Black Ghost Knife questions

[mattjm1121]

Hello all,

I just have a few questions regarding BGK. I was wondering if one would be ok in a 54 gallon corner tank. Its deeper than most tanks and the bowed front allows for a very wide swimming area. I know its not the gallonage that most would recommend but I just wanted to know if the tank's shape would permit me to house a BGK comfortably. Any thoughts?

[nikond70s]

u should be good. i think they max out at 18"? under good conditions. and they are really slow growers. so it will be awhile till they get too big. until then u prolly will be able to upgrade to a bigger tank. just give them caves to hide in.

[mattjm1121]

oo ok thanks for the input. i kinda want it to be a biotope aquarium. do you know what would be my options for other fish that typically live alongside the BGK in the wild?

[nikond70s]

since they live in south america. i would think any south american fish will work for them. sand bottom with drfitwoods would be nice for them. you can stack drftwoods and make holes that way theres caves for the BGK instead of buying those ugly tubes or holes for them. if you plan on keeping more than one make sure you have plenty of holes/caves so they can hide otherwise they will be aggressive and fight. keep in my mind that BGK are night fish. they come out at night and hunt. so make sure the othere fish you get arent too small.

[mattjm1121]

ok cool thanks

[Silver]

I been keeping my BGN wich is around 9-10'' with Silver Dollars and clown louches for about 3 years with no problems at all. Good luck with yours.

[Moon]

I been keeping my BGN wich is around 9-10'' with Silver Dollars and clown louches for about 3 years with no problems at all. Good luck with yours.
How do you make sure it gets enough food. The clown loaches are so fast and agressive at feeding time.

[Silver]

How do you make sure it gets enough food. The clown loaches are so fast and agressive at feeding time.

I actually feed him with my hand, he gets to eat from my fingers or when I turn the light off he will go to the top to get feed.

[DiscusBR]

It is not an appropriate tankmate for discus, since it is nocturnal and too agressive, right? I had one a long time ago, beatiful fish.

[Silver]

It is not an appropriate tankmate for discus, since it is nocturnal and too agressive, right? I had one a long time ago, beatiful fish.

It's a very beautiful fish, he is in my community tank and I have never keep it with Discus before but I wouldn't recommend it. He is not aggressive whit his tank mates as long it has places to hide.

[crazycracker]

As long as the fish can't fit its tank mates in its mouth. Should be fine w/ other fish. I don't recommend keeping w/ discus because of the same reason posted but others. I keep mine in a 30 gallon high for about 2 yrs now w/ no issues. Had a few other tank mates but ended up just keeping my Ghost in there. I'm guessing 12ish inches in size. Happy & eats from my hand as well.

They use a kinda of Radar (kind of like a bat but electrical - http://theaquariumwiki.com/Apteronotus_albifrons) so having 2 can be an issue because they can "interfere" w/ one another. Need a good size tank plus the hiding spaces 4 the fish if doing more than 1.