I am purchasing a 4'x4'x2' tank that comes with a 12' clown knife fish. I have been reading alot of the posts here and I'm trying to decide whether to keep him or not. May try to trade him at the LFS. Is this tank big enough for the guy? Can I get him some tankmates other than pooping oscars? What works well? And about how much $ will I be spending per month feeding this guy? I have 3 other tanks, so I'm not a complete noob, but what will I be getting myself into with a clown knife fish?
CK stay or go?
- Thread starter revboyjames
- Start date
CKs are awesome fish, IMO. They are usually mellow with other fish providing that they can't eat them. You could put them in with some Pbass, Fancy Plecos, other Cichlids beasides an Oscar (since you don't seem to be interested in Oscars), Bichirs, etc. But I don't recommend another CK at his size. They may fight.
the clown knife would definitely get to 18" - 2ft. in that tank, ultimately is you want it to grow to its maximum potential you will need a bigger tank.
6 ft x3ftx3ft.
Cichlids dont make the best tank mates for knifes much under 18", because the cichlids will pick on them and damage them and they die from these injuries.
barbs, sharks, catfish make the best compainons,.
out of my three ck's two stayed around the 20" mark and my biggest is just touching 30" in my pond.
ultimately its up to you?
getting rid of a 12" knife is easier than a monster sized one..
6 ft x3ftx3ft.
Cichlids dont make the best tank mates for knifes much under 18", because the cichlids will pick on them and damage them and they die from these injuries.
barbs, sharks, catfish make the best compainons,.
out of my three ck's two stayed around the 20" mark and my biggest is just touching 30" in my pond.
ultimately its up to you?
getting rid of a 12" knife is easier than a monster sized one..
I have a ck (about 12 inches)with cichlids. He does fine. He has his own cave that he is very teritorial over. He stays in there almost all day and comes out at night. I think that if he didn't have a spot to call his own, he would have a harder time with his tankmates. He is very shy and if another fish comes near him, he makes a mad dash for his cave. However, if another fish thinks of going near his cave, he isnt at all scared to fight. He even attacks the siphon when i clean the cave. Also, my ck moves more gravel than any fish I've ever had. His cave is bare bottom, as well as everything around the cave. I gave up on trying to put the gravel back. He just dosen't want it.
ng80;868877; said:
got a pic of that 30 inch one??? would love to see him.
i would have to say that cichlids make good tankmates tho, i have 2 CKS with cichlids, loachs, and bichirs
Thanks for the info. It's a sad story, this CK has had it rough. I just picked up the mammoth tank yesterday, come to find out the owner passed away suddenly and all of his fish in that tank died except this knifefish. Then, I moved him and the tank to my house, 60 miles away. Since he's been through so much, I think I'm gonna keep him. He doesn't deserve to have anything else happen to him.
The previous owner's exwife said he had the clown knife, red devil, jack dempsey, silver arowana, and a few other cichlids in there. Were these good choices to put together?