Black Ghost Questions??

Question

Can u plz tell me something abt the Black Ghost Knife Fish!
moreover, cld u plz answer the followng Q's:
1) How do i differentiate between a male & a female..?
2)Wat is their behaviour like,wen their ill??
3)I dont have plants in my tank, cld this affect them in any way?
4)My oxygen pipe makes a bubbling noise & they always stick around there, wat cld be the reason for that???
&5)I dont have any other fish in the tank, its just the 2 of them, cld they pose to be a threat to each other, as in the case of a Betta Fighter Fish???

Answer 1

Here are some info that will help you:

Scientific name: Apteronotus albifrons
Common name: Black Ghost Knife
Genus: Apteronotus
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Apteronotidae
Size: up to and around 20" (49cm)
Origin: Northern, South America in the Amazon River Basin
Minimum Tank Size: 48"
Tank setup: Floating plants to diffuse the light along with places to hide are recommended
Compatibility: Suitable for a large community tank with larger community fish.
Water Type: Freshwater
Temperature: 73ºF to 82ºF (23-28°C)
Hardness: dH range: 5.0 - 10.0
pH: 6.0 - 8.0
Breeding: Little is known at this time
Feeding: Live fish, blood worms, brine shrimp, etc..

The Black ghost knife is one of those most popular knife fish hobbyists keep. It has an elongated, compressed body which is usually black with a few white stripes. It should be kept with a small stoned substrate and lots of plants and places to hide. A very good fish to keep that has a great personality and should not be kept with fish that it can swallow. They can get a bit aggressive, but kept in the right environment, they can be a great fish to keep!

Answer 2

Black ghosts are fascinating fish. To answer some of your questions and give you some background on these fish.
1) Sexing these fish is very difficult. They breed very rarely in captivity, probably by accident.
2) Knife fish are nocturnal. They prefer to sleep during the day. They seem to like to lay in their hiding places during the day, on their sides, making it look like they're dead... If they aren't eating, that's probably the first clue that you have that they aren't doing well.
3) These are shy fish that prefer well planted tanks with hiding places. Knife fish prefer to hide in tubes or caves. One suggestion is a clear plastic tube so you can see them, and they think they're hiding. You can also lean a piece of rock against the glass and they'll hide under it, and again, you can watch them.
4) They're sticking around the pipe because they're looking for a place to hide. For their well being, put some PVC pipe or tubes in the tank. That will help them feel more secure.
5) These fish love to eat smaller fish, neons are a favorite. They will eat anything up to about 1/4 their size. As far as two together, as these fish get older they get quarlsome. You should limit them one per tank to be safe.

Answer 3

Females and males are hard to tell, usually the female will have more white on the tail, but not always. The easiest way for me to tell is if it lays eggs, it's female!
When they're sick they don't swim too much and become fussy feeders, but mine have never gone off their food even when they're sick, so I don't know if that's true.
They do like to have a lot of plant cover though, but it doesn't have to be live plants if you're not a live plant person. They like rocks and driftwood too, and just about any other dark, quiet place. since they are electrical fish, you should put a piece of clean PVC pipe in there for them to "ground" themselves in.
I have no clue why they're hanging out around your oxygen pipe, but it might be because they feel safe there.
If they are small, no problems. But when they get to be their full size, if your tank is less than 70 gallons or so, one or the other will have to go. They won't kill each other, but they will definately fight a lot.
Hope this helps!

Answer 4

1) nearly impossible to tell the genders apart

2) most I've seen tend to get paler in color - they're not that active during the day and tend to hide, so you have to keep an eye on them

3) they like plants to hide in - also to cut down on the amount of light - they don't have good vision and tend to be sensitive to bright lights

4) it may be the only good (shaded) hiding place for them - they should have PVC pipe, a cave, plants or driftwood to hide in - the more hiding places they have, the more they'll come out into the open (they'll always have a nearby spot to duck into)

5) you shouldn't have more than one in a tank - they navigate by using an electrical field and two signals cause confusion when navigating or trying to find food - also, as they mature, knives are aggressive to members of their own species - so, this would be like a betta - that needs a 75 gallon tank (minimum, each); at up to 20" they will need that much room to turn around.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/387.htm
http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/fresh/bghost.shtml
http://www.ftas.net/Fish_Catalog/blackghostknife.html

Answer 5

30 gallons is purely too small for the BGK, you like greater like a minimum of a sixty 5 gallon, those fish improve extremely huge, normally around 12" in captivity, in the wild they are in a position to get to around 20"! Goldfish are rotten feeder animals, they are the equivalent of a McDonalds cheeseburger. keep-bought feeder fish are normally riddled with affliction and are superb prevented in any respect expenses. Rosy Reds are no longer goldfish, yet nevertheless are no longer important food smart. In captivity it quite is superb to be consumed meals inclusive of brine shrimp and bloodworm whilst small, shifting as much as shrimp and earthworms because it grows.