Converting Freshwater To Cichlids Tank

[pbase5583]

the dimensions are 3 foot by 18 inches by 2 feet(deep) and the black ghost knife is 5 inches, they say they get around 24 inches, but in most cases they dont exceed 15 inches so 6 feet is bogus, no offense.
and the gar isnt a true gar but does get 11 inches or so.

 

[dbanner]

Onidrase is correct in saying black ghost knives deserve big tanks and 6 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot is a realistic size. Id say 5 feet long minimum. I mean think about it, even if you BGK did only reach the 15 inch mark... That still only leaves it with 21 inches (thats less than 2 feet) of straight line swimming space in your 3 foot tank which is nowhere near enough for a fish of over a foot in length. They need more room to move. The largest fish I would consider putting in a 3 foot tank would be 8-9 inches in length at most, and that's if they were a less active fish

 

[pbase5583]

well they are nocturnal and even at night they arent active 100% of the time and at a whopping 5 inches he is good for now. and i am moving him because like the title says im doing cichlids now. so if your going to comment please comment on cichlid help not about the current situation

and at 180 gallons (6'x2'x2') thats really big for a fish thats minimum tank size is 50 gallons. i could agree that they "deserve" but not need

 

[onidrase]

They could never live in a 50 gallon tank. These fish get huge, around 2 feet long, they wouldn't be able to turn around in a 50 gallon tank. I don't know where you heard that one, unless you do your research at chain pet stores.

Your eel will also reach about 3 feet long at least, and will most likely eat most african cichlids, not to mention it likes very different water parameters. I'd rehome it even if it could technically live in hard, alkaline water. It's the responsible thing to do.

 

[pbase5583]

how many 2 feet long black ghost knife fish do you own? And i am getting rid of most of them, btw the eel wont get more than 2 1/2" in diameter. the bgk in the wild maybe but tank raised noooo. and i told you i was putting him in another tank in my home. btw if i use HOB filter in my tank is there a way to transfer the media to a canister filter because i heard cichlids need one.

 

[dbanner]

A 180 is a much better tank for the BGK. Like Onidrase said there is no way it could live in a 50 gal for life, that's even if you base it on it getting to the 15inch mark, like you said not many at all get to 2 feet (unless in the wild) i have seen that many places online says 50gal but iv also seen some other crazy stuff online.... Like 55gal is ok for an Oscar I really don't know who comes up with this stuff but it's madness.

If your eel gets to say 2" or 2 1/2" in diameter then you will be surprised what it will be able to fit in its mouth lol iv got an Ornate Bichir that's close to 10 inches length, not even 1 inch in diameter yet but yet it can easily eat frozen slender bodied fish of 3 inches in length. He Even ate one of my buenos aires tetras which I did not expect at all because of the size of the tetra (2" deeper bodied) and Ornate. Didn't seem physically possible but he managed it lol obviously they have been separated now and he now lives with my Flowerhorn in a nice 5 foot x 2 foot tank. All I'm saying here is be careful and I'm sure you'll be fine

Your right in saying your going to need a canister filter. 2 canister filters would be better as it is in most cases. I'd look at fluval or tetratec. Iv had many fluvals including 405, 406 and fx5.. I prefer my tetratecs to any of them. I'm not 100% sure if you could use the media from you HOB although I can't see why? Maybe someone here could back this up.

 

[onidrase]

I don't own any 2 foot black ghost knives cause I know better than to buy them in the first place with tanks as small as mine. Go ahead and ask the same thing on the oddball forums or a big site like monster fish keepers and they'll happily pipe up for you.

In your tank your looking for cichlids that get 3-5 inches long at best, a full grown tyre track could easily take out a few.

 

[dbanner]

I don't own any 2 foot black ghost knives cause I know better than to buy them in the first place with tanks as small as mine. Go ahead and ask the same thing on the oddball forums or a big site like monster fish keepers and they'll happily pipe up for you.

In your tank your looking for cichlids that get 3-5 inches long at best, a full grown tyre track could easily take out a few.

This was what I was trying to get at lol