Little Nipper!

[Raven_24]

Well it's been yonks since I had any new fish in my tank, they've slowly died off over the years & I had my first baby in 2007 so didn't have much time for them other than making sure they were fed & watered so to speak - you can imagine how it is I'm sure. The only fish left in my community tank as of 3days ago were 1 OLD bala shark grown about 2-2.5in tops in all the time I've had him, a small yellow (honey?) gourami that I've had a good whiley too bout 1in & 6 big penguin tetras.

Had abit of money to spend so popped along to LFS. Had mucho trouble deciding on what fish to get but ended up with 1 black ghost knife fish (about 3in long) & a blue betta (flowy tailed not crown). Had a beautiful blue betta before that I loved & was never any bother to other tankmates so couldn't resist another.

Problem is since getting them all home & settled in the betta has been chasing my BGK something chronic & trying to nip it. Now I told the guy in the LFS about the tetras as I was concerned about the BGK perhaps trying to eat them & he said given the size of them they should be alright but he never mentioned anything about the betta...since coming on here for a squiz I've seen a few posts saying never to keep bettas & BGK together as the betta is sure to get eaten???

My tanks a 30uk gallon (36 US) and 4ft x 1ft x 1ft so I presumed they'd be ok - guy in LFS has worked there a long time & I've never had any bad advice from him, seems to know what he's on about although I havent' been back in touch since getting the newbies home.

Has anyone got any ideas what I should/could do or am I looking at having to rehome one of the above fish? Also while I give my fish bloodworm & flakes I havent' noticed the BGK eating any flakes at all - do they eat anything other than bloodworm?

Please help!

Just in case anyone asks water parameters are fine.

 

[Mystil]

As far as i can tell Ghost knife fish are quite specalised and can be hard to keep alive without particular care.

I am afraid I dont know of any other information about them, having never kept them before.

The Betta probably sees the Ghost fish as a threat...that is why he is bugging him.

I hope someone would be able to help with your problem.

 

[minxfishy]

Hi, I dont know anything about BGK cept they are aggressive and not for a general community tank - although Im sure others who have them would disagree (as I say I know nothing about them!)

However, bettas should not be with one, or a Gourami or tetras.

Bettas (Male) are best kept in their own tank, with maybe some cory's at a push. They can kill other fish, specially those with long flowing fins as they see them as competition.

Tetras are nippy things and will (given the chance) strip the betta of his fins.

I would, either take back the betta and explain the situation to the LFS (who should have know better) or get the betta a small (5Gal min) tank, with filter/heater and put him in there on his own.

 

[Raven_24]

Not much info but thanks anyway. I'm abit dissapointed that I can't keep the betta in the community tank because my old one & the one before that were no bother at all but saying that I'm not going to take him back to the LFS, he's too beautiful so at present he's in a large mesh breeding trap until I get a small tank just for him, I'll let him out when I do the food - hopefully both he & the BGK will be too busy chasing flakes & worms to be bothered with each other!

Would a biorb be suitable for a betta? I don't usually like these coz remind me too much of old goldfish bowls but there are some for sale online at an ok price, I can't afford much so kinda limited the now.

 

[CentricOregon]

i bought a BGK a while back at 6 or so inches and he's done great in my tank but to me the smaller the black ghost is it's way harder to keep. I had 2 before hand at a 2 or so inches and both died within a week, and about the BGK eating the betta, personally i don't see how thats possible because the black ghost has a tiny mouth plus it's not really aggressive, it even eats from you're hand if you don't scare it, thats how soft they are lol.If you wanna keep them both just keep your eye on them as fish can sometimes take a while to adapt to there new home and basically fight between themselves or chase everything away just to try and be the boss of the tank.chances are BGK is always in the wrong place at the wrong time as they like to discover the tank from time to time and more than likely keeps bumping in the fighter.Oh and about the eating thing, my BGK usually just picks stuff out the gravel but if you hold flake in front of him he will come up and nibble it from your hands.

 

[Raven_24]

really hope the BGK doesn't die... It's so cute, I love its little face! I was going to get 3 of them but ended up only getting the one. I do like the betta though, the colours are truly beautiful when it fans its tail out....
lil buggers! think I'm def. going to have to separate them though...still new tank....new fish...MTS yet again Ahh my fella's gonna kill me