New Tank Being Bought

[QuotheRaven]

I am going to look at buying a 72 x 18 x 18 with cover and stand for $428 now will that be good for a black Ghost knife fish??

 

[rob newland]

I'm not too sure really, the BGK can grow to roughly 20" so length wouldn't be a problem, it's just the width as it needs to be wide enough for it to turn around etc. You probably would be okay though.

 

[cane76]

you could get away with it imo

 

[andywg]

IMO it depends on your approach to fishkeeping.

If you like buying a tank and cramming it with the largest fish you can (or like buying the smallest tank available for a fish) then you will find that tank ok.

If you prefer to give fish a larger than minimum tank size to allow more movement then it will not suffice in the long run, however it will take a bgk a fair amount of time to outgrow a 6'x18".

 

[QuotheRaven]

Well I would rather get a 48x24x24 however I do not have the funds for it.
I know the BGK will outgrow it most likely outgrow the tank in width wise as the length seems good but the 18" is a little short.

110 gallons I think the tank is Im planning on getting.
Oh and Im not planning on Huge fish my BGK will easily be the biggest and any largish fish I will see if my tank will take it.

 

[cane76]

have you considered a brown knife instead?they dont get as big and that tank would be good for life

 

[QuotheRaven]

I already own the BGK thats the problem, I need some friends who have tropical fish and have large tanks.

 

[Jules H-T]

BGKF, unless they really want to go somewhere in a hurry, tend to angle themselves downwards, reducing the width they need. These are surprisingly agile fish, that use the depth of the tank as well as the width. They do 3 point turns, or vertical 180s like an aeroplane, more often than a straight flat turn, IME.

Mine turns around on a sixpence, and doesn't use anywhere near the 24" width he has (although to be fair he is only about 13" at present). I'm not convinced 100% that just the extra 6" width would be the make or break of this situation, personally, although obviously more is better. If you could get another 6" on the depth it'd help just as much in my view, don't know if that's possible? If not, don't go with 6" of substrate and a half filled tank, make the most of what you have.