I am a brand new Knife owner. I just purchased an African Knife fish Sunday. I have NO idea what I've gotten myself into... Any advice MFK members?
New Knife Owner
- Thread starter NewAtThis
- Start date
Please start with the size of your knife fish, the size of your tank, and what other fish occupy the tank. Is there anything specific you would like to know?
Well, the Knife is about 4 inches long, my tank is a 55g, I also have 3 Bala Sharks, 3 Tiger Barbs, 3 Albino Tiger Barbs, 3 Clown Loaches, 3 Striped Peacock Eels, 2 Striped Raphael Catfish, 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 Albino Rainbow Shark, 1 Dinosaur Bichr, and 1 Albino Clawed Frog... What I wanted to know though is if the Knife is difficult to care for?
All it really requires is one or two hiding places and some live or high-quality frozen food. It is nocturnal, so it would prefer to be fed at night, and it will eat anything that will fit in its mouth. It's typically not aggressive (except within its own species). I'm worried that your barbs might nip its fins, though.
I think the tank is fully crowded. Might I suggest to keep the Dinosaur Bichir, Striped Raphael Catfish, Striped Peacock Eels, and the african knife.
dark_knights_99;1848754; said:
He has another whole thread about this tank in general aquaria.
I do hope you'll keep the knife. It will probably turn out to be your favorite fish.
The African Brown Knife will be fine in that size of a tank. It seem it might be a bit crowded, but as long as you have a lot of filteration, it should be fine. They are very nocturnal and will almost only come out for food in the dark, so your best bet is to feed it before you go to bed. They're quite easy to care for. Just make sure the temperature is at least 75 degrees and give it some hiding spots.
needs hiding spots
at least 75-82 degrees
grow up to around 24inches
really only active at night and eats at night
use an electrical current to find his way around the tank
extremly fast
really easy to care for
at least 75-82 degrees
grow up to around 24inches
really only active at night and eats at night
use an electrical current to find his way around the tank
extremly fast
really easy to care for
African Brown Knife (X. Nigri) will only get to 8" on average. There has been some that have reached 12" but is rare. African Spotted Knife (P. Afer) will reach 24" and is highly predatory and can be quite aggressive as well.