Loaches Online Forum

Hello,

I havent posted in awhile but I figured I would ask advice to help get
some ideas. I have a 240 gallon 8x2x2 tank that currently has a lone
16inch+ BGK. He has been solo for a bit mainly because I am trying
to cut down the maintence on this tank. I've heard mixed opinions
on keeping multiple ghost knifes together.It's believed they can interfere
with each others navigation but hopefully someone here can give me
the real story. I thought about an arrowana or maybe an oscar.
A few more ghost knives would be a possibility if they can live together ok. I also thought about turning this into a clown tank but I dont want to
get rid of the BGK and I would hate to see him eat a small clown clown.

Any thoughts ?

That is a good sized tank!
It is also my understanding that electrical fish are better without other electrical fish in the tank.
A tank mate about the same size, or as small as about half the size of the knife can certainly work. Smaller than 1/4 the size of the knife I would be concerned that the little fish would get eaten. So... 13" BGK x .25 = nothing smaller than 4", and if 4", make sure it is a taller fish, harder to eat. Long, thin fish might get eaten even if they are longer than 4".

I am not sure about an Oscar. They can get pretty territorial.
Discus or Festivums might be peaceful enough with a BGK.
How about some of the larger Barbs, such as Spanners or Filamentosa. Even larger Tin Foil Barbs? (Not for a planted tank, though. Even my Filiamentosas seem to be plant killers)
Snakeskin Gouramis, Bichers (They are long and thin- get them pretty close to adult size) Fancy Plecos (Most create a lot of waste, though) Synodontis eupterus, Australian Rainbows (tallest/largest)

I have the following with my BGK (8")
4 Senegal Bichers
1 Discus
2 Clown Loaches (More Clowns are in a grow out tank; would get eaten by the Bichers if they are too small)
2 Snakeskin Gouramis
1 Pleco (not common- has quit growing at 6")
5 Filamentosa Barbs
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Unknown cat- looks like a relative of Pimelodus, but larger, different color. Really long whiskers!

BGK are gorgeous! I plan to get one too when I get my larger tank.

Perhaps some larger silver dollars? I've never kept them myself but have know people who have and they seem to do well together.

I would think fire eel or tiretrack eels would go well with BG and eat the same diet.

It is good to come across another BGK keeper here. I would really like to see some pics of such a large BGK.

It is harder to add fish to a tank with an established BGK. Due to poor eye sight it interprets any new additions to the tank to be food. I do not believe BGK are aggressive at all, just blind and territorial.

I keep my BGK with Clowns and Silver Dollars. I think these fish are peacefull companions which reach a suitable size to co-habitat with a BGK. You may have to be carefull adding small clowns.

Basically if your BGK can fit it in its mouth it may very well get eaten. Especially since BGK are mostly nocturnal they will be active while other fish are sedentry and an easy target.

Bala Sharks would also go well in an 8x2.

Thanks for the replys! I had 6 adult balas in the tank awhile back but those fish are way to jumpy. I dont even think a 240 gallon tank is big
enough for balas with their size and speed. Too bad petsmart says they
can fit in like a 40 gallon tank. Silver Dollars might be a cool addition
too. Here are some pics and Im sorry for the dirty glass and lack of focus. This is only lit on one side and the ghost was not happy with me
flashing him, so to speak.

[/img]

You are so right about Balas not fitting in the average aquarium!
Jumpy, schooling and very large... 8' might be the minimum tank size I would suggest for them, but by the time you get a school of foot long fish in there there is no room for anything else!

I agree that BGK is not an aggressive fish, this is why I suggested that an Oscar is not a good tank mate. I am thinking fish of around 6" or so if they are schooling, or larger singles, and mid to upper tank are really the best, though there is also room for more bottom fish, as long as they are not so pushy toward the BGK.

Cool thanks for posting the pics. I will try and post some pics of my BGK.

Balas are pretty big but so are Tin foils. Does the same level of caution also apply to keeping Tin Foils??

I have not kept Tin Foils, so I do not know how jumpy they are.
I would prefer to suggest slightly smaller Barbs, but I listed Tin Foils as a possibility; the tank is large enough.
I know they are very destructive to live plants (they are vegetarian to omnivore, willing to eat almost anything, but with a distinct taste for salad).
There are a lot of other fish that are roughly the correct size range that might work just as well, or better.

Too many large fish will certainly overwhelm the aquarium's ability to dilute the wastes, and the aquarium keeper's ability to stay on top of water changes.

With big fish this becomes a really big problem. Much better NOT to get the biggest fish that will still be OK in this large tank, but rather get a medium sized fish (or school) that are still safe from being eaten, and won't pester the BGK, and will contribute significantly less waste to the system.

Well my main concern with this tank is the maintenace. I have a 75, 60 and a 40 that are pretty well stocked and the 75 is probably overstocked by most standards. Those tank keep me pretty busy doing 35% water changes every 7 to 14 days depending on the tank. When there is a problem in those tanks it can be a handful but if anything goes wrong with the big tank it's a disaster. I remember I was changing like 80 gallons a day when I had a power outtage a few years back.

I'm not sure how you take care of 26 tanks Diana. I have been thinking of getting a large drum or contianer and heating the water up a day before
and then just pumping the water changes in and out.

I really want to redo this tank completely at some point. It used to be a loach tank with like 300 lbs of slate carefully stacked and lots of nice driftwood but after a 9 hour power outtage in the summer I ended up loosing almost all my fish about 4 years ago. So now I have it stripped down to just sand, a pvc tube for the ghost and a piece of wood directly above the light in the path of the filter outlet to grow java moss. It's far from its former glory . Sad actually.

Hi, As promised here are some pics of my BGK. Very hard to get a good pic.

The last picture is cute.

There's a lot of great info about tank mates for BGK's on this thread. I was thinking of getting one and wanted to know if you think it would be okay with my current tank mates:

Rainbows - threadfins (3), Turquoise (2), Boesemani (3), Australian (4)
Loaches - Clowns (4), Yoyos (3 around 1.5" each), Dojo (1), Kuhli (1)
Giant Danios (2)

I have a 75 gallon tank and I intend to get a few more Kuhli's too.

Green/glass knifefish do well in groups, I hear. There was a good article on them on the PFK website but it's been removed (along with a huge amount of other articles) since its (dreadful) re-design.