Clown knife's Info

[thefishofdoom]

i've ben reading on this thread and there are questions on clown knives and the size. so i thought i would clear this up. all clown knives, no matter the morph get relativly same size. Which is about 39 inch's. they love krill, silversides, Feeders, pellets, and other food like the market prawns and fish fillet when bigger. when younger, feed them black worms, frozen blood worms and pellets as well. Clown knives change their patterns as they grow, most remarkably with royal clown knifes which fetch higher prices.
Ph 5.5 to 7.0 may be kept higher but not recommended.
dh range 2-10.
temp 75 to 82 degrees farenheit.

Order:Osteoglossiformes SubOrder:Notopteroidei Family: Notopteridae
Genera:Notopterus

Distribution: Asia, found in Thailand, India, Borneo, Malaysia and Sumatra.

Tank should be large with at least 36in of turning space. Should have cover and hiding spots.

heres some pics of mine
as u see in the first pic he is hiding

[Hasi]

Thanks for the info! Good post :thumbsup:

[tigermax]

My clown knife won't eat anything but live foods.

[thefishofdoom]

My clown knife won't eat anything but live foods.
what have you tried first of all

[sypher]

thanks for the info and BTW nice pics...

[philipng]

My clown knife used to eat flakes, until I ended up giving him away to someone with a MUCH larger tank.

[rook45]

thanks good info

[Im4u2nV]

great info...mine is still small...only around 5"

[bishr]

i have had 3 ones for 5 years now and they are the best... very strong and easy to care for. i really love them. they are not demanding at all. they can survive sudden drops in water temp in case of power outage or frequent water changes and will eat any kind of feeder fish as well as tetra floating sticks.


i saw some royal ones at the market a month ago but didn't buy any because they would surely need a new aquarium as the ones i have would eat them if they end up in the same aquarium. i am in syria and the whole hobby is not that popular so i don't think i will be seeing more of the royal knifefish soon. still having three adult ones is enough.

thanks for this great forum.

[lumad]

mine clownknife also is 5" and is in a 25gallon tank. I gave him a nice bif clay pot as a cave to hide and he is always in there, though ocassionally swim outside of it. can you pls. tell me if acan have another kind of fish to live with him? if so, can you pls. tell what kind? :D

[KurseD]

CK go good with lots of fish that won't fit in their mouth. i've had sucess keeping them with different kinds of semi-agro large sized cichlids. the CK and Aro is a good combo to. as long as they have room to move, a variety of food, and a place to hide.

[flamenco-t]

I have my CK (which is about 8") with a red tailed catfish, tiger shovelnose catfish and 2 bicirs. As long as you keep everything within the same size and fed regulary, they will all get along just fine.

Having all of them together since they were young help as well.

[rottbo]

ok a 25 gallon tank is way to small i have had my Ck for about 9 months now and i got him when he was 1.5" now he is 19" they grow fast and i keep him with alot of other fish look at my sig but as to size of tank mine has outgrown my 110 and he is going into the 750 gallon pond in my basement heres a pic of the guy with my big silver aro sorry its an old pic i will tyr and get new ones

[blairsteelers]

this helped since i just bought a knife fish
and i am thinking of a buying another.

thanks for the info.
good job!
=)

[blairsteelers]

what is the smallest knife fish?

and how many gallons is needed?

[thefishofdoom]

what is the smallest knife fish?

and how many gallons is needed?
i think its a african brown knifefish they get 12in max and need like i think a 20 gallon tank min

[ewurm]

Very interesting I was looking for temp range thanks!

[Gr8KarmaSF]

so whats the growth rate of a CK?

1/2 per month?

[thefishofdoom]

so whats the growth rate of a CK?

1/2 per month?
ya some times it can be alittle more

[dark stranger]

thanks for all the imfo guy's

[rottbo]

in my experince they grow way faster than 1/2 per month mine has grown almost 1 1/2 inches per month

[thefishofdoom]

in my experince they grow way faster than 1/2 per month mine has grown almost 1 1/2 inches per month
depends on how much u feed and how often

[rottbo]

hey i dont go skimpy on my fish i like them to be healthy and no my fish are not overweight just way too spoiled

[fishnthings]

want kind of other foods will they eat besides feeders?

