# Black Ghost Knife



## M1ster Stanl3y (Dec 10, 2010)

Does anyone have any experience with Black Ghost Knife fish? My LFS had them at $7.99 each before and I thought they were cool then. Now they have them at about 4" and they are $14.99. I would like 2 of them to add to my 55 when its set up. I know they want caves and pipes plus they are nocturnal fish. Also they are semi electic and prefer food other then flakes. No one really knows about sexing them it seems. Temp range from 73 to 80. 

any experience out there with these awesome looking fish(fishes, fisheee's, fishies,what exactly is the mutliple of fish? )


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

Black ghost knives are a very unusual fish. They get quite large. They reach sizes of 20 inches. They originate in the Amazon River basin of South America. You were correct in stating that they don't have a favoring toward flake food, they do seem to have a taste for bloodworms and brine shrimp. They are very touchy to water quality and do poorly in hard water. They do best when fed right before the lights in the tank are turned off. They are nocturnal and this will keep the food from rotting. They also don't do well in very aggressive tanks or tanks with rapidly moving water. 

I would recommend only one knife in that tank. With their size, it would be difficult to keep more than one. They also tend to be quite aggressive toward their own kind. 
I would also recommend cory catfish and large tetras. These fish are peaceful but have robust bodies. (I'm not sure if knives are predatory fish, but I always worry about having large fish with very small fish.)


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

They use electronic impulses to find their food and when there is more than one in that size of a tank it gets confusing to them as to where the food is. 

I fed mine blood worms and brine shrimp and he was tame enough to eat from my fingers. They don't like a lot of water flow, but mine liked to play in the bubbles from a bubble wand. I had mine in a 75 gal tank with cories and black skirt tetras, The tetras started loosing their eyes to the ghost. So I wouldn't suggest any big bodied fish like some of the tetras and angels.


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## M1ster Stanl3y (Dec 10, 2010)

Susan how big did it get? I have read in the wild 20" and in aquarium only around the 12-18 lengths...would it fair well in a 55g? I really the way they look n my water parameters seem to fit their needs. I wouldnt mind arranging a set up for them with a moon light and some burried pots


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Mine was a little under 18 inches when I gave him to our local zoo I seen him a couple of months ago and he is pushing 20 inches and they have him in a 100 gal tank. They can survive in a 55 with no problem but if you want to see it thrive and be real active I would go 75 or better. Mine was active at all hours and would feed at anytime. All I would have to do is go near the tank and he was up front begging for food.


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## AliceInDallas (Dec 18, 2010)

M1ster Stanl3y said:


> Does anyone have any experience with Black Ghost Knife fish? ..... I know they want caves and pipes plus they are nocturnal fish. Also they are semi electric and prefer food other then flakes.


Hi there - I am by no means an expert on these fish, but I have one that is about 4 inches long. He does indeed like to hide out most of the day - although once he got used to the tank, he started coming out during the daytime at feeding time to scurry around and pick up the food that made it to the bottom. He will eat anything - small granulated bits, shrimp pellets, flakes, compressed and dried green algae sheets attached to a lettuce clip, etc. Loves bloodworms! AND he loves zucchini squash slices (which I originally put in there for my blue lobster). He will feast on the soft yellow flesh of the zucchini and leave most of the green peeling.

He does become more active when the lights go down in the evening. I turn off half the lights around 11:00 pm leaving one on to simulate evening for an hour or so, and that seems to be his time to rock! He's all over the tank then. He never hurts the other fish, and in fact lets them go in and out of his "coliseum" which is his hide-away. I don't know if this will change when he gets larger ..... but so long as he is well fed I am hoping all will be well. I have read that you can't keep two because they will fight, but that you can keep them in small groups 3 or more. Hmmmm. I haven't tried that yet, and may not, since I don't want anything to upset his seeming happiness in the tank (which is a 90 gallon).

Cheers!


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## Mikolas (Jan 16, 2010)

Most everybody told you what you needed to know.

Nocturnal, carnivorous, looks cute and tiny but grows to 18ish inches (somewhat quickly from what I've been told), and don't do well in many community tanks. The reason for this is that while they may be carnivorous, they aren't all that aggressive nor are they particularly great at defending themselves, so certain fish can harass them with ease. The most important thing I think people didn't mention is that while it may seem ok to pair them up with other fish that are originally similar in size (tetras, barbs, etc), after it grows large enough, you'll likely notice some missing fish. As one stated, their fish was missing eyeballs, and I'm sure it wasn't because it was fussy, but instead thought it was food.


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