BGK Tank Mates.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I agree with Juxtaroberto about the koi and bala sharks. Balas will get too big. I'd maybe go with silver dollars instead of bala sharks. Maybe do a group of 4-5 silver dollars for the 125 tank. I think balas should be in a minimum of the standard 180 gallon tank with 2 feet width. Always, the bigger the better with these fish though. They get huge, they are skittish and are very active.

Cory cats, yo yo loaches, silver dollars, a severum, a geophagus or some angelfish, a leopard ctenopoma, and fish like these are all better tankmates with the knife for a 125 gallon aquarium. The senegal bichir works well in that tank as well, of course. If you want, you may even do something like add a large shoal of congo tetras. There are plenty of fish you can choose to fill the tank with and get lots of movement going on.
 
No, all fake plants… I lost a lot of fish to live plants, the guys at PS told me they wouldn’t eat them but id come home and there would be a leaf hanging out of one’s mouth…


I’m kind of weary about Cichlids, I had a Managuense a while back and it killed every fish I tried to put in with it.. id hate to come home and find my BGK’s stomach eaten out like I found my Pleco once..


About the hiding, I was thinking maybe get a log, and connect the log to the opening of a large cave, that way he sort of has an entrance to the cave, that he can stretch out in and such.. not sure though..


I read somewhere that BGK's like a type of blue light, like Lunar Lights or something, is that something i should invest in, or is standard lighting ok?

I also read somewhere that I should be careful with my heater? That they may rub against it and get burned?


What about something like this as a substitute for a Pleco? I feel for some reason as though i need some kind of fish that will help me maintain my tank. Im gone at college for 9 hours a day, then on days off i have training and im way tired after that... wont be too much time left to do a complete cleaning including a water change and such...: http://www.petco.com/product/101080/Chinese-Algae-Eater.aspx?CoreCat=FreshwaterFish


I guess what I will do is when the tank is ready is buy the BGK and Bichir at the same time and put them in the tank at the same time, then figure what I want to add after that. I will have to go to the different pet shops around town, there’s at least 3 other fish specialty stores here… and strangely none of them carry BGK’s..
 
some mopani or drift wood would would be good for hiding places unless you dont care about a piece of pvc in your tank, or more if your considering loaches.
as for lighting, BGKs prefer dimmer lights, maybe you can use floating plant to give it some shade when it comes out if hiding.
cory cats are pretty good at cleaning up, a BGK wont be able to swallow one of these easily.
 
Manguese are very aggressive. I've kept a gold severum with the BGK as well as a geophagus. There were no problems at all. Just make sure you only get one and not two. If you get two and they end up becoming a breeding pair, they can get hyper aggressive and kill off your tank. A 125 with a black ghost knife, senegal bichir, 4 silver dollars, 6 yo yo loaches, 6 cory cats, 12 congo tetras and a geophagus sounds like an awesome set up to me and it should work. If you go with a severum, I am not sure that congo tetras will work with it. The severum might kill them. Not sure.
 
My Petsmart has Blue Severum , but none gold. Will that still look good?


I called around and my Petsmart also has Clown Loach, but no YoYo Loach.


Petsmart also has Cory Catfish (If I decide to and buy cory catfish, will they go around and pick up waste on bottom on tank,
like leftover food, droppings, etc? Also, I had normal catfish a while back, and no one gave me a warning that they get caught it the net because of the barbs, are Cory’s the same way?)


All of the other fish shops have the same thing as Petsmart, just at higher prices, one other has like thousands of fish, so I may
check that one out personally, but until then it looks like I’ll just have to get a BGK, Bichir, Blue Severum, and a few Cory’s…

Also, what about the heater, as i mntoned above? My neighbor has a clear tube i may be able to rig around it so it wont burn him, but i need to know if it will or wont first..
 
You need to cycle your tank first, though. That doesn't mean just running it empty... you need to have a constant source of ammonia, like a rotting prawn, or by dosing the tank with ammonia daily, until ammonia and nitrite are zero and nitrate is greater than zero. This will take about 6 weeks if you start from scratch, but you can reduce it to three weeks if you seed from another tank, or one week if you use Seachem Stability.

There are some fish that will eat droppings, when conditions are harsh and there is nothing else to eat, but fish generally don't eat poop. Just don't overfeed, it's really very simple. Especially since you won't have time to do many water changes, which need to be done anyway to remove nitrates. The more fish there are, the faster nitrates will climb, and the more frequent you'll have to do water changes.

Get some of the larger cories, because the smaller ones could easily be eaten when the BGK hits 12". I also think cories have spines like other catfish, which could also kill the fish that tries to eat them.

Angelfish would be good cichlids with a BGK. So would discus, but you don't have sufficient time to devote to them.

You can buy heater guards to protect fish from heaters... I don't think a tube will do much good, since BGKs can squeeze themselves in the tightest spaces. Just provide plenty of hiding spaces elsewhere, and your BGK won't try to hide behind the heater. Provide PVC pipes and caves, and large, flat rocks at an angle against the glass for the BGK to hide behind.

Bright lights make them hide, so if you want it to come out during the day at all, dimmer lights are better. As long as there is sufficient ambient light in the room, I wouldn't worry about lights at all.
 
What about an angelfish like this one? My other fish specialty shop has these kinds, that literally look exactly like this, for cheaper than PS…
RoyalAngelfish.jpg


Does Discus require a lot more attention and time than the others in the tank would require? If not then it’s no problem with them, but for the next 2 months I’m booked nearly full. Maybe I can get them in the summer when my schedule will be less busy?

Do they need PVC pipes, or will long hollow logs work? I have a few hollow logs already (For tanks, of course, not ones I found in nature) I can put in there if they will work…

Will floating plants work? Or should I just buy some dimmer lights or moon lights or w/e they are called? My room only has a lamp, so it’s very dim lighting, I could barely even see in my old tank when my lamp was on, just enough to see a few plants up front and the shimmer of the fish’s body.
 
That's a saltwater fish, so definitely not. I meant freshwater angelfish.

Discus are notoriously picky and fussy, I wouldn't attempt them.

Yes, floating plants will work, but you will most likely have to dose the tank with nutrients for them. I'm trying to find the most low-maintenance set up for you, and dim lights is easier than bright lights with floating plants. Dim lights would be better, considering they live in blackwater, and even during the day it's pretty murky in there.

And hollow logs are great... although sometimes they prefer hiding places that are "cramped," so that they can feel the walls pressing in on them, so if the logs are too wide, they wont' feel secure. Of course, you could always put PVC inside the logs, out of sight, for it to hide in.
 
never thought of putting the PVC in the log, yea, thats a good idea..

So your talking an angelfish like this: http://www.petgalaxy.com/images/fish/angel_fish.jpg?

I have been seeing too that they (BGK) like to swim upside down and lay on thier sides sometimes, is that true? I saw one video where it swam upside down on the top of the water eating, but nothing else. Id like to know how often they do this, cause usualy when my old fish did that they were sick and i had to hury and nurse them back to health..

If i use the Seachem stability, do i need to remove the filter and just let it circulate, or leave the filter in there so it collects stuff like floating residue from the sand and such?
 
LOL nope, that's a saltwater fish, too.

This is a freshwater angelfish:
angelfish_2.jpg


Yes, BGK swim in all directions and orientations. They'll swim backwards and forwards, whether they're right-side up or upside down. Sometimes they'll hover, then start see-sawing back and forth. It's really cool to watch. And sometimes they'll just lay down, but not in the open, only when they feel secure under some hiding space.
 
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