Tank mates for Black ghost knife fish

[FF_Member146894]

Synodontis are territorial so wouldn’t ‘get along’ with a knifefish.

it depends on the species, how big they get, and tank size
you can't generalize "territorial" to every species especially in a tank this size

 

[Ichthys]

it depends on the species, how big they get, and tank size
you can't generalize "territorial" to every species especially in a tank this size

I mean territorial in that it/they will choose where it wants to sleep and if it fancies the bgk’s pipe they’ll ‘elbow’ it out. The bgk won’t want to leave and it’ll get scratched.

 

[FF_Member146894]

I mean territorial in that it/they will choose where it wants to sleep and if it fancies the bgk’s pipe they’ll ‘elbow’ it out. The bgk won’t want to leave and it’ll get scratched.

with enough hiding areas and pipes that probably won't become a (at least recurring) problem

 

[Ichthys]

with enough hiding areas and pipes that probably won't become a (at least recurring) problem

I disagree. It probably will.

 

[Byron]

I'm not suggesting either fish will or won't exert its dominance over territory, but there seems to be a general misunderstanding and that I'd like to address.

The territorial aspect of any species of freshwater fish is an inherent aspect of that species' genetic programming. Nothing is going to change this. It is in the species' DNA. Individual fish may, depending upon the circumstances they find themselves in, exert their inherent "right" to defend their space in varying degrees. They may only be concerned with their own species, or it may extend beyond their species.

A "disagreement" over the space will resolve itself when the weaker of the two fish, whether the same species or two different species, ends the confrontation by withdrawing. Provided the aquarium is large enough to enable the victor to be satisfied his space is now "his" again, all will be fine. No one can say how large a tank this requires, as it depends upon the individual fish's need to establish his superiority. Pheromones and/or allomones released into the water to reinforce the fish's right will be understood by the other fish involved. The individual fish will decide how far it needs to go, and it will act accordingly.

Several years ago I had a common whiptail, Rineloricaria parva, in my 5-foot 115g Amazon river tank. I acquired a Hypancistrus furunculus and it decided it would claim a crevice in a large chunk of bogwood at one end of the tank. I happened to be sitting in front of the tank one day, several days after acquiring the pleco, and observed the Whiptail grazing over one end of the chunk of wood as he regularly did. He came upon the pleco, and there was just one short "poke" by the pleco (with all fins flared), and the Whiptail backed off and so far as I am aware never again approached that chunk of wood. Both fish lived in the same tank for a few months after, and for other reasons I moved the pleco (in his "home" of wood) to another tank.