Elephant Nose Fish

[trace1]

hi all
just been to lfs & seen the elephant nose fish & would really like 1 but searching on google is giving me conflicting advice about these. some say to keeps in groups of 3 or more, some say keep just 1 & another even mentioned adding salt for them.
so was just wondering if anyone could tell me something about them.
tank size that they would be going in is 55 uk gal which is 4ft long, i don't want to get them if my tank isn't suitable or i can't keep as they should be kept.
thanks all trace

 

[grumpymole]

Only thing i know about them is that they are allowed to be kept on thier own but can get a bit visious towards thier own kind when breeding.
thats all i know.

 

[Bloo]

This will probably get moved over to oddballs

But in the mean time, if you do a quick search, there are loads of threads on them here on TFF :

elephant nose fish, Personal experiance only please

Peter's Elephant Nose

Help - New BGK & Elephant Nose, Really need advice about feeding them !

Elephent noses/ black nife fish

elephant nose aggressive or playful?

Hope those help a bit in the absence of some quick answers

 

[trace1]

thanks bloozoo, well reading some of that & the bits i could find i don't think i will get them now don't want to get something that i can;t look after properly & theres still no definate proof on wether they should be kept alone or in group, plus the tank they would have been going in is only 55uk gal.
shame thou cos they kinda reminded me of little dolphins & i love dolphins
trace

 

[Bloo]

thanks bloozoo, well reading some of that & the bits i could find i don't think i will get them now don't want to get something that i can;t look after properly & theres still no definate proof on wether they should be kept alone or in group, plus the tank they would have been going in is only 55uk gal.
shame thou cos they kinda reminded me of little dolphins & i love dolphins
trace

Yes they grow fairly large at 9", but as far as I understand - are very slow growers.
What else do you plan on keeping in the 66 US gallon (55 UK)? I don't see anything wrong with keeping a small group of them in a tank that size - if they reach their 9" each (even that will take a long time) you'll still have plenty of space for some mid-top level swimmers. And they are indeed stunning fish.

I kept a few of these fish years ago, but was moving house / countries quite a bit so had to rehome the entire tank, and haven't kept them since.

Here's another good article

And another article that I hope will help.

 

[trace1]

thanks again bloozoo
right i'm really thinking of getting them again now lol. do you think if i just get 1 it will be ok ???
also are they ok in a newly cycled tank, as the tank they will be going in is just coming to the end of its cycle
thanks trace

 

[Bloo]

To be honest, I think you should ideally wait a few months for the tank to settle and find some balance.
Water conditions for these fish are probably more important where many other fish can be more "giving" and tolerate varying conditions.

At one stage, I had one single Elephant nose, and it seemed perfectly happy and not shy. Just provide plenty of hiding spaces and not a sharp gravel substrate.

 

[trace1]

yeah i thought they would do better in a mature tank, right they can go on my want list then for in a couple of months when everything has evened out in the tank.
thanks for all the help & info bloozoo much apprieated

 

[mells]

hi all
just been to lfs & seen the elephant nose fish & would really like 1 but searching on google is giving me conflicting advice about these. some say to keeps in groups of 3 or more, some say keep just 1 & another even mentioned adding salt for them.
so was just wondering if anyone could tell me something about them.
tank size that they would be going in is 55 uk gal which is 4ft long, i don't want to get them if my tank isn't suitable or i can't keep as they should be kept.
thanks all trace

Hi, I have 3 elephant noses & a ghost knife in the same tank, a simular tank size to yours maybe a tad wider. I have plenty of hiding spaces, and have no problems, had them for just under 3 months now but my tank was already a years mature.

I wouldnt recommend more than 3, unless someone you know has tried it, and ensure you have plenty of hiding spaces, a plantpot even does thats what one of mine uses.


Hope that helps.

Mells