whats a brown knife?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

dmopar74

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Mar 24, 2006
5,080
155
120
46
Tri cities washington
petsmart has brown knifes and they say they get a foot long. they have the same shape as my ck but no spots on the side. any info on this fish would be great.
 
Its kinda the same as a ck but just all brown and more straight.. and dont listen to lfs tags that say the size of the fishes they are 95% of the time wrong...


Most knife fish are all tail.. so its possible to keep them in 18" wide tanks for life
 
I think it's an african knife. they are nothing like clowns. stay way smaller. I don't think they get bigger than 8"
 
yep, its an african brown knife, they max out at around 8" so id say they could be quite comfortable in a 29 gallon tank for life:)
 
petsmart has brown knifes and they say they get a foot long. they have the same shape as my ck but no spots on the side. any info on this fish would be great.

If it has the same body form like a Clown Knife, then it's possibly the Mekong Knife (Chitla Lopis) or a Bronze Knife (Notopterus Notoperus), but since it's Petsmart...I highly don't it. I'm 99% sure that it's an African Knife fish (Xenomystus Nigri). They can reach up to 12" but usually is 8" They are the smallest and most peaceful knife out of the usually species that you would find in the pet stores. One of my favorites :D
 
It is not Chitala lopis they get to big and are very silver not brown.
 
I like the african brown knife, since it doesn't get very large it's an ideal knife for my current tank restrictions!!
 
they arent really too brown looking either. mine is more a silvery grey. had it in a 55 for over 2 years and around 8 inches. stays inside a hollow piece of bog wood til evenings when it zips around like a submarine. i love how they move so effortlessly thru the water.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com