Black Ghost Knifefish

[Yankee boy]

Hi everyone im new my names Dan,
well today I bought Black Ghost Knifefish and the guy at the store told me that I can feed them flakes. Is it true these fish thrive on flakefood? These have to be the coolest fish around

[fish_doc]

I have one that I have had for 3 years so far. And he does eat flake foods. But as far as them thriving on them I would say no. They need a mix of foods.

[Yankee boy]

Hmm well ive been studying my black ghost and he swims around kinda in weird directions it acts like a dog. The one thing I was wondering is do they like to lay flat on their sides for a little bit then go swimming around?

[shev]

yes, mine does. I havent seen him do it for quite a while now that Ive got a good cave for him. Try to train yours to be hand fed, mine'll eat frozen bloodworms, frozen brineshrimp, and earthworms hand fed. Since hes pretty trained I can feed him freeze dried foods and pellets by hand, but I doubt yours would eat them right off the bat. I havent tried flakes but mine probably would.

what size tank, and what tankmates? they get pretty big, around 20 inches.

[Yankee boy]

At the moment I have a 20 gallon tank 3 neon tetras 2 zebra danios 1 ugly looking loach which i regret buying (fat grey looking,I have never seen it eat in my life yet its been around for about a year now ) 2 small kissing gouramis and the 1 BGK. Ok since my BGK cant seem to thrive on flake foods forever would it do well with a shrimp pellet flake food combo feeding it some frozen foods every once in a while but not everyday? BTW I think they are just the coolest fish, they move so in odd directions.

[Scuba Kid]

wow...that tank is WAY too small for a bgk. It can grow to be 20 inches.

[sumpthinfishy]

Oh, I love loaches. Is it a weather or dojo loach? Kinda like a cigar with whiskers on one end? Sorry. I know this is about the BGK. Just had to ask.

[shev]

too small of a tank for a black ghost knife, and it will eat your neons very soon.

[Scuba Kid]

how big is it now?

[Yankee boy]

Hes about 5 inches now and I just got done feeding him flakes he sucked it up like a vacuum. O and about the loach he is neither of those hes really fat and has this small tail with thick whiskers at the end. Looks like hes segmented and hes gray. I call him frankenfish because hes that ugly. I feel kinda bad because I look in the tank and when I cant find him I get excited because Im like oo well time to get a new loach then he pops out from under the rock and im like GRrrr. I will let him live since hes made friends with the neons. I bet theyre talking a lot of crap about the BGK.

[TheOldSalt]

Your new knife will eventually eat the neons in all likelyhood. It's just what they DO. There is a bit of individuality in this species. Some are eternally shy, but some get tame. Some eat anything, but some are very picky. My advice is to offer presoaked pellets which aren't too hard and crunchy along with other foods, and try to avoid spoiling it with live foods lest it learn to hold out for them.

[Yankee boy]

I actually hand fed it some flakes last night and it doesnt spook at all it just came up to my fingers and snatched it out, but spit some of it back out. Today im out to go get some bloodworms and brine shrimp because I want my fish to be healthy.

[Yankee boy]

O yes another thing is it safe to feed BGK frozen raw shrimp cut into tiny pieces?

[Fishfirst]

yes it is safe for him to eat it... but I will concure with everyone here that he will get to big for your tank, and will eat the neons in all likelihood.

[Yankee boy]

Yes yes I know im planning on buying a 55 gallon tank in a couple of months hope that suits his needs.

[Scuba Kid]

anyone correct me if im wrong, but i think a 55 is also too small. they get TWENTY INCHES long.

[Beerleader]

Yeah I had one before I gave a friend him and the tank, and it was only a 55 gal and I think he moved it to a 125 not sure though, but I was told he would be up to 18 inches at the least, so that seems as if he should be in a tank larger than 55 gallon when he's full sized. And Dan mine was very friendly, I was lucky! But I did make the mistake of feeding him brine and bloodworms when he was small, and now he almost refuses flake or pellets so its good that you have him eating that as well, because mine did hold out like someone else said, he only wanted frozen or live foods. And he did eat guppies quite easily and VERY fast! so beware he will eat those neons. But it is one of the coolest fish I ever had, he did remind me of a dog They are really neat they way they swim though. If you work with him, he should begin to handfeed, and hopefully won't hide all the time. Good luck with him!

[fish_doc]

Get a pvc pipe or somthing for the knifefish to hide in. He will feel real secure there. Clear tubes are fine since they are mostly blind.

[Yankee boy]

O so if i get the clear tube hell do just fine hiding in it even with the lights on? would it bother him?

[shev]

their eyes can see light pretty well, but they feel safe in a tube even if its clear because they use electric fields or something.