[rottbo]

dont feed feeders!!!!!! mine loves floating cichlid sticks or pellets but he also loves fresh stuff like market shrimp or fillets of all kinds he alos devours frozen stuff too

[thefishofdoom]

ya like i said shrimp and worms and others like that stay away from feeds as long as u can u can treat him but its a no no as a stable diet

[fishnthings]

well i tried pellets today and he would mouth em and spit em out:swear:

[sauroid]

mine will eat nothing but live food. he's been eating live food since i got him at two inches seven years ago. (he's now 22"). nowadays, i only feed him 3 to 4 days in a week of conditioned live-fish (he wouldn't eat anything else).

[allstar]

how long knife fish can be reach.............???

[cichlid savage]

a LFS in my area has a brown knife. If they only get to be about 12" i could handle that with one of my current tanks. I might have to look into this a bit deeper :naughty:

[sauroid]

how long knife fish can be reach.............???
clownknives can reach 30" to a meter in the wild and in very large tanks or ponds.

[pebblehead]

hello i just joind the forum and i am aw struck at some of the fish people own i am in the market for a 125 us gal. 72x18x22 could i keep a ck if so anything els? just wondering have no idea of what to get and i allways loved ck thanks much


jeff

the tank mentiond above is the fist i saw that i liked but if i can find something thats 6' but wider thats not crasy $$$$$ thats what i want to shot for but thats all i have see so far it's not easy for me to get around cause i don't have a car but i have planes to check out a lfs thats about an hour from me in the near futer.... thanks for your time

[maycupid]

my knife is about 5", but he scare ppl >o<

[STATIC X]

mine is 17'' i buy my clown knife 03/26/2006 at lenght of 6 inches and
now its a monster......................the secret super guppy and pike pellets

[mercury904]

I have a clown knife fish which I bought for $2 and he's about 10 inch in a 51 US gallon tank, but im having problem with its feeding habits coz it eats nothing but small fishes,and I dont want to introduce any sickness to it,I tried to feed it with varied food such as pellets,flakes,granules,dried small shrimp and even hotdogs,Right now I tried to starve him for three days maybe he''ll accept any if he's starved but im afraid of him starving to death, pls help me



mercury904@yahoo.com

[vicedretard]

thanks for the gen info...i just got a clown knife three days ago from a breeder who i bought mine from who told me about this site to get good info from people who own clowns...by the way nice pics.

[benzjamin13]

I've read a lot of books that say that they are aggressive towards each other and some say that they are even aggressive towards other fish and should be kept alone. However, I've seen them in pairs and I've seen them in large predatory community tanks. I think it depends on the individual fish you get. The one I have right now is the most aggressive Clown Knife I've ever had, but he's not that bad. And the ones in the past have been fairly docile.

[big E]

I haven't seen too many really agressive ones? I also haven't seen too many larger ones either? so I guess it may depend on the size and individual?

[thefishofdoom]

most clown knives stay to them self but there are individuals like all other fish that get agressive

[snickers28]

why should we not try feeding it a feeders or live foods?? except all we know that some can cause disease., pls tell me., i need to be enlighten here..

[Muhammad Saad]

your information is so good

[thefishofdoom]

why should we not try feeding it a feeders or live foods?? except all we know that some can cause disease., pls tell me., i need to be enlighten here..

u dont feed live feeder(besides worms) because useally people buy them and throw them in and coming from most stores they have very bad nutrional value. but if u wanted live feeder i suggest gut loading like u do with crickets before feeding a lizards.


dose that help?

[elbeatch]

i always gut load feeders, but i generally avoid them. I got my knife on frozen food by getting frozen shrimp, thawing them out in sea salty water and wiggling it at the surface. He spit it out the first time but the next time he ate it, has been ever since. My knife was 5" when i got him with 2 polys and a fire eel, the only time he's aggressive is when he mistakes a poly tail for a feeder when he gets in hot pursuit mode. but other than poor daysight he lets the ornatipinnis rest on his back, for long periods of time too, always though that was cool.

[elbeatch]

oh yeah earthworms help them get used to non feeder food too.

[Crustman]

My clown knives are taking pieces of fresh raw shrimp. The silver aro also eats this. I also saw them eat some frozen krill. Oh yeah, they will even swim out of their shelters to eat brine shrimp. I like it when they stalk feeder goldfish.

