Clown Knifefish (Clown Feather Back)

[Goggy]

I have a tank that consists of one betta fish, school of rummy nose, 2 black ghost knifefish, 2 loach, 4 sucker fish and school of gold barbs. Will clown knife fish be a good addition to the tank? I've heard that clown knifefish are very aggressive predators and will eat anything that fits in their mouths but I really want a clown knifefish so I am just posting this to clarify if it's true.
Thanks!

 

[Wills]

Hi Goggy, as mentioned in your other thread about the puffer fish, your BGKs are enough of a threat to the other fish, the Clown Knifes are hugely more predatory than the Black Ghosts, they also grow to about twice the size.
 

I've heard that clown knifefish are very aggressive predators and will eat anything that fits in their mouths but I really want a clown knifefish so I am just posting this to clarify if it's true.

 
This is basically the best description of them. Though they are not particularly aggressive to fish of the same size but to house them with fish of the same size you would need a small swimming pool.
 
Wills

 

[Alasse]

They can and will often take chunks out of fish bigger than them too. A friend of mine has a large one and it can be quite aggressive with his bigger fish

 

[Goggy]

Haha how convinient I have a big pond with an arrowana 11 koi and 3 bala sharks 4 catfish all bigger than the small clown knifefish in the pet shop!

 

[Alasse]

Problem being, it wont stay small

 

[Goggy]

Thought about that! I heard that the size of koi can intimidate other predatory fish into not being so aggressive. I also don't think it can outgrow my HUGE koi

 

[Alasse]

It doesnt have to outgrow it to take a bite. Big fish get eaten too at times, just small bites at a time lol

 

[sawickib]

I have a tank that consists of one betta fish, school of rummy nose, 2 black ghost knifefish, 2 loach, 4 sucker fish and school of gold barbs. Will clown knife fish be a good addition to the tank? I've heard that clown knifefish are very aggressive predators and will eat anything that fits in their mouths but I really want a clown knifefish so I am just posting this to clarify if it's true.
Thanks!

I apologize for being blunt, but this tank sounds pretty poorly stocked, you betta fish and rummy nose will be looked on as food very quickly as the BGK mature, 2 BGK will also soon start to fight and be very territorial towards one another. What loaches do you have in the tank? Loaches need a school of 6+ along with your rummy noses. What sucker fish do you have? How big is the school of gold barbs? Clown knifes get huge and will eat any fish that fits in their mouth.

Haha how convinient I have a big pond with an arrowana 11 koi and 3 bala sharks 4 catfish all bigger than the small clown knifefish in the pet shop!

How do you have tropical fish with cold water fish? The balas should have a larger school wouldnt you say? What species are the 4 catfish? 
 
Sorry to be so negative just needed to address these issues.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Clown knives get quite large and would likely kill and/or eat everything in your tank eventually except for maybe the suckerfish, depending on what type they are.
 
It sounds like you might want to build another pond since you have cold water and tropical fish together.
 
I'm not quite sure how big koi get but like Alasse said, it doesn't really matter..the knife can and likely will take bites out of them.

 

[Goggy]

2 of my catfish are walking catfish 1 is upside down and one I don't know what type
My pond is around 28 degrees C the the fish has been living together for 4 years so the cold and tropical rule never crossed my mind

I plan to move my ghost knifefish to the a different tank or pond once they mature

Btw: my arowana is vegetarian and let me ask you : do YOU have walking catfish?

 

[sawickib]

Dont you think 82 degrees is a little hot for koi? 
 
Ive never heard of a vegetarian arrowana before... what do you feed it? 
 
No i dont own a walking catfish, i like some of the color morphs, but its a big catfish.

 

[Goggy]

82 degrees? Probably a typo and 28 degrees is about the surface of the pond while the bottom (I have a very deep pond) is where it's more cold around room temp
My arowana eats the koi food which is packed full of veggies
The reason I asked you about the walking catfish are banded to be pets in America while where I live there not banned

 

[sawickib]

Sorry i meant 82 degrees Fahrenheit. 
 
Could you answer these questions by chance?

 
 
I apologize for being blunt, but this tank sounds pretty poorly stocked, you betta fish and rummy nose will be looked on as food very quickly as the BGK mature, 2 BGK will also soon start to fight and be very territorial towards one another. What loaches do you have in the tank? Loaches need a school of 6+ along with your rummy noses. What sucker fish do you have? How big is the school of gold barbs? Clown knifes get huge and will eat any fish that fits in their mouth.

 

[Goggy]

I plan to move the BGK to a different tank or pond once they mature
The BGK live far away from each other In the tank so are not territorial
I have 2 Indian loach
10 rummys
6 gold barbs
4 Chinese algae eaters