Trumpet Knife ?

[Yuri]

i have got a trumpet knife fish this weekend but can not find info on this fish

 

[nmonks]

Trumpet knifefish are species of Rhamphichthys, usually Rhamphichthys rostratus. In the case of Rhamphichthys rostratus, we're talking about a huge (100 cm in the wild, at least 60 cm in captivity), territorial, predatory fish from subtropical (not tropical!) waters. Like all subtropical fish it is stressed by high temperatures and low oxygen concentrations. So you're after a big (hundreds of gallons) aquarium maintained at 18-24 degrees C and provided with a very high performance filter. South American knifefish tend to come from fast flowing waters (compare with the swamp-dwelling Old World knifefish families). So it's critical to use filters and/or powerheads to ensure a strong water current, certainly not less than six times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour.

Water quality is critically important, but water chemistry much less. Soft, slightly acidic (5-10 degrees dH, pH 6-7.5) is the ideal, but providing the water isn't too hard this isn't something to lose sleep over.

At least some members of this family bury themselves in sand, and personally I'd consider the use of sand or very fine gravel mandatory. All South American fish are very sensitive to bacterial infections when damaged, and they can be stressed/killed by some of the medications on the market (those containing copper and/or formalin in particular).

Rhamphichthys are sometimes kept as lab animals, and quite a bit is known about their social behaviour. Unless you have a gigantic tank, keeping a group isn't really viable though because they are territorial outside of spawning and in small groups (less than six) prone to bullying one another. On the other hand they are peaceful towards tankmates too large to swallow whole. Feeding is not difficult as they are opportunistic carnivores. River shrimps and earthworms make ideal staples. Smaller specimens will also eat bloodworms and other insect larvae. Feeder fish should not be used for all the usual reasons, but especially because treating these knifefish for internal or external parasites will be difficult. Once settled in they should take frozen foods such as chunky seafood, but they're unlikely to have any interest in dried food or flake.

Cheers, Neale

i have got a trumpet knife fish this weekend but can not find info on this fish

 

[Corleone]

This look like it? http/www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSum...mp;what=species

Edit: As always, nmonks delivers. Still, beautiful fish - hope you have space for him.

 

[Yuri]

thanks for the grate reply
Well it is a good reson too get a biger tank