[TicaL]

if a clown knife were to be raised from a small juvenile (2-3 inches) in a 30 gallon tank, at what length of the fish would I need to move it to a larger tank?

[benzjamin13]

I'd give it until 8" but no more than 12"

[TicaL]

I'd give it until 8" but no more than 12"


word, thanks. I'm trying to decide what fish to start off with and I'm considering a Clown Knife because of my intentions of moving the fish to a larger aquarium in a little under a year.

[abyss721]

i have two small clowns, both eating bloodworms , but trying to get them to eat pellets. they have avoided the pellets all day. not sure if i should keep them hungry or give in and feed the worms

[MistirE]

Thanks, Mines young...I'll give more bloodworms!

[doubledragon]

Mines probably about 17inches he eats mostly feeders,not my choice but his,he does like nightcrawlers though, and has eaten a couple pieces of market shrimp. As soon as I upgrade him, which is real soon, I am puttin him in with two albino channels and going to start feedin floating pellets mainly, and other foods also (BUT NO FEEDERS) so I really hope he picks up on this quickly cause he is the only reason feeders are in my house right now and I'm pretty tired of it. I think he will adapt cause he never passes up the night crawlers, but anytime I've tried to feed him pellets in the past he just mouthed them and spit em,but fish learn from other fish so the channel pigs, I mean cat's, should show him how to comsume the pellets just fine.

[kev]

i have a clown knife its eats about everything we feed him it is in an 125 gallon aquarium and we got him when he was about 4 inches it is like 7 inchels now we have had him for over a year why is my clown knife growing so slow i have him in a tank with two 12-14 inch oscars and one 16 inch albino channel catfish with a 12 inch pleco we have a flower pot that he stays in all the time is this the reason he may not be growing to fast or do i have to many fish in the aquarium?

kevin

[Mtnbike719]

Approximately how big do you guys who have experience with clowns knives think that the aquarium should be?

[HunterX]

Approximately how big do you guys who have experience with clowns knives think that the aquarium should be?
My clown is about 10" now. I just got a 260G 7' by 2' by 30" for him and my Birchers. Some people say you need a tank thats 3' wide but who can put a tank that big in their house? I would think a 210G (2'wide 6'long) is the minimum for a full grown knife. My LFS agrees with me on this.

[HunterX]

I think that one of the best things about having a Clown Knife is watching them attack feeders. The risk of disease is WAY overblown. In the wild fish mainly catch weak/ diseased fish . I do however buy my feeders by the hundred and quaranteen them, mostly to fatten them up. IMO why keep Birchers or Clowns to feed them pellets- yawn. Piscivores should be fed live fish.

[plausible]

ok a 25 gallon tank is way to small i have had my Ck for about 9 months now and i got him when he was 1.5" now he is 19" they grow fast and i keep him with alot of other fish look at my sig but as to size of tank mine has outgrown my 110 and he is going into the 750 gallon pond in my basement heres a pic of the guy with my big silver aro sorry its an old pic i will tyr and get new ones

love your CK's markings =)
heres mine

[ufo_paul]

They are a lovely fish here is my one at about 20".

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h224/billy_boy_photos/fishtank215.jpg

[peninha]

my CK is at 20'' and eats every kind of fish fillets i give him, he also loves shrimp sinking pellets and Sera Nip huge pellets, these are supposed to be sticked to the aquarium glass for smaller fish to nip from them, but a CK can eat as much as 10/12 in seconds.

[Rarefantazy]

I used to have 2 of them, but one of them quickly died coz the other one (was a bit bigger than him) didn't let him eat anything at all, so he died from hunger.
Also, at the begining, when I first added them to the tank, they refused to eat anything else but living fish/frogs etc...but since a month now, he (the one who's still alive) eats almost everything, even discus food. lol

[Andri Pogo]

I have had one clown for 2 months now, it has grown to about 5-6".
Today I added 2 new clowns to the tank, they are a little bigger than the first one, but not much. They all share the same spot and everything seems to be working out fine.

Has anyone here experience from having more than one clown knife together?
I read somewhere that 3 was better then 2, thats why i added 2 more.

