Common name/s: Black Ghost Knife, Ghost Knife, Ghost Ray

Scientific name: Apteronotus albifrons

Family: Apteronotidae

Origin: Amazon River, South America

Maximum size: 24 Inches in the wild. Usually not that large in captivity.

Care: The Black Ghost Knife requires a tank that it can turn around in which should have a width of 24 inches. Although they can be raised in small tanks, you must upgrade to the BGK's full size eventually. A tank size of 80 Gallons is sufficient. This fish rarely gets over 20 inches long in captivity. The amount of waste this fish produces is low, however a hang-on style filter is still beneficial. They are sensitive to water conditions, they will tolerate pH levels from 6.5 to 8. They do best in temperatures ranging from 75F-82F (24C-28C). Tank mates may include other 'oddball' fish like eels, butterfly fish and the like, however, they are fine with any non aggressive fish that is not seen as food, so larger community fish like Angels, larger Botia species and many more will do fine.

Feeding: Black Ghost Knives will usually accept fish flakes, small live fish, chopped earthworms, blood worms, brine shrimp, glass worms, tubifex worms, and beef heart to name a few.

Sexing and Breeding: There is no physical way to sex a black ghost knife and not much has been accounted on there breeding behaviour however a courtship is involved before the female lays eggs (Spawning).

Comments: The black ghost knife is nocturnal so seeing them all the time is not a common thing. They are also blind and so rely on their sensitive electrical sense to find food and find their way around the tank. The BGK also has a particularly large mouth, so anything that fits in there is under risk of being eaten as BGK's are fish eaters as well.

Note: A weak electrical sense guides the BGK around the tank, the fact that two BGK's can be kept in one tank is a controversial one. Usually you must have a larger tank (75Gallon+) to support more then one BGK, however nothing is certain.

Photo of the Black Ghost Knives were kindly supplied by 'BlueIce' from this website.

My baby BGK.



Short Video i took whilst he was still bagged up.

These fish are very fun to keep and pretty hardy at times. They'll even swim into your hand a lot of the time.
The only problem is I actually find they grow slowly. Most people get comfortable and never really notice them growing, next thing you know you got a 14 inch fish that you have to do something with.

hi my name is shane benck i live in bunbury western australia and i just bred black ghost knifes just wanted to share asfar i know not to many people have !

this is mine!

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This post has been edited by Darkstar: Nov 27 2007, 11:32 AM

This fish is great. They are beautifull, and fun to own.

Here is mine. He is about 9 in. And he can definately stand his grounds and chase away pleco from his hideout under driftwood. and when my bf put Oscar in the tank BGK showed him who the boss. so as soon as i got home i moved Oscar and BGK was still perfectly happy, healthy fish.









This post has been edited by LuSciOuS_GirL: Feb 21 2008, 01:47 AM