Elephant Fish

[tommwest]

hi as the title says im looking at getting maybe 2-3 just want any tips to keep them as ive heard there not for begginers, my tank is 4 foot by 16" high and 12" wide well planted and 3 bits of bog wood in there, water samples have been coming back clear and the tank has been set up for 8weeks now got a big exsternal fluval filter so water is always nice and clean sand for the substrate

 

[nmonks]

Do not get two or three specimens; keep either one or a groups of at least six specimens. Like most electric fish, these are intensely hierarchical fish, and in small groups bullying is almost certain. If you want a gregarious species but have only limited space, then Pollimyrus spp. ("baby whales") are much better.

Water quality is important, but most specimens are killed through starvation. Make sure you're in a position to feed them as required. Mormyrids generally do not accept flake, pellets or freeze-dried foods. They will usually starve to death before eating these foods. You must have wet-frozen or live foods for them, primarily worms and insect larvae. They are quite greedy and eat a lot, and will need at least one good meal per day. A healthy specimen will have a gently rounded abdomen; half-starved specimens, as you'll see in most pet stores, will be distinctly hollow-looking.

Mormyrids are generally unable to compete with catfish and loaches, though settled specimens can do very well with tetras, minnows and other midwater fish. A sand rather than gravel substrate is practically essential, since they feed from the bottom using their sensitive barbel, and if the barbel is scratched, they quickly become infected. Once sick, your problems are doubled because many medications will kill them. Anything with copper or formalin should not be used, and organic dye-based medications treated as highly suspect unless you can confirm otherwise. So you need to rely mostly on prevention and proper quarantining, and limit treatments to things like salt (for whitespot and velvet) and antibiotics (for finrot and other bacterial infections).

Water chemistry is relatively unimportant; 5-20 degrees dH, pH 6-8 will do just fine. They are likewise unfussy about temperature, though the usually 25 degrees C suits them very well.

These are difficult fish to look after, though far from impossible. The trick is to set up an aquarium around their needs, rather than to try and add one to an existing community tank.

Cheers, Neale

hi as the title says im looking at getting maybe 2-3 just want any tips to keep them as ive heard there not for begginers, my tank is 4 foot by 16" high and 12" wide well planted and 3 bits of bog wood in there, water samples have been coming back clear and the tank has been set up for 8weeks now got a big exsternal fluval filter so water is always nice and clean sand for the substrate

 

[tommwest]

Thanks for the guidance do you think il be abit silly getting them now as the tank has only been set up for around 7-8 weeks or do you think i would cope im around every day to feed them. And given my size tank in the first post how many do you think would be ok to keep in there?

 

[nmonks]

I'd have the tank running with some schooling fish for a few more weeks, just to iron out any hiccups with water quality. Needn't be anything expensive or fancy, but whatever you like. Danios would be idea since they stay at the top of the tank, and so act as excellent dither fish. Dither fish "tell" bottom dwellers its safe to come out. Not deliberately, obviously, but bottom dwellers won't leave their hiding places in the wild unless they see open water fish swimming about at the surface. Get a school of 6-10 danios and you're all set. You need a big group because the danios need to be happy and comfortable; if they're nervous, they send the reverse message to the bottom dwellers. Because danios are small, they'll add next to nothing to the filter load, so water quality won't be impaired.

I'd keep just one Gnathonemus in a tank this size, or else six Pollimyrus.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks for the guidance do you think il be abit silly getting them now as the tank has only been set up for around 7-8 weeks or do you think i would cope im around every day to feed them. And given my size tank in the first post how many do you think would be ok to keep in there?