Ghost Knife Fish

[NeilP]

Got a Black Ghost knofe Fish at the weekend, and so far he has spent all the time hidden behind the internal Filter.

I think that he comes out at night as i heard the thermometer rattling against the glass - but as soon as you try and look he's gone again!

I know that they like dull and gloomy, and have placed a tray between the lights and the tank (it makes the water look all yellow ) but this hasn't helped to coax him out of hiding.

Any ideas?

 

[Sondan]

OK Neil,
This will be the most important piece of advice I can give you. DO NOT mess with the fish for the first few weeks or months. I have found that they take a long time to adjust to a new place. But as for lighting I don't use any special kind of lighting. As long as the fish has a dark place to escape to he is fine. If you want to be able to see the fish more you can buy a little clear plastic tube that is sold specifically for Ghosts. But also you need to remember he is a nocturnal fish so his day time activity is going to be limited. After a few weeks and he has settled in you can then start to teach him to become hand fed and if you are like me....you will really enjoy it.
As I am rereading your message does the ghost have a tube or cave to hide in If not you need to get one IMMEDIATELY. This is how I lost my first one.
My ghost also like to hide behind my filter for the first week or two but once he found his hiding cave and stuff he became much active and I could see him a lot more. I know there is a lot more I can probably say but the bottom line is this fish takes a while to get comfortable..just have to be patient.
Signed,
Sondan
P.S. If you are able to keep him alive after a few months..he will probably be around for a number of years. Good luck

 

[NeilP]

Brill - Thanks Sondan,

I have placed a large (ish) glass in the tank for him to hide in - if you can hide in a glass! I did this as i had heard about the clear tubes - are the tubes special or just clear plastic tubes?


He (?) and the Butterfly fish that were introduced at the same time don't seem to be eating. All the food disappears by morning, but that may just be the Bulldog plec! Could this also be the 'settling in' period.

Thanks

Neil.

 

[Sondan]

The one I bought was clear plastic tube about 8-9 inches long. It did have to small legs on it though to it could be anchored into the gravel to stop it from rolling. But I now use an old glass gas lamp tube for him. It is oblong but bigger in dimensions for him. I mentioned the plastic tube because it was only a few dollars to buy it and I will probably end up using it again when I get another ghost.
Signed,
Sondan

Added: also you may leave the lights off for a few days to help him adjust better. But as long as he has a dark spot to hide in he will be OK.

 

[mrV]

Hope you are prepared to buy huge tank for it some day... (it's about 50cm/20")

http/filaman.uni-kiel.de/Summary/Species...sname=albifrons

Also, don't put it with small fishes.

at the same time don't seem to be eating. All the food disappears by morning, but that may just be the Bulldog plec!

What do you give them?

 

[Sondan]

Well common sense will have to be used but small fish are fine. At 6 to 7 inches mines mouth is only abut 1/8 to MAYBE 1/4 of an inch. I love to feed him earth worms but they have to be pretty small in diameter. Now at 20 inches that could be another story but like I said COMMON SENSE. This fish is very funny,,,you would think that at 7 inches a 1 inch fish would be a snack but this is not the case. Their mouth does not hinge like most fish. Even a guppy can open his mouth pretty wide compared to his head size but a ghosts mouth is actually very small. For the longest time I had mine with Cardinal Tetras, Cory cats, and Harlequins. The reason he is not still with these fish is (besides the cory cats) that they all died of old age.
A large tank is going to be required if you want to have him grow to full size though. I wouldn't put one in anything smaller then a 55 gallon (U.S. size) and preferably a 75 gallon+.
After reading that link they have very small mouths for a reason,,,,they don't need big ones. They eat insect larvae (not fish) which is usually rather small...makes sense now.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[mrV]

Yes, their mouths look like they are small like elephant has, but big enough... But this fish is also predator and it start to hunt at night. I have heard/read that some hobbiest found halves fishes (tetras, cories...) when he has knife fish at home. And someone told that he gave guppies to feed them! (And it's even illegal in Finland, he didn't know that then.)

I wouldn't buy this fish at all. If you think that the fish is 50cm long when adult (if it's not stunted!! And propably most of them are because they are kept in too small tank), the tank must have some lenght (over 200cm at least) and some wide. Normal tanks aren't usually very wide; there has to be enough space that fish can turn to back too. I have seen several fishes that only stay still, because they don't have enough space to swim. And it's very sad...

They look very "cool" when they are small, but when they area adult, they are something else than "cool".

http/www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/pr...notus+albifrons

 

[NeilP]

Mine is currently in a 8 gallon (UK) but will b moved to the 80 gallon when it is fully cycled. It's only 3 ft wide, but is nearly 3 ft high and 2ft deep - so there should be plenty of room for a while

I'm currently feeding it frozen mixed food (bloodworm, larvae etc) - because it's not 'out' when i generally feed my fish i don't see whether it eats it or not - I'll try dropping in the food just before i turn out the lights - that may help.

Thanks for all your help. B)

 

[Sondan]

Well they are not fish eaters. They are insectivores and after all the years I have had mine I have never even seen a missing tale let alone half of a fish. Now I did have a bettas tale that got shredded but that was the worst. Will they eat fish??? Well common sense says yes they will but their mouth size does matter. At 1/4 an inch and that is really stretching his mouth not even a guppy can fit in it. More realistically it is just a little bigger then 1/8 of an inch. IF we double his size to 14 inches then he maybe able to fit a guppy in there. At 20 inches his mouth 3/4 an inch. I would have to agree with Mr.V that at that size guppies and anything very small like that would be lunch.
This makes ecological sense since they eat insect larvae. Very few larvae grow over 1 inch in size. As for feeding them flakes mine will eat them but a lot of sights I have visited have said they rarely do. I mostly feed mine brine shrine, blood worms, and the every so often when I can find them earth worms. The only problem with earthworms is that they are usually not small enough for him. I have taken a fish ecology class in college and very few insect larvae are more then 1/2 an inch in length. If you anyone ever gets the chance to go river and stream sampling DO IT !!! It is great fun.
On a funny note, I have noticed that his nostrils are located more up and on top of his mouth. Sometimes when I feed him a worm it will take him several minutes to eat it just because of the size. When he has it in his mouth though you can see he is using the nostrils to pump water threw.
An 80 gallon tank would be great. Is that US or UK gallons though? Mr. V has given you the cons and I have given you the pros....know it is all up to you.
Signed,
Sondan
Added: I just looked at US/Brit gallons and an 80 gallon Brit tank would be about a 67 gallon American one.

 

[Eelzor]

Ok, neilp I will clear up this hiding thing for you because like sondon said, it can take weeks/months, but it definatly worth it. In my case, my bgk was hiding most of the time when I first got him and he went straight into the cave. After a few days he was just wondering around the cave, after about a few weeks all I have to do is put my bloodworm in the tank and he immediatly come out to eat! I have several problems attacking me at once though. My angels, being mighty hoggers take at least 50% of the bloodworm before it reachs the bottom, so I must feed flake food at the other side of the tank (if you have other hog fish like that then do something like im saying). Then The bloodworm hits the bottom. But then the clown loaches are to be delt with. But other than my big cave I have, I have a small log he goes into. So I put some bloodworm in there. So just put the bloodworm in the cave your bgk hides in. If other fish eat it, don't worry the bgk get quite desparate for food after a while. And now in my case, when it comes to feeding mine just shoals arund with the fellow clown loaches so happily and during the day a lot. I look forward to the day, when humans keep getting there bgk's out during daying time, that bgk's may one day evolve to become a daytime fish. Good bless those bgk's...