Fish to put together

Question
Hi Karen,
I am really fond of Black Ghost knife fish and would like to keep at least one in my tank. My tank is 40cm deep, 80cm long and 50cm high. I have set my tank up and everything is ready to go. I was thinking approximately 12 fish in total, and really want a ghost knife to be one of them. I have a particular love of black and white fish, so with that in mind, what would you recommend as a combination of fish for a tank of that size?

Thankyou,

Alison

Answer
Hi Alison,
Black Ghost knife fish are really beautiful fish. They do better if you only have one in a tank unless you have a really huge tank, since they might fight in small tanks.

A ghost knife fish will eventually need a really large tank since they can grow to 20 inches. They will eat fish that are small enough to fit into their mouth so with that in mind be careful what you choose. You also want to research any fish you want before buying since they can't be kept with any fish that might be aggressive.
Possible fish--Large Angelfish, Silver dollars, Spotted Raphael Catfish, even Bala sharks. Basically any fish that isn't aggressive and is at least 3 inches or larger so he won't be tempted to eat it. It is hard to find fish with the colors that you were interested in but the ones that I have suggested come the closest to being in the black and white color scheme. Get several of the angelfish and silver dollars for them to do well. All these fish will grow fairly large so keep that in mind and be prepared in the very near future to get a very large tank.
Remember that black ghost knife fish like to have a hiding place and sometimes you can view them better if you lean a piece of slate against the front of the aquarium. They will hide inside this and then you can view them while they think they are hidden.

Just remember that you are going to need to make sure that your tank has completely cycled before adding any of the fish listed or they will most likely get very sick. All need to have water that is very well maintained and clean and no traces of ammonia or nitrites.You will also need to be thinking about getting a larger tank in order to allow the knifefish to grow to his adult size and not be stunted.
Here is a website on black ghost knife fish that you might be interested in.
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Knife,%20Black%20Ghost.htm

Best of luck with your aquarium! It will be a very interesting tank.

Hope this has helped,
Karen