[fish*mad]

great info, i was just about to post for some info on the ck and i saw this post some you've saved me some time :D .

CHEERS!

[Guro]

Have one clown knife 4", but there is a royal clown knife in the shop 7".
Compatible?

[DISCIPLE]

IF THEY DONT GET ALONG IN THE SAME TANK WHY IS IT AT LFS THEY HAVE THEM ALWAYS IN A TANK TOGETHER LIKE 14 MAX AND IT ISNT A 30 GALLON EITHER? I ADMIT THEY HAVE TUBES BUT I SEE NO AGRESSION AT ALL. IM JUST ....CURIOUS.:nilly:

[peninha]

this guy eats everything from shimp pellets to whatever fish chunks and inclusive almost every tank mate. no feeding problems on this fish.

http://www.megagaleria.com/pictures/Pic_10392_10.jpg

[_Sushi_]

Disciple, The reason petstores get away with mixing a LOT of completely incompatible animals, is simply b/c shipping stresses them out, and improper care weakens them, and they don't have enough energy to fight with an incompatible animal until you get them home, and get them properly taken care of....

For example: Our petstore mixes Brown Anoles, Green Anoles, and House Geckos, normally, these animals DO NOT live in the same "section" of the forest. Especially since Brown anoles EAT green anoles' eggs, and geckos eat both kind of anole eggs. So these animals are all stressed due to close quarters (20-30 lizards in an enclosure big enough for only 1 of either kind) The stress of having the animal that eats your eggs jammed in there with you, and long shipping from being snared from your home tree.

I would be too stressed to fight someone I didn't like too!!

[Axle]

how long can c/k live? I have a 10 year old that is about 24"

[95Harley]

These fish have a pretty long lifespan; about 12-15 years, sometimes even longer. I read once where someone had one for 20 years

[killertiger]

i have a clown knife and i have had him for around 4 months now i got him when he was around 3 in. he is now 10 full in. long
i started feeding him live food but reasently ive been feeding my catfish liver and my knife goes crazy when i put it in the tank and eats the liver with a passion.
i was wondering is this normal?

[Blue Butcher]

I have a 22" Golden CK. They told me he was 4 years old when I bought him. I resqued him from a pet store. He eats goldfish and alge tablets. My ID sharks have learned to eat their tablets quickly. Anybody else got a Gold one. I have never seen another one before and I would like another one.

[kapertal]

That all I feed my Clown Knife fish and i've never had a problem with his health. Only ever feed live food maybe once a month or so.

[barrakooda]

how fast does your grow????
I've had mine for almost a year now and its only grown maybe 2-3 inches or so to a total of maybe 6 inches in my 3ft tank (65 gallons). could that be the reason because its in a small tank?

[Ben_Jam_In]

i have a 11 inch clown i got him when he was about half that size and he only ate feeders and now he eats krill silver sides and pellets i would feed him alot then starve him then feed him because i hated feeding feeders because i would have to get enough so he could eat some because my bigger fish would go nuts for them but now that he is on pellets and krill he has grown about an inch in a month. is only aggresive when he needs to be now he is the same size as my festae and the festae wont mess with him anymore.

[Bosa]

I got mine at about 3" and he started growing faster after about 5" I just feed mine feeder comets. You guys feed yours frozen krill? I was wondering how big do think they'll get in a 75gal? I just put him in and right now he's around 8". I plan to keep him in there till I can afford a bigger tank, tanks are expensive in hawaii!

[congofeet]

I grew mine from 3 inches to about 12 in a 55 gallon in about 6 months. Then from 12 to 18 in a 135 gallon in about a year. Mine is over 24 inches now in a 300 gallon and is about 2.5 years old.

