African Brown Knife Fish.....ph?

[Shovelman]

Heres the stats of the tank as it just finished cycling about 2 weeks ago.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
nitrate i think 15 ppm?
Ph: 8-8.2

My ph and hardness are just a bit harder and higher ph value than i would like. Would a ph of 8-8.2 be unsuitable for one of these awesome knife-fish? I know the African brown knifefish are pretty hardy as far as knife fish go...

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[nmonks]

You should be okay. But if you can soften the water a bit, e.g., by mixing tap water with rainwater/RO water at a ratio of 3 parts tap to one part rain/RO, that'd be even better.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Shovelman]

You should be okay. But if you can soften the water a bit, e.g., by mixing tap water with rainwater/RO water at a ratio of 3 parts tap to one part rain/RO, that'd be even better.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks Neale! Always a great help! Also got your email back form WWM from you. Just like to see if i can get opinions on multiple fish forums, hence why i posted here and sent in an email.

Hopefully 'Santa' has room in his bag for an RO/Di system

 

[MBOU]

Nice fish choice, i love these guys!

I have kept them in R.O briefly before they had to be moved into tapwater and personally i found they did better in harder water, but maybe it was just because it was easier to do waterchanges or it was more stable or most likely these fish had been in a much higher pH and harder water than the RO for quite a long time.

Eat like gannets! They really dont behave like the BGK, they are 10 x nicer i think! I love their huge eyes and they are great fun when they hand feed! I found them much more tolerant of other fish, less prone to bacterial problems and generally out and about a bit more than the BGK.

 

[Shovelman]

Nice fish choice, i love these guys!

I have kept them in R.O briefly before they had to be moved into tapwater and personally i found they did better in harder water, but maybe it was just because it was easier to do waterchanges or it was more stable or most likely these fish had been in a much higher pH and harder water than the RO for quite a long time.

Eat like gannets! They really dont behave like the BGK, they are 10 x nicer i think! I love their huge eyes and they are great fun when they hand feed! I found them much more tolerant of other fish, less prone to bacterial problems and generally out and about a bit more than the BGK.

Thanks for the reply and info! I REALLY appreciate it! Provided my water chem is good i might be purchasing one soon. What level of the aquarium did yours typically inhabit? Any specific structures for hiding or exploring they tend to like? And lastly if you don't mind, what would you suggest as a staple diet?

Ps: hope to be buying a large shipment of plants in. Im most likely going to get low light plants even though i have pretty highlighting but that's because my light will be further away as i figure out how to build my archer fish shooting range tank extension. Right now the multiple pieces of driftwood jetting out from the rock pile provides some pretty long/large hollow caves which is where i find all my ghost shrimp congregating lol. Soon to have a forest of Jungle val covering alot of the tank though.

 

[MBOU]

He definately lived at the bottom of the tank for the most part! He had a favourite bit of wood propped up against the side of the tank that he liked to sit behond but as he got more food orientated, he came out whenever i went near the tank.

He came up to the surface to feed as well most of the time... it just takes time to get them settled! But definately a lower section fish....

Watch out for him with other fish because if he thinks it will fit in his (surprisingly large) mouth, he will eat it! Tetras and rasbora and the like are generally a no go with exceptions of the much larger species.

When I got him, he was doing well but on a died of just bloodworms which i stuck to for a few weeks until he had settled and added an extra block of krill or mysis (because they are fairly chunky shrimp) and he would wolf that down too, i always gave him bloodworm but hadded things too it, prawn he really loved! Had to break it up as they cant tear very well lol and he would carry his prawn around for hours. Cockle and muscle and clam meat got eaten if he was hungry enough...

I never gave him live shrimp as i didnt want to encourage him to go after small moving things...

Eventually i noticed he was hoovering up the other fishes flakes if i fed them first whilst thawing out his food...

And then discovered he just *loved* eating NovoTabs off the glass!