best knifefish for 125 gallon tank

[huntery18]

Some people have had problems with these fish when they have more than one in a tank. Others, however, have had success. It's probably one of those fish where you have 1 or 5 in the tank to spread out aggression within the ctenopoma group. Personally, I've always kept them singly. If you want to get multiple leaf fish, introduce them to the tank at the same size at the same time. You'll need the 125 to hold them long term as a 55 gallon won't give them enough space to themselves and will likely result in them fighting each other. You can keep them singly in a 55, though, and just stock the tank with other fish as their tankmates. Just not another ctenopoma.

These fish are very versatile with the tankmates they can be placed with. You can put them with milder cichlids like severums, geophagus, uaru, blood-red parrots, angelfish (like I do minus the angelfish since I no longer keep them) or even with fish like gouramis (moonlight gourami, pearl gourami, etc). Many people also keep them with african butterfly fish. They also do well with large tetra species like congo tetras and non-aggressive barbs like denison barbs. A striped raphael catfish would also work with the fish you have chosen if you like what they look like. I've personally kept ctenopomas with all of these fish except gouarmis and angelfish with no problems at all.

i may buy two and keep a close eye on them, i do like striped raphaels so maybe ill do that combo,two leaf fish one bgk 8 clown loaches one striped raph and then im not sure if i have room for anything else with it being 125 gal haha

 

[TheEelKing]

i may buy two and keep a close eye on them, i do like striped raphaels so maybe ill do that combo,two leaf fish one bgk 8 clown loaches one striped raph and then im not sure if i have room for anything else with it being 125 gal haha

You could add a shoaling fish like congo tetras or denison barbs to that combo. Maybe 10 of each or like 18 of one of them. Or you could probably add a third or fourth ctenopoma. Otherwise, yeah, your tank is pretty full.

 

[RemainVayne]

I have a BGK in my tank with a bunch of polys, an m. Dayi eel, and lots of others. He hangs out in a cave most of the day, but when he comes out he's easily the boss of the tank. If there's a spot he wants to be in, the knife will push anyone out of the way. Not nearly as aggressive as my flagtail or pearsei, but definitely not innocent.

 

[huntery18]

I have a BGK in my tank with a bunch of polys, an m. Dayi eel, and lots of others. He hangs out in a cave most of the day, but when he comes out he's easily the boss of the tank. If there's a spot he wants to be in, the knife will push anyone out of the way. Not nearly as aggressive as my flagtail or pearsei, but definitely not innocent.

i fear if i put anything aggressive he will be even more hidden so im trying to stay n the less aggressive end

 

[TheEelKing]

I have a BGK in my tank with a bunch of polys, an m. Dayi eel, and lots of others. He hangs out in a cave most of the day, but when he comes out he's easily the boss of the tank. If there's a spot he wants to be in, the knife will push anyone out of the way. Not nearly as aggressive as my flagtail or pearsei, but definitely not innocent.

I've not had much luck keeping polys with my black ghost knife, so I no longer keep them together. I only choose polys (ornates and endlicheris) when I opt for a clown knife over a BGK. I tried a senegal species with my BGK once. While the bichir was fine with the other fish in the tank, it kept trying to chomp the knife, so it had to go. When I tried a BGK with my ornate and endli bichirs, they literally ate the knife overnight. So, after a few attempts with polys and BGK, I will never attempt it again.

I've never had a problem with leopard ctenopomas, striped raphael catfish, clown loaches, and milder cichlids like severums, geophagus, and uarus with a BGK, though. It also helps that I don't use feeders and I buy my fish small so they can grow up together. (Except the loaches. My loaches grew huge since I've had them so long, so I keep them everytime I decide to restock my tank.)

i fear if i put anything aggressive he will be even more hidden so im trying to stay n the less aggressive end

I agree with you 100%. This is smart.

Also, just so you know, there are different variants of the severum cichlid.

Rokteil Severum:

Gold Severum:

Green Severum:

Red Severum:

 

[RemainVayne]

Must help that my BGK is on thearger side and I keep my polys very well fed

 

[TheEelKing]

Must help that my BGK is on thearger side and I keep my polys very well fed

I keep my polys well-fed, hence they never targeted any other fish in my tank save the BGK, and the knife was the same size as the bichirs...

 

[huntery18]

i do like the green severum and the first one maybe ill look into them more, i found a lfs with the african leaf fish, but i also found a donosaur bichirs does anyone have experience on keeping knifes with bichirs, the bichir is roughly 3 inches and very small i will introduce all at the same time if that changes anything, so tell me if what i have imagined works,
1 black ghost knife
8 clown loahces
2 african leaf fish (or 1)
1 dinosaur bichir
annd maybe if i find one in store that grows on me 1 green severum
i wish i could do 8-12 tiger babrs but i was told no,
the 125 gallon tank will be a white sand substrate with a large piece of driftwood some anubias plants and a cave

 

[TheEelKing]

i do like the green severum and the first one maybe ill look into them more, i found a lfs with the african leaf fish, but i also found a donosaur bichirs does anyone have experience on keeping knifes with bichirs, the bichir is roughly 3 inches and very small i will introduce all at the same time if that changes anything, so tell me if what i have imagined works,
1 black ghost knife
8 clown loahces
2 african leaf fish (or 1)
1 dinosaur bichir
annd maybe if i find one in store that grows on me 1 green severum
i wish i could do 8-12 tiger babrs but i was told no,
the 125 gallon tank will be a white sand substrate with a large piece of driftwood some anubias plants and a cave

View attachment 1347887 View attachment 1347888

Dinosaur bichir= Senegal bichir. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I tried it once, but the bichir kept trying to chomp my knife, so the bichir had to go. I will say that of all the bichir species, the dinosaur bichir is probably the best option for trying to make it work with a BGK. I would just make sure not to use feeders for the bichir. If you get it at petsmart, the bichir should be small enough and not yet hooked on feeders to get it on some small sinking cichlid pellets that it can swallow whole.

 

[huntery18]

Dinosaur bichir= Senegal bichir. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I tried it once, but the bichir kept trying to chomp my knife, so the bichir had to go. I will say that of all the bichir species, the dinosaur bichir is probably the best option for trying to make it work with a BGK. I would just make sure not to use feeders for the bichir. If you get it at petsmart, the bichir should be small enough and not yet hooked on feeders to get into some small sinking cichlid pellets that it can swallow whole.

yeah thats what ive been told that they are quite easygoing, the one at pet smart is very small so i would say it wouldnt have been fed feeders, i may be wrong but ill ask them, i dont plan to feed feeders to any of my fish trying to keep aggression minimal