[johndoe21ro]

Well, I got mine at 3" and put it in a 60 gallon tank along a J.D, an Eupterus Syno (8"), Mystus Leucophasis(6"), a Leiocassis Siamensis (6"), a 5" L191 (Dull-Eyed Panaque), a 6" Horabagrus Brachysoma and a Joselimaianus Pleco (9"). In 5 months he grew from 3" to 10 inches and ate TetraDiscus (I had to much and being very nutritious and healthy I used it for all my fish), live tubifex and few feeder fish. I'm planning to move it to a 180 gal tank with a 15" Pangasius Sutchi, 15" Plec, a few smaller Albino IR Sharks, an Eupterus Syno (8"), Mystus Leucophasis (6"), a Leiocassis Siamensis(6") a 6" J.D and a pair of Green Terror (about 8" each). I'm gonna add some earthworms to his diet too. The strange thing is that I introduced in the tank (knowing the high risk) 4 Botia at 4" for exterminating some snail invasion. And he was Mr. Peace all along the extermination process. He seldom chases my JD (which is a real bully almost killing 4 other JD which I got rid of) but nothin serious. All in all a great fish. I hope to have the time to post some pics in my next visit.

I also have a BGK which I bought at 2.5" and now he's almost 11" (after about 10 months). He is in a 100gal tank with 5 adult Discus, 5 5" Yo-Yo, Senegalus Bichir (8"), Platydoras Costatus (8"), Agamyxis Pectinofrons (6"), 2 Peacock Eel (7&11"), 1 Mastacembelus Circumcinctus (7"), 1 6" Gibbi, 1 15" Plec, 3 5" Pearl Gourami, 1 15" IR Shark, 2 6" Albino Sharks, 1 7" Albino Plec. He is very peaceful, never threatened any of my smaller fish (probably because I raised it since he was very small with them) but quite secretive. He eats the same diet as my CK. I noticed they are a lot more sensitive to ammonia/nitrites/nitrates especially when young and/or fresh introduced. I know my 100 gal is a little bit crowded but till the 180 gal arrives I'm managing it. I've learned to keep them like this and to keep them at peace and all worked just fine. Maybe I haven't said anything new but I figured that some of you are still new to KF and any information is useful. Cheers.

[artemis1]

Don't mean to steal thefishofdooms thread, however I wrote a clown knife article a while back and I'd rather not let it collect dust...

The clown knife fish is often encountered in aquaria, however it is kept most often by those that cannot correctly keep this fish. Not only does it demand live or frozen food and clean water, but it also requires a very large aquarium of at least 240-300 gallons (some large knives may require larger tank around the 400 gallon mark) . Clown knives are very large fish and can reach over four feet in the wild, however rarely get over two or three in the home aquarium.

Now for setting up the tank. Substrates should be sand or gravel, or anything that’s not sharp and could injure your knife. Clown knives are naturally nocturnal and during the day will often hide (especially when younger, less so as they grow). Fish deprived of a hiding spot may get stressed and picked on by other fishes. A large PVC pipe will work, however it will eventually need something bigger to hide in. A large cave should do just fine, however take care to avoid stacking rocks on top of each other or they could fall and injure the knife. Because of their large size, heavily decorated tanks should be avoided.
Clown knives are warm water fish and should have a good heater, several decent filters (overfilter if possible), an aerator(not necessary if there’s several filters), lights(clown knives live in areas where light is scarce, so the only reason for a light is so you can see them), and obviously water(a ph of about 6-8.0).

Clown knives occasionaly have stripes when young, but these fade with age. The black spots, however, don’t fade (often the fish get more with age) When choosing your knife, aim for a specimen around the 6-8’’ mark. Examine the fish carefully for diseases and ask the lfs guy to feed the fish.

As for feeding, clown knives are predators by nature and will accept most any live food small enough to fit in the clown knive’s mouth(clown knives can open their mouth bigger then one would think)- and that includes other fish in the tank. Some people would rather not feed live food, and if so, clown knives will accept frozen food and possibly pellet, although it may take some weaning.

Tank-mates should be chosen with care. Although the knife may not seem to be aggressive towards them, knives tend to like late midnight snacks. On the other hand, overly aggressive fish may bully the passive knife to death(or eat it). Such fish include large Central American or African cichlids(though some will work), large catfish(i.e. Red Tails, Shovelnoses, etc.), arowana(works when both the same size) etc.
After you have the tank all set up, just cycle it, and add fish. Maintain weekly 20-30% water changes, and enjoy the fish!

Here's my old guy:

[Rhodes09]

thanks for the great info!!

[artemis1]

Thanks :)

[killerfish]

cool info

[mercury904]

Cool! FYI: you can teach them eat pellets too...maybe its better to start teaching it at a young age..

