knife fish and new tank

[rvm]

I got one a few weeks ago. I've always loved these wierd fish, but never had the space for one. Mine is only about 4" at the moment, and is in my 20g as he will end up as food in my big tank at the moment. I'll move him once he gets to about 7"-8".
I've been told that since they are blind, you can put a glass tube in the tank; then the BGK thinks they are hiding in a cave, but you can see them through the tube!!

BlueIce, you say they are slow growers, any idea how long it'll take for mine to grow the 3 or 4 inches he needs to be safe?

 

[samsung-401]

I have a baby one in my 30 gallon, I am also pretty sure that a BGK could live in its own 30 gallon.

 

[rvm]

I have a baby one in my 30 gallon, I am also pretty sure that a BGK could live in its own 30 gallon.

not forever. You know they can get up to 50cm right? that is bigger than most sides of a 30g!!

 

[samsung-401]

Really, I thought the only reached up to about 1ft 6 inches maxed out. I geuss I'll have to find a bigger tank then.

 

[rvm]

1 1/2 feet is about the same as 50cm, so you are right, but does your 30g have any sides that are less than this? that is what is going to cause problems!!!

 

[snoobab]

I bought 2 BGK's about 5 months ago, and both were about 8 - 10 cm. One of them is now HUGE - almost 20 cm while the other has only grown about 2 - 3 cm.

They are in a community tank (120 l.) with a LOT OF LOACHES!!! (5 Clowns, 5 Polka dots and a Zebra). There are also a pair of Blue Rams, Bolivian rams, an Apistograma, a pair of angels, a Gibbiceps pleco a RTBS, a Bi - colour shark and a pair of Swords. (Yes I know the tank is seriously overstocked but I do overkill on the filtration and have'nt lost a fish in months, and will hopefully upgrade to a 400 l. tank next month.

I feed them a wide variety of food including Bloodworms, earthworms, Nutron flakes, Sera Vipagran, Tubifex, Tetra bits and the odd bit of cucumber or zucchini.

Last week my LFS had some brown GK's and I obviously just had to have a pair of them!

BUT...

as soon as I put them into the tank my 2 BGK's started attacking them, grabbing them behind the gills and shaking them like a dog with a rat/cat.

I whipped them out of the tank ASAP and put them in my fry tank, but unfortunately the smaller one was floating the next morning
But the remaining one is quite happy, especially with sooooo many tasty little fry nearby!

So beware, bog BGK's may attack other fish, although I have never noticed any other aggression between them and their tank mates, even in quite a crowded tank.

They are so amazing to watch and become quite tame - both of mine eat bloodworm out of my hand!

So get one or 20, you won't regret it!

 

[rvm]

From what I've heard, and don't quote me on this as i may be way out, you shouldn't mix knife fish as they will fight, hence the attack you experienced!!

 

[BlueIce]

it depends on the type of knife and the size as some only get aggressive with age...


in my own personal tanks i have combined the following


BGK
glass
gold lined
african
asian



the only ones to become aggressive were the africans and that was against each other as they matured.

 

[samsung-401]

My BGK is only concerened with fish about his size, I have only seen him attack my rope fish once though. When I add new fish he is the first to investagate. Then after realizing he/she is no threat he carrys on his/her buisness.

 

[dothedew]

Yeah, my pet store has the yellow plastic hamster tubes in the BGK tank. They look ok and the bgk doesn't think it can be seen, like the other person said.

 

[candy]

thank u all for the info..
i jumped for joy when i hurd they could live with an upside down cat fish as my bf has one but had to move i nto his friends tank when his oscars started to make babys.so he said i can have the upside down cat fish sincei loved it so much and that he knows i will look after it better..

so so far this is my plan.
1.get new room 2 months aprox
2.put sand in tank
3.get silk plants,drift wood and make little cave with rocks.
4.cycle tank
5.buy lots of yummie food
6.move cat fish in to new home
7. drive 30 mins to go get BGK, put him in new home

ok now i need something that will swim around heeps. angles are easy to get but i dont know much about them.... also what kind od water do BGKs like ???
and what couler sand??

any other idears, thorghts wellcome.u guys are wonderful

 

[Oddball]

Well besides the fish that have already been mentioned i can't add a lot more, but I would just like to point out that upside down catfish are reclusive little fellas. They naturally shoal though, so if u can find and a few more upside downs they will become more visible and bolder.
The bgk enjoys a slightly acidic pH, around about 6.5, and they are VERY intolerant towards nitrates.
Angels can be a bit hyperaggresive but if u get lucky and get placid individuals u should be fine
But please dont buy small shoaling fish as they may be fine for a while but may soon "disappear" overnight....................
Well i wish u the best of luck and look forward to hearing about your lil' bgk soon

 

[candy]

dont worry i will stay away from having little fish in with him. plus iv allready got 2 tanks with happy little fish in them i dont need any more.

i cant wait to set up this tank .. but i still dont know what elce to put in with him..bf said maybe a jack dam...ect cant spell name but how big do they get.lastthing i want is for my fish to be unhappy .i will try and find some more upside down cat fish but i dont knwo if i will be able to get more as his one was imported for him..guess i could pay extra to get some imported i dont know...

anyway i will keep adding things to this untill i get the little guy ..i have a filter in my smaller tank thats going to help with a fishless cycle..still need to read up more on that... i love learning

 

[candy]

hi everyone..
what about a buterfly fish with the BGK they stay mainly on the top dad said he will put a small plat form in so i can get a fly tub thing so it can eat flys..dont know much about this fish found a pic of it in a book went ot tal kot my friendly fish guy and he showed me his one who gets along with his clown knife.

what do u all think??

oh and i found some realy nice sand the other day..and its cheep and pre washed but i will still wash it .

dad has also said he is going make me a bigger tank and stand so when i feel that the BGK should moveo ut it will allready be done... plus he said i can keep the 30gl

so that makes 2x 5gl 1x 20gl 1x30gl and then a big 80gl i feel so spoilt so glad my dad has become involved with my fish...

anyway thats all for now

thank everyone
candy