A couple of weeks ago I bought a black knife Goast Fish that was about 5 inches and cost about $30.
It's nocturnale\ and doesn't like light, so I made a cave for it to hide in.
When I feed the other fish, it doesn't touch the food because it doesn't want to go into the light to take the food.
A couple of days ago, I tried to hand feed it in the cave and it ate a whole cube of blood worms. The bits that it missed, the clown loaches and yoyo loaches ate.
I feed all fish including the ghost fish, brine shrimp, blood worms and high quality flake food to balance out their diets.
I've got about 15 plants, (small and big), in a large 4ft tank with lots of rock structures.
From Mitchell
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janine - 2010-08-18 To mitchell romanowski. SOUNDS AWESOME
Lisa - 2010-03-31 I have a 110 gal tank with one bgk. I have had him for about 3 months. He was doing fine until tonight I noticed a white film or haze on his body. Is any thing wrong with him?
Calvin - 2010-02-08 To Kyle, I agree that too many people are too quick to tell others they are doing wrong. Your tank sounds fine to me. I had a black ghost knife over ten years ago. He lived for more than 12 years. He grew to about 16 or 17 inches. He was kept in a 55G aquarium. His tank mates at the time were nothing but guppies. And yes it was way beyond the 1 inch rule. As far as the 1 inch rule I too am old school. I knew about keeping bacteria in the filter, water changes, and Ph. 20 or so years ago that is all I cared about or knew about. I must have done something right to keep my ghost for more than twelve years. He also made an 18 hour drive from NC to IN. With that limited knowledge, "back in the day", I managed to keep Tiger Barbs with a breeding pair of angels, (lots of store credit). I still get upset when a fish dies as I am sure you do to. My four year old son is in charge of the flushing as I have taught him that "FISH DIE". I really enjoy the ones that read about the 1 inch rule and then explain that they have more than one BGK. I have read that you should not do this. Although, that is exactly my plan. I am hoping to gather info on the BGK and breed them. It is just a goal I have set. I have a room in the basement that is dedicated for this purpose. I have built aqua bridges to connect all my tanks together. Each tank is set up a little different. I am currently stationed in germany with the army. The water here has a Ph of about 7.8... higher than I prefer but it is what it is. I would love to find out more about your set up. If it is listed on this site give me time to find it as I am new here. Hope to hear from you and any other BGK keepers.
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MRJ - 2010-03-04 Hey man I agree 100% with you, not all of the fish are the same. I recently bought a BGK and it is the most awesome of fish. I have read 100 different posts on how to care for a BGk and everyone says different things. =/
Sophie - 2010-02-12 Hi, I've just bought a 4inch knife fish, it's in my 190lt tank. He's with a clown loach, yoyo, pleco, cardinal tetras, harlaquins, and minnows. Was it a bad idear everyone seems fine at the momment. Please messege me sophie=price at symbol msn . com many thanks
Taryn - 2010-02-07 Hi, Well I have two black ghost knife fish at the moment. I must say they are awesome and very amusing to watch. My first BGK fish is about 9 inches, I bought him when he was just over 2 inches about 9 months ago. He lives in a 42 gallon tank with lots of plants and drift wood, eventually will be moving him to a 6ft tank, but for now he lives with a bunch of kuhli loaches, a pleco, a whiptail and a whole lot of cherry shrimp, all of which he leaves alone. He loves bloodworms and all other live/frozen food which I give as a treat, but he mainly eats sinking carnivore pellets. He will come out at any time during the day or night. My second BGK fish is currently living in my discus tank, she is only 3 inches and eats anything mainly carnivore sinking tablets and flake food. She is living with 3 breeding discus pairs and always leaves the eggs alone. She mainly comes out at night as she is only new. I've had her for maybe 2 months now, but she is getting more adventurous. She will also move to another tank in the future. In conclusion the Black ghost knife fish are awesome fish to keep. They are the first fish I have had. So as long as your willing to do the research I do not think experience plays a big roll in keeping them.
