African knifefish help

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wvera05

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
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illinois
hi all quick question,

i have a african kinvefish id say he is about 5 inches or less in a 55 gal with some semi aggresive and agresive fish including the following
-bala shark
-moonlight gourami
-blue gourami
-firemouth cichlid
-a frontosa
-and a tinfoil barb
all are smaller then the knifefish but im starting to see that someone is picking on him not sure who but i believe its the firemouth ,and also he used to stay mostly at the bottom of the tank and hide now he is swimming at the very top of the tank still looks healthy but not sure he is supposed to be doing that
i have a smaller 29 gal tank with some goldfish in it should i move him there so he can heal up or just leave him be to see if he gets any better any dvice would be greatly apprecaited he is one of my fav fish thanks in advance
 
It's probably stressed out. The FM might have attacked it on the bottom, but keep an eye on the Blue Gourami. They can be pretty aggressive as well and might attack it while it's at the top. I wouldn't move the ABK, try moving around the decor to throw off any territories that have been established.
 
i had a similar problem, but i had tetras attacking my knifefish. so i traded their butts in lol, i also own a blue gourami but i havent seen any problems yet. but my knifefish likes to hide inside one of the ornaments i have. he is not that big, but i can see he is growing. maybe offering it more hiding spots?
 
sounds good im not going to switch it but if it persists and i feel like his life is at risk im going to do the switch just in case cuz i know the other fish wont harm him thanks for the advice
 
i was kinda bummed after my big ones started to die. then my lfs got in some of them that are even bigger! they looked really nice but i wasnt going to chance it by introducing another one, im gonna let my little monster grow out.
 
sadly enough he died i knew something was wrong you think he had like an internal parasite or something i think im going to medicate my whole tank just in case , im gonna miss him he was an awesome fish
 
I noticed that my firemouth cichlid's chases my african brown knife's around. He hasn't bitten them so I haven't had to worry, yet. Sorry to hear about your knife that died they are really a cool fish.
 
i would put mi money on the firemouth. I had one that was attacking mi red hook silver dollar (mi fav, fish) so that dumb firemouth got returned
 
I'd bet on the cichlid. When I picked up my knife, I had 2 electric yellows in my tank. Unfortunately, one passed away. The other became so insanely territorial that I had to pass it on to a LFS. As soon as they were gone, my knife instantly became a new fish. I would come out, it follows me around and darts back and forth in the tank. If the aggression gets too bad and you lack hiding places (you NEED a cave for these guys to disappear into) they'll lie on the bottom and make like they're dead.
 
wvera05;2121914; said:
hi all quick question,

i have a african kinvefish id say he is about 5 inches or less in a 55 gal with some semi aggresive and agresive fish including the following
-bala shark
-moonlight gourami
-blue gourami
-firemouth cichlid
-a frontosa
-and a tinfoil barb
all are smaller then the knifefish but im starting to see that someone is picking on him not sure who but i believe its the firemouth ,and also he used to stay mostly at the bottom of the tank and hide now he is swimming at the very top of the tank still looks healthy but not sure he is supposed to be doing that
i have a smaller 29 gal tank with some goldfish in it should i move him there so he can heal up or just leave him be to see if he gets any better any dvice would be greatly apprecaited he is one of my fav fish thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Bala sharks can sometimes annoy other fish by chasing them, have never seen them chase AKs. I have one in a take with 4 AK and it chases the other fish but leaves them alone.

Both blue and moonlight gourami are somewhat aggressive.

Never kept Firemouths but understand them to be a moderately aggressive species.

Frontosa should really not be in with these fish, it is a hard water species that should be in with other African rift lake species. It also will get quite large.

Protect your knife by providing a lot more hiding places: rock ledges, pvc tubes, drift wood, etc. Since they are more or less bottom dwelling species (or at least stay near cover), give them more cover. You might want to remove the Frontosa for its own good, and the Firemouth.
 
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