Looking for exotic Knife fish

[ndnreefer]

I was wondering if anyone has any information on some of the more lesser seen knifefish mainly form South America? Also if any one has kept one and where to get some of the different types?

thanks
Sam

[TaTeR ToT]

fish gallery has a super nice knife fish ive never seen, its awesome, but its a predator from the word go, and needs a large 100g tank.

but its amazing and i doubt anyone in houston has one.

go by and check it out.

[ndnreefer]

Are you talking about the Aba aba knife that is a very sweet one. I was considering it, but from what i have read they become huge and kill everything when they get to a certain length. I was thinking about adding him to an 110g african cichlid tank but i think he would eat everything, plus i think he wil out grow it eventually suposedly they get to a few feet in length.

Any ways I am looking for fish to keep with my mata mata turtle in a display set up I have right know he lives with a small arowana might add aother but would like to have some more things moving in there. Turtle is about 5-51/2 in long.

[Nickintex]

You have a mata mata turtle? Cool.
I have a white black knife, but he is a variant of the regular black knife. Many years ago I had a brown ghost knife. You hardly see these now.

[TaTeR ToT]

yes!
the aba aba knife, he wont do well with africans, but he should do fine with a mata mata turlte and arowanas, in captivity i doubt he will reach the 3ft mark, they say the same thing about the clown knife, but i have yet to see one reach 3ft in anything less then a 500g tank.

what size tank is the turtle and arowana in?

if its atleast a 125g, i think youll be fine.

if needed, i would say upgrade to a 210g down the road as the turtle will reach atleast 14" in shell diameter, and possibly more, and the arowana is going to get ~30", i would say a good display for you would be a 180g-210g with your turtle, arowana, aba aba knife, tiger shovelnose catfish, and a large growing predatory cichlid such as a temensis bass, and then go catch a largemouth bass atleast 10"tl, and quarintine him for ~1month, and walla ultimat predator tank.

[ndnreefer]

Nick: Do you happen to have a pic of the white/black ghost, never knew there was a different varient?

Tat: The tank they are in now is close to a 60-70g it is more cubed shaped then rectangular, any ways its just a grow out for now I had planned on a 125 for just t eh turle but since i want fish i was thinking bigger the 180 idea sounds pretty good. Not sure I want to go completely predatory. I was wanting basi SA fish (maybe large angels and Discus) not sure just kind of looking for thngs as then come up not in a hurry. I was thinking about do a bunch of schooling tetras (larger ones). I know the turle will eat some but I thought I saw the houston aquarium with a set up like that but they had theirs in a smaller tank that was a few years back though.

[armthehomeless]

[Nickintex]

Nick: Do you happen to have a pic of the white/black ghost, never knew there was a different varient?

Here you go:

GEDC0222..jpgGEDC0221..jpg

[ndnreefer]

The Tamadua knife looks sweet I highly doubt they are easily obtainable though, Nice video

Sweet pics of the white/black ghost He has cool molted look, Where did you get him form how so far, how long have you had him? sweet find btw

Now the only question tha is left: where can i get one some exotics like these. If all else fails I will evetually get a blk ghost knife they are cool also but have had one before so want to try something different. I might try the aba aba not sure. Wanted to stick to a SA theme.

[Nickintex]

Sweet pics of the white/black ghost He has cool molted look, Where did you get him form how so far, how long have you had him? sweet find btw

I have had him since the fall 2008. I got him at Fish Ranch 2, labeled as a "Ghost Fish". There were others in the tank that were more of a gray or chocolate color. The one I got was the only mottled one. They cost twice as much as a regular Black Ghost Knife. I saw the same fish on aquabid labeled as a "White Black Ghost Knife"

[mnemenoi]

I have seen a few different varieties in my years of fish keeping. The most common oddball knives I see are Green/Glass (Eigenmannia virescens) that are occasionally much larger then normal (12") and Centipede/Mottled Knifefish (Steatogenys duidae) though they are usually very small (4").I used to see the Brown Ghost occasionally, but its been years since spotting one. The real odd balls were a Gold Lined Knifefish (Sternopygys macrurus) and a Elephant Nosed Knifefish (Sternarchorhynchus oxyrhynchus). They were both single specimens and very expensive, but they do show up strangely enough. I have always wanted a Banded Knifefish (Gymnotus carapo) but have only seen a few on Aquabid. I checked and there are currently none on there, but I'd suggest checking back regularly.

In a tank with a Mata Mata I would certainly suggest the larger species that will not be viewed as a food source(i.e. Banded, larger Green/Glass, Gold Lined, larger Black Ghosts). I think they'll likely be fine once they reach a certain size. The smaller glass are great, but have a tendency to be very active throughout the upper areas of the tank and I think would appear a bit too tasty should they be in the 4-5 inch range.

Hopefully you'll find something that will peak your interest and be able to locate. If my memory serves they seem to appear a bit later in the year (late summer/early autumn) at least the oddballs that is.

[ndnreefer]

I've seen the Gold line before but from what i can remember the one that i saw was very large specimen. I would love to have an elephant nose knife or the banded they are incredible specimens probably top on my list. I found the tamadua knife online but I think it was selling for close to $300.

[Nickintex]

I have seen Gold Line Knife Fish a few years ago at City Pets. They were at least $50.00 if I remember correctly.

[ndnreefer]

yeah i actually saw one around fall last year one or two actually for that price. I also found some brown ghost online for 8.99. I am thinking about adding a small group of SA leaf fish when I get the bigger tank. Hopefully i will have found a knife by then. I actually stopped by FG and checked out the aba. seems really cool but he would just get to big. I kid of want to get the ossa knifefish. Very cool knife and unique shape and colors.

[mnemenoi]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fw&1271120947

Looks like a real oddball from Peru, in appearance it reminds me of Carapo though....