Black Ghost Knife Fish

[magersxx]

I just bought a BGK fish today. He looked really cool and unique and i decided to get like 2 more tomorrow..

Do these fish require air pump ? And if i put in some small feeder fishes inside, i dont mind if the BGK kills them, but will they turn more aggressive, and may fight among themselves?

Cause my big tank looks really plain with just afew BGK inside, 1 plant and some gravel...
Also, if i put in a sucker fish , around half the size of the BGK, will they peace?

Lastly, what is my BGK doing all the time? he seems like he's eating off dirt from the gravel and tank walls???

o.o

 

[Davo86]

Hi, I'm afraid you really need to research these fish,

BGKs will not tolerate other BGKs in the same tank long term, Unlike most other fish they use an electrical current to find food and when kept together (or with elephant nose ish which also use this process) in a confined space, i.e. in a fish tank, these electrical currents cross paths leading the BGKs to act highly aggressive towards one another,

BGKs come from fairly quick growing streams so a visible current is recommended, usually a strong external will suffice but an air pump on top will also help.

Usually BGKs will not bother even the smallest feeder fish, They will generally eat any frozen prepared foods such as bloodworm, shrimp, daphnia etc. as well as chopped earthworms or prawns, mine has also learnt to take pellets,

What type of sucker fish? plecos will be fine, but avoid things like chinese algae eaters which will become aggressive.

How long has this tank been setup and what size is it?

 

[magersxx]

The BGK i bought are very small, around 4-5cm.

My tank currently has 1 BGK and 1 small female betta, i watched them for a long time and they seem peaceful, both enjoying the water and plant.

My tank is 42cm length, 25cm width and 12cm tall.

If possible, i would wanna get 2 more BGK, 1 packet of feeder fish and 1-2 albino sucker fish, and add an air pump and filter tomorrow.

I just googled plecos and chinese algae eaters. Okay thanks for the tip, i will look for plecos at the petshop tomorrow.

 

[Davo86]

Do you know that Black Ghost knifes grow longer than your tank?? Please take it back to the petshop before you kill it.
Your tank isn't big enough for anything more than a betta

Also are you saying you don't have a heater and filter in the tank? If this is the case i wouldn't expect the BGK to live very long at all, and is another reason why it needs to be returned ASAP

And maybe i wasn't clear enough above but BGKs will not live together peacefully, they will kill each other.

Albino pleco also grow much bigger than your tank.

 

[magersxx]

Do you know that Black Ghost knifes grow longer than your tank?? Please take it back to the petshop before you kill it.
Your tank isn't big enough for anything more than a betta

Also are you saying you don't have a heater and filter in the tank? If this is the case i wouldn't expect the BGK to live very long at all, and is another reason why it needs to be returned ASAP

And maybe i wasn't clear enough above but BGKs will not live together peacefully, they will kill each other.

Albino pleco also grow much bigger than your tank.

Kay i shall first get a bigger tank =x

 

[ZoddyZod]

Kay i shall first get a bigger tank =x

will you be getting a bigger tank tomorrow? If not then I'd return the fish.

Also, have you cycled your tank? I guess not if you have no filter. Even if you get a bigger tank you are severely risking the death of those fish.

Everyone here is going to recommend taking them back until you can properly accomodate them in a suitable environment.

 

[tqfan]

hi, can i just jump in here with a quick question? yeah? thanks

tbh, saves me making another thread about the same fish.

how do BGK do the toilet? while it's quite obvious for most fish, i have no idea about BGK and as many sites as i read, i can't find this info. i could just be missing it. are they messy fish?

mine loves frozen bloodworm and whole earthworms. sucks them up in one go! it also loves (deskinned) peas and (chopped) prawns.

i have a small bristlenose plec in the tank, it's the smallest fish in there, and i don't think the knifefish even knows it's there! the knifefish seems to be quite calm and docile. it usually sticks to it's own little house, a (fake) bamboo tube, but we added a couple more fish last month and they seem to have made the knifefish more active, it comes out of it's house and swims about a lot more now. fascinating to watch, especially when it goes upside down!! i say it, i do think it's female, from the sex differences i have read online.

so yeah, i'm just wondering about the toilet issue, lol!!

thanks

 

[Mr._Fishy]

I believe it is at the base of their head, just behind of where the gills meet. I was confused of this at first too.

 

[tqfan]

at least i know where to look now, lmao!! thanks!

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Haha sure!

I just read yours likes peas?! I've never heard of that one before. Maybe I'm just living in a closet, but I had no idea a fish like a bgk (carnivore) would eat peas. I've put peas in my tank in the past for another fish and it never touched it.

And to answer your other question, no, they aren't really messy fish.

 

[Attilauk]

I just read yours likes peas?! I've never heard of that one before. Maybe I'm just living in a closet, but I had no idea a fish like a bgk (carnivore) would eat peas. I've put peas in my tank in the past for another fish and it never touched it.

i put cucumber in my tank for the Severums and the Bristlenose, my BGK also loves to have a nibble on it. he will even push the Severums off to get at it.

 

[tqfan]

i put cucumber in my tank for the Severums and the Bristlenose, my BGK also loves to have a nibble on it. he will even push the Severums off to get at it.

yeah, mine does that, kinda pushes the others out of the way to get at the peas!!

i always take the skins off, and i used to mush them up a bit, but now don't really bother, as she's big enough to handle them. peas are in halves in the skin, so it's not a whole pea she's scooping up at once, but she does eat a lot. i put in 12 peas the other night, knifefish ate them all!!

my other fish love the peas, too, but i mush them up a bit for them, cos they're smaller fish.

have tried cucumber in my other tank, which also has a bristlenose plec, and the plec ignored it!! i thought maybe i'd done it wrong, are you supposed to leave the skin on, or not?

 

[Attilauk]

my BN isn't worried about such trivial things as skin on the cucumber, he waits for the initial frenzy to be over then latches on to it and swims off to his hidey hole to munch away

 

[Jeff Lange]

I just read yours likes peas?! I've never heard of that one before. Maybe I'm just living in a closet, but I had no idea a fish like a bgk (carnivore) would eat peas. I've put peas in my tank in the past for another fish and it never touched it.

i put cucumber in my tank for the Severums and the Bristlenose, my BGK also loves to have a nibble on it. he will even push the Severums off to get at it.

Tap, Tap, Mine also does the same, pushes the pleco's & clown loach's aside to get his share of the cucumber. Fun fish to watch however it is mostly active in my tank at night when the moon lights come on. Got the little guy when he was about 3-4" now he's like 9" or more.