Ghost Knife fish and an African Brown Knife fish

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Kaiden

Kaiden

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2012
255
10
18
Long Island, NY
I have a 150 gallon tank that's home to my Red Oscar. I'm planning to add a BGK in it. However my brother also wants a Brown Knife fish. He has a 55 gallon tank.

Do you think the Brown Knife will be okay in that size of tank? If not, can a BGK and Brown Knife co-exist? I was thinking of adopting it into my tank when/if it outgrows my brother's tank.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
brown knives get noticably smaller then black ghost knives so it shouldn't be a problem in the 55, but there is a chance that the knives will fight in the same tank
 
Thanks guys! It's a relief to know that the 55 gallon would be good for life. :)

We've setup a lot of rocks together with a driftwood to provide ample hiding spots for both knives so hopefully there won't be problems with aggression. The BGK won't be staying long together with the ABK anyway. I plan to move him in my 125g when he grows big enough that my 9" Oscar won't consider him a snack.

Oh btw, do you know if Convicts are an okay tankmate for an ABK? My brother purchased a pink and black convict yesterday.
 
a 55 isnt really big "enough" i mean I have a 15 inch bgk and turning for the bgk isnt really and issue. but having to perform any maneuvers in a 12 inch wide tank would be a kind of a jerk move imo..
 
That being said they take a pretty long time to get as big as my guy.
but i have 2 in my 167 gallon big guy is pushing 15 inches and the little one is about 12, and all i can say about housing more than one in a tank is what i experienced myself and they fought a bit ,maybe 2 days off and on and now they zip arpund together during feeding and unless there ever after the same piece of shrimp they never fight at all, more like buddies id say...unless there is a food related incident, and they keep separate but very close residence even when there is plenty of choices and options that would seem to make more sence
 
Like I mentioned earlier, the BGK will be moved to my 150 gallon when he grows a little so my Oscar won't make a snack out of him. I'm actually already considering just making a divider on my 125g now and letting him grow out there instead since I was told that keeping knives together isn't a good idea due to possible aggression. The only knife that will stay in the 55 gallon is the ABK, which I heard only grows about 12" max.

Hope that clears it up. :)


**Sorry I keep saying 125g when it's a 150g tank. It's custom built so the dimensions are closer to a 125g - 72" x 20" x 24".
 
it will be fine in a 55g... and i had the two together at one point, but as the BGK gets bigger it will get more territorial and aggressive to the ABK.. but when close to same size, they make great tank mates!
 
Actually, I noticed that the ABK is the one more aggressive lol. He keeps chasing the BGK and trying to dash into him. I guess this is probably because he's a little bigger at 4" than the BGK who is at 3". I decided to put the BGK in a spare 10 gallon tank I have until I finish making the divider for my 125 gallon.

Will post pics of the little guy once I get him settled into his new home. :)
 
Btw, I just have a question about what's the best diet for a knife fish? Currently, I'm feeding them frozen bloodworms and frozen brineshrimps. Are there any other food that I can give them to add more variety? I heard that they also accept pellets and flakes but I'm not sure which ones they'll take. I have Hikari Bio Gold, NLS Cichlid Formula, Omega One Super Color Flakes/Pellets and Hikari Algae Wafers.

Does anyone also know what's a good diet for a Striped Raphael Catfish? :)
 
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