top of my "to buy"list when i get a house,i really like these fish.

Thanks for the info. i appreciate it. He's in my 55 gallon tank. The smallest fish i have are my 2 bottom feeders. He seems so peaceful. He hangs out behind a cave i have in the tank, with my 2 angel fish.Usually at night time i sneak in to check on my fish and all 3 are behind there togther.Actually you can see 1 of my angels behind him in the 1st pic i posted. He doesnt seem to bother anything, YET! I will have to keep my eye on the little booger around my fantails and Moores. They are rather large in size but as he grows,lord only knows what damage he will do. I do have a 75 gallon tank that was given to me,so if all else fails i will set that up. If i have any fish left lol His eyes do glow. Kinda spooky. The kid only charged me $3.00 for him since he didnt know the price or what he was.

3 bucks for a clown knife those thing are like 20$
you lucky dog

LOL mostanks ! Hey, if he starts chowing down on my fish,i'll ship him your way lol He still is doing very well. He seems to like tropical slow sinking crumbles fish food and tubifex worms believe it or not, and not any flake. Hope he stays satisfied on that and doesnt munch any of my fish hehe.
I keep my eye on him though.

glad to here he's doing well

i see you said you have him in a 55g,i was just wondering if you plannned to upgrade(to a bigger tank) coz i recently posted a question on my black ghost knife(bgk)the question was..why did he stop growing at 7 or 8"s,and i was told that it is very possible that by housing him in a 55g for so long may have stunted his growth which in case you're not aware can be deadly.my bgk was eventually moved to a 90g which still isn't big enuff for an adult.

i just thought i'd run that by you so this doesn't happen to you and your fish.

Thanks for letting me know. Actually i have a 75 gallon tank in my garage that was given to me and my hubby just got a 175 gallon tank from a friend 2 days ago. We was going to use it for a stingray, which i posted about in oddballs forum. Still kinda ify on the stingray, so i might use the 175g. for my clown knife instead. Beings he will get so big. Now i just need to find some room for this huge tank.
Could a teacup stingray and this clown knife be tank mates i wonder?

Compatibility info:

Elmersaquarium.com

Aquahobby

Aquahobby - Teacup Ray

Extreme Fish - Tips on big, unusual Fish (Clown Knife featured).

Hope these help a bit. I think they would be OK together. Just give the Clown knife a territory to call home (big piece of pipe or equivelent).