[artemis1]

cool info
Thanks:)

Cool! FYI: you can teach them eat pellets too...maybe its better to start teaching it at a young age..
thanks man. I thought i included they could eat pellets in the article somewhere, could be wrong. Don't really feel like searching around for where it says that or not, lol:D

[Aqua Sanctuary]

Overall this is good info!


I have mixed thought on the spots increasing as they age. I have heard that if they have a certain amount when they are young, they will have that same amount at full size. I will find out soon enough. I have the baby pics of my clown and she has no new spots.. yet.

[benzjamin13]

Nice info.

[artemis1]

Overall this is good info!


I have mixed thought on the spots increasing as they age. I have heard that if they have a certain amount when they are young, they will have that same amount at full size. I will find out soon enough. I have the baby pics of my clown and she has no new spots.. yet.

Thanks. I had heard the did gain spots. Maybe some do, some don't. Don't know for sure.

[MUNSTA]

really helpful info thanks

[artemis1]

really helpful info thanks

thanks:)

[cichlidgirl]

Hello.
I have the following fish in the following tanks:

6 foot 135 gallon tank: I have 6 burundi frontosa (juvies) 3-5 inches, 2 red empress 4 inches, 1 blue dolphin (2 inch), 1 chilotilapia 4 inch range . The blue dolphin and frontosa are very slow growing.

7 foot 265 gallon tank: Arrives sat. No occupants, have 13 1 inch mpimbwe frontosa was going to put in there but can put in six foot tank instead.

My questions are:

Are knife fish aggressive (fronts are mean to eachother but wimps with other species) im looking for a fish to clean the sand and act as a distraction to the fronts (alpha is a major bully). I think you all call that dither ? I want to make sure the knife wont eat the slower growing frontosa, the frontosa are also not particulary active. They tend to find a comfy spot and just hang there suspended over an object like rockwork etc..

I have a well ,water is a ph of 8.5-9, hard water, . Will a knife live in those water parems. I used to keep south americans (oscars for 20 yrs) and my water at my new house eventually killed them. I now keep africans and they thrive. I considered clown loach but am afraid that they will not take to my water.

[Spot'sMom]

I've had my CKF for just under a year now. He was about 1 1/2 inches when I got him last July. He's 12 inches now and I think has slowed his growing as he's thoroughly overcrowded in a 30 Gal. I'm moving him into a 4 ft 50gal as soon as it cycles.

I've been feeding 6-7 protien pellets every day for the last 4 months, he'll eat as many as I'll give him, but I'm stingy, he's growing oo fast as it is! I've always fed my small tropicals every-day, so maybe this is just a force of habit.

Am I suposed to be feeding him every day? And how much should I feed him? I'm starting him on the frozen bloodworms in the little pre-packages (individual servings) when he gets into the 50 Gal. How many and how often should I feed him this? I'm learning that these monster fish don't need to eat every day... so I'm confused.

[bassman440]

thanks for the thread very informative

[krytan]

Very usefull info but i have read a lot of info saying that clown knifes only grow to 18-20" in an aquarium, is this true?

[Andri Pogo]

i myself dont expect more than 20-25"

[yani]

I have a large 120 gallon tank, which I want to use to house two knifefish of the same kind. I am trying to observe the breeding habits of them. Believe it or not but my knifes have bred before. They are in the pond though. My question is; is a chitala chitala better or a chitala ornata or chitala blanci. Which one usually weighs the most, eats the most, grows the largest and is the most hardy? Please reply, if you can e-mail me at yani@mweb.co.za

[daveo01]

hi im quite new to it all too , my CK will eat live fish but also eats minced ox heart and other meats that have been minced and frozen into small cubes

[TLkmDN]

Very usefull info but i have read a lot of info saying that clown knifes only grow to 18-20" in an aquarium, is this true?
bull**** .... mine are 38'' in 4-5 years

[benzjamin13]

bull**** .... mine are 38'' in 4-5 years

But you got a pond. I haven't seen a CK past 2' in an aquarium.

[mr.sunshine]

mines only 7'' now but i hope to get him big

[bigchubz]

HERE IS MY NEW ONE
256499

[Ackles]

Would it be alright to put a clown knife with my two like 3-4" oscars. I really want to get another fish to put in the tank. And i want a clown knife but i dont know much about them. My oscars are really fast to get there food, i dont want them to eat everything before the knifefish can, they especially demolish guppies. Help me out!!

[lordofthejewsjr]

i have two 3-4" in ck, 2 needle fish 3 neon tetras, 2 hydro gars, 1 half beak, 2 chinese algae eaters. is this a bad setup?

[midnightCK]

ouch for the nano fish! your neons will get eaten i think. how big is the others? i have a few the same size. they seem to do well with loaches. doesnt hurt my aro either. it would be best if u put them alone,specied,or with other preds. in that order lol imo.

i have 5 of them at 3-6 inches together and there doing great! for now ;)

[lordofthejewsjr]

they are ok for now. my ck ate 7 guppies in less than an hour. is this good or bad?

[benzjamin13]

That's fine.

[LittleBigAl3]

cks have to be the most interesting fish out there! thanks for the info. :)

[LittleBigAl3]

mine clownknife also is 5" and is in a 25gallon tank. I gave him a nice bif clay pot as a cave to hide and he is always in there, though ocassionally swim outside of it. can you pls. tell me if acan have another kind of fish to live with him? if so, can you pls. tell what kind? :D
First of all u need a much larger tank, say around the 75 gallon mark? at full size, cks could be as tall as your 25 gallon tank!

[LittleBigAl3]

would earth worms or 1-2 inch rosy reds be a good food source for my 4 inch clown knife?

[Miguel]

would earth worms or 1-2 inch rosy reds be a good food source for my 4 inch clown knife?


yes. definitely.

But you should try to cahnge it over to pellets, at that size.

[LittleBigAl3]

yes. definitely.

But you should try to cahnge it over to pellets, at that size.
LOL!!! he goes crazy over my shrimp pellets already!!:headbang2

[Oldsgirl]

I found someone selling a royal clown knife for $35, so I think I'm going to get it. I think he said its about 8-10" now, and it will be going in my 150 gallon with a red belly pacu and a black pacu.

I've really been wanting to build something bigger though... I keep looking through the DIY section :naughty: tempting... very tempting

[patrickjohnsgarcia]

mine laid eggs once.......but she is the only fish in there so she just ate them........

[patrickjohnsgarcia]

and btw....she is now 15'' and is currently in a 75 gals tank but im planning to transfer her to a bigger tank when i graduate hehe......and her color didnt go pale unlike the older knife fishes here....she is always in the dark and she likes it!!!!

[Finalfire9]

Somebody before asked about the Growth rates it all depends on the number of times you feed them perday

Fed once a day its a little over a inch a month. But you can get 2 1/2 inches a month with feedings 7 times a day but if you do that you gotta be on the ball with the vaccuming ;)

[meanbestorque]

how much do one of these cost?

[benzjamin13]

how much do one of these cost?

Depends on location...over here in Ca, I've seen them for about $7. I've heard that in NY, $12 is a good deal, and I heard in Australia, they go for $150. I'm not sure how much they'd be in Hawaii.

[Zack2112]

Great fish, my first and favorite. I made the Rookie mistake of getting a 20g setup and picking out my favorite looking fish in the store for it. I bought it when it was around 5 or 6 inches long. 2 or 3 months later it was sold back to the LFS when it had grown to 13 inches... One day I will get a monster tank and devote it only to some of these guys.

[SpJc11]

clown knives are awsome...

[angelo21]

great info!

[SpJc11]

i need to find a place that sells them... the lfs has some but they are expensive and not looking to good

[snake_charmer]

Just picked one up today for $14.99. I got a black ghost knife fish about 3-4 weeks ago for 21.99. They're currently both in my 150 gallon. Hopefully they're compatible with eachother. :)

[Finalfire9]

But you got a pond. I haven't seen a CK past 2' in an aquarium.

K bud I have a 28" and 30" in a 100g bowfront

[matt clark]

my clown ate my ghost

[peewee]

im kinda new in the oddball thing...can a clown knife,black ghost,and a sene bichir be together in one tank?similar sizes.

[barrakooda]

mine eats everything including both floating and sinking pellets.
on the left side of him, he's got a 8 and 7 O's after that... so he's my lucky fortune fish 80000000 pattern