J - 2010-02-01 Kyle, Plecos and bottom feeders are included in that... they are bottom feeders and they count as fish. Yeah, it is over crowded with a freaking 10" pleco.
Z. - 2010-01-19 Kyle, your 44 is overcrowded. The 1" per gallon rule doesn't hold true when dealing with large fish - it simply doesn't account for the amount of waste produced.
Tommie - 2009-12-29 I have a 29 gallon tank with quite an assortment of fish ranging from bettas, sharks, dragon fish, and one ghost knife I call my queen. She is beautiful and seems quite content. although she stays hidden during the day she comes out at night and eats from our hands. She is definitely my favorite!
kyle - 2009-12-27 My 44 gallon tank is not overcrowded. Firstly most knifefishes never grow 20 inches in aquariums, that twenty inches is based on a wild caught specimen out of the spacious amazon river. Secondly, have you heard of the inch per gallon rule. Every inch of fish needs a gallon of water. Tiger barbs and flying foxes grow three inches long; 6 total, times 3 inches equals 18 inches and a required 18 gallons of water. The 18 inches of the barbs and flying foxes and the 12 inches of firemouths and the 5" knifefish puts me not only under the limit according to the inch per gallon rule; but allows the knifefish to grow to a length of 14" long. Thirdly, knifefish are one of the slowest growing species of freshwater fish in the world. It will take years for my knifefish to even reach 14" in length. By the time he reaches 14", almost everything else in my tank will be dead. That's how long it takes knifefish to grow. I bought mine over two years ago when he was just under three inches long. That is an inch per year growth rate. And when he does get long enough, I have a 200 gallon tank with oscars he can move into. I am just growing him out in my more peaceful tank until he is big enough to live with some oscars with out getting eaten. Lastly, bottom feeders like plecos don't count towards the space required for the tank. Check your facts before criticizing someone who has 25 years of experience with fish.
The Black Ghost Knifefish is the most well known species of knife fish in the aquarium industry!
Hi,
I'm Mitchell Romanowski,
A couple of weeks ago I bought a black knife Goast Fish that was about 5 inches and cost about $30.
It's nocturnale\ and doesn't like light, so I made a cave for it to hide in.
When I feed the other fish, it doesn't touch the food because it doesn't want to go into the light to take the food.
A couple of days ago, I tried to hand feed it in the cave and it ate a whole cube of blood worms. The bits that it missed, the clown loaches and yoyo loaches ate.
I feed all fish including the ghost fish, brine shrimp, blood worms and high quality flake food to balance out their diets.
I've got about 15 plants, (small and big), in a large 4ft tank with lots of rock structures.
From Mitchell
To mitchell romanowski. SOUNDS AWESOME
If anyone is really interested in breeding these fish email me at celavie90@yahoo.com.
I'm very interested I'm learning how to breed these fish any help on how to tell what sex they are would be a great start.
I have a 110 gal tank with one bgk. I have had him for about 3 months. He was doing fine until tonight I noticed a white film or haze on his body. Is any thing wrong with him?
To Kyle, I agree that too many people are too quick to tell others they are doing wrong. Your tank sounds fine to me. I had a black ghost knife over ten years ago. He lived for more than 12 years. He grew to about 16 or 17 inches. He was kept in a 55G aquarium. His tank mates at the time were nothing but guppies. And yes it was way beyond the 1 inch rule. As far as the 1 inch rule I too am old school. I knew about keeping bacteria in the filter, water changes, and Ph. 20 or so years ago that is all I cared about or knew about. I must have done something right to keep my ghost for more than twelve years. He also made an 18 hour drive from NC to IN. With that limited knowledge, "back in the day", I managed to keep Tiger Barbs with a breeding pair of angels, (lots of store credit). I still get upset when a fish dies as I am sure you do to. My four year old son is in charge of the flushing as I have taught him that "FISH DIE". I really enjoy the ones that read about the 1 inch rule and then explain that they have more than one BGK. I have read that you should not do this. Although, that is exactly my plan. I am hoping to gather info on the BGK and breed them. It is just a goal I have set. I have a room in the basement that is dedicated for this purpose. I have built aqua bridges to connect all my tanks together. Each tank is set up a little different. I am currently stationed in germany with the army. The water here has a Ph of about 7.8... higher than I prefer but it is what it is. I would love to find out more about your set up. If it is listed on this site give me time to find it as I am new here. Hope to hear from you and any other BGK keepers.
Hey man I agree 100% with you, not all of the fish are the same. I recently bought a BGK and it is the most awesome of fish. I have read 100 different posts on how to care for a BGk and everyone says different things. =/
Hi, I've just bought a 4inch knife fish, it's in my 190lt tank. He's with a clown loach, yoyo, pleco, cardinal tetras, harlaquins, and minnows. Was it a bad idear everyone seems fine at the momment. Please messege me sophie=price at symbol msn . com many thanks
Hi, Well I have two black ghost knife fish at the moment. I must say they are awesome and very amusing to watch. My first BGK fish is about 9 inches, I bought him when he was just over 2 inches about 9 months ago. He lives in a 42 gallon tank with lots of plants and drift wood, eventually will be moving him to a 6ft tank, but for now he lives with a bunch of kuhli loaches, a pleco, a whiptail and a whole lot of cherry shrimp, all of which he leaves alone. He loves bloodworms and all other live/frozen food which I give as a treat, but he mainly eats sinking carnivore pellets. He will come out at any time during the day or night. My second BGK fish is currently living in my discus tank, she is only 3 inches and eats anything mainly carnivore sinking tablets and flake food. She is living with 3 breeding discus pairs and always leaves the eggs alone. She mainly comes out at night as she is only new. I've had her for maybe 2 months now, but she is getting more adventurous. She will also move to another tank in the future. In conclusion the Black ghost knife fish are awesome fish to keep. They are the first fish I have had. So as long as your willing to do the research I do not think experience plays a big roll in keeping them.
Kyle, Plecos and bottom feeders are included in that... they are bottom feeders and they count as fish. Yeah, it is over crowded with a freaking 10" pleco.
Kyle, your 44 is overcrowded. The 1" per gallon rule doesn't hold true when dealing with large fish - it simply doesn't account for the amount of waste produced.
I agree with Koop. Rehome some of your fish.
I have a 29 gallon tank with quite an assortment of fish ranging from bettas, sharks, dragon fish, and one ghost knife I call my queen. She is beautiful and seems quite content. although she stays hidden during the day she comes out at night and eats from our hands. She is definitely my favorite!
My 44 gallon tank is not overcrowded. Firstly most knifefishes never grow 20 inches in aquariums, that twenty inches is based on a wild caught specimen out of the spacious amazon river. Secondly, have you heard of the inch per gallon rule. Every inch of fish needs a gallon of water. Tiger barbs and flying foxes grow three inches long; 6 total, times 3 inches equals 18 inches and a required 18 gallons of water. The 18 inches of the barbs and flying foxes and the 12 inches of firemouths and the 5" knifefish puts me not only under the limit according to the inch per gallon rule; but allows the knifefish to grow to a length of 14" long. Thirdly, knifefish are one of the slowest growing species of freshwater fish in the world. It will take years for my knifefish to even reach 14" in length. By the time he reaches 14", almost everything else in my tank will be dead. That's how long it takes knifefish to grow. I bought mine over two years ago when he was just under three inches long. That is an inch per year growth rate. And when he does get long enough, I have a 200 gallon tank with oscars he can move into. I am just growing him out in my more peaceful tank until he is big enough to live with some oscars with out getting eaten. Lastly, bottom feeders like plecos don't count towards the space required for the tank. Check your facts before criticizing someone who has 25 years of experience with fish.