Any Knifefish Keepers?

[simonas]

I have a big interest in knifefish and although I don;t keep any now I have kept any in past including Clown knife, BGK, African knifefish and glass knifefish

Show us your pics of the fish and descrive the set ups of these wonderful fish

Simon

 

[markandhisfish]

i love knifefish too . probably some of the coolest fish ive ever had was my group of glass knifefish i had about 18 months ago #

loved the way they zippd about like darts

 

[simonas]

I;ve kept them in a group as well. they are bonkers the way they dart about. generally shy but interesting to wqtch. haven;t seen those about for a long time

 

[ChrissyBoy]

I used to work in a LFS when I was a lot younger. I remember they used to have a massive aquarium which acted as the counter, it was at least 6 feet long and 4 feet high.

In the tank, they had a massive Clown Knife Fish which was easily 2ft long and a Red Tail Catfish which was roughly the same size if my memory serves me right. Where it was so big, obviously the Clown Knife didn't do an awful lot of darting around; it liked to hover around at mid level for long periods. I really loved the markings of this fish and the way its tail ripples when it's hovering.

We used to feed these live goldfish, normally fancies as the shop had an abundance of these. The cat used to swallow them whole, whereas the Clown Knife used to sneak up behind the fish and take it's back end clean off and then go back for the rest.

I'd love to get one, but I haven't at this point in time got any suitable tankmates. I've got a community tank at the moment, but that might change soon!

 

[kniesh]

I currently have a Banded Knife at around 10" and a BGK at around 5". To be honest, as much as I love my Banded, I very rarely see him, extremely nocturnal, but still one of my favourite fish. The BGK is slightly better and IMO a must for any oddball collection. I love this fish to death, he's only newish though.

Unfortunately I will never be able to house these in the same tank as the Banded Knife is vicious towards other Knives. I will try an get up some pics later, but there is a poor one of the Banded in my profile.

 

[always4lora]

I had a BGKF it was about 9inch and got eaten by my Polypterus weeksii which is only a few inch's longer, crazy!

 

[simonas]

gutted as they look ace when they are older BGK's

 

[markandhisfish]

I;ve kept them in a group as well. they are bonkers the way they dart about. generally shy but interesting to wqtch. haven;t seen those about for a long time

id never seen them before unyil i went into my lfs for some food , saw them on the obligatory "tank lap" and just had to have them . id love to do a species tank with just a nice big group of these 1 day .

 

[Jack.]

me and my girlfriend, got one today. really loving the way it looks in the tank, sand substrate and is pretty active. thought they were supposed to be nocturnal? it's a brown knife that we got from a mom and pop lfs. doing pretty well in the tank so far. will take a pic soon!

 

[Squidward]

me and my girlfriend, got one today. really loving the way it looks in the tank, sand substrate and is pretty active. thought they were supposed to be nocturnal? it's a brown knife that we got from a mom and pop lfs. doing pretty well in the tank so far. will take a pic soon!

My bgk was quite active during the day when I first got it. But once it had settled down, I saw it less during the day. It still does come out now and then. Especially if I feed some blood worm. It loves those!

 

[simonas]

Hi Jack
from your description it sounds like an African Knifefish. If so brilliant fish and one of my favourite oddblall fish

 

[Amunet]

OO yay anything to show off my BGK

We've had it since it was about hmm... maybe 4 inches long if that much. I honestly don't remember how large it was. It is around 8-10 inches now. We've had him/her for almost 2 years now though.
Love this fish so much. It's so fun to watch it swim around. I wish it came out more from its hiding spot but I'll take the rare sightings of it if it means it's healthy.

Just took these today. Yesterday was just flake food day for the tank, and usually the day after, the BGK is HUNGRY! and comes out of its hiding spot looking for food.
Sorry for the streaky glass and glare.

He/she is pretty peaceful. Did have an incident where it was trying to attack the big pleco in the tank for some reason. It wasn't doing any damage, but it was trying to bite the pleco and kept bumping in to it *shrugs* And it will chase out the clown loaches that shares its hiding spot, but other than that... love it!

 

[simonas]

He is a stunner Amunet

wish I had the space for one but unfortunately I don;t one of the best fish I have ever kept

 

[markandhisfish]

stunning bgkf amuet . looks nice and healthy i was just thinking shame there havent been more pics in this thread .

 

[AstonN24vantage]

i wanted a ghost knife, and was close to buying one, but i heard they let out low frequencies of electricity, and i didnt want to hurt my cories.