Clown Knife Fish

[Angele]

i have a 55gal. tank with plenty of wood and plants. my friends large tank is leeking pretty bad and messed up the stand. she went all over to try to give her clown knife away to the stores but no stores will take it as they do not have room.... i was her last option, i know the fish will grow very big but i'm hoping she gets her tank fixed a.s.a.p! i have been feeding it earth worms from the bait shop and rosy reds from the lfs... i have tried meal worms but it wont eat anything other than the earth worms and feeder fish... i'm not sure what els to feed it. any suggestions? the knife fish is only about 7 inches right now. other fish in the tank (temporarily as i am moving them to another tank in a couple days) senegal brichir about 7inches as well, 2 blue gouramies, 3 rosy barbs and 2 bristlenose plecos. worst case is that i end up having to keep the clown knife fish, what kind of fish could i add with it?

 

[MBOU]

None. You have a fish that is going to get BIG that is very predatory but with a tendancy to get beaten up. It also needs perfect water quality. You cant keep it in 55G for long so i dont advise adding any more fish until you know he has a big enough tank to go to.

 

[Angele]

thanks! i really hope she fixes her tank soon as my fish are starting to disapear but they are being moved to a smaller tank temporarily in a couple days. as for feeding this monster... what els can i try? it wont take anything that doesnt move i have looked for some info but all i find is feeders... i have never kept a knife fish before and i am very clueless as keeping them. so far its been doing good, very active!

 

[crazyforcordoras]

If you had to keep it, you would need at least a 75 gallon tank.

 

[simonas]

I keep a 10 inch one now and have kept them a couple of times before to about 18 inch. They grow really quickly at first and then slow down. The potential size is huge and in wild get about 3ft ish but in captivity it appears from another site I go on that they seem to max out at about 24 inch

Mines very active and easy to feed as he takes prawn, mussel lancefish and catfish and floating pelets

Ive never seen mine be aggressive and he gets on fine with bigger fish in the tank

 

[Angele]

Thanks for the info! ill definately look into a bigger tank just in case.... may have to order one as no stores here carry anything longer than 48"... this gives me an excuse to buy